Sustainability 2011/12

Ford Around the World

Ford Asia Pacific and Africa

Financial Health

Ford experienced strong sales and growth in many of our regional markets in 2011. China and India are burgeoning markets that are expected to continue to experience rapid and substantial growth in the next 10 years, making the Asia Pacific and Africa (APA) region our fastest-growing market.

China will remain the largest car market in the world for the foreseeable future, and we estimate India will become the third-largest market in the world in the coming decade. By 2020, annual vehicle sales in the Asia Pacific and Africa region will likely top 52 million vehicles, and one in every three vehicles Ford sells globally will take place in the APA region. To keep pace with this enormous growth, we are building new plants and expanding existing ones, hiring workers, building our dealer networks, and further developing our supply chain across China, India and Thailand. These actions will help us reach the goal of increasing worldwide sales to about 8 million vehicles per year by mid-decade.

Ford’s wholesale sales in the APA region were up 7 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, totaling 901,000 units. Our overall market share for the region increased to 2.7 percent in 2011 from 2.4 percent in 2010. Our market shares in key markets in this region are shown in the table below.

Asia Pacific and Africa Market Shares

Major Markets 2011 Combined Car and Truck Market Share Percentage Points Better/(Worse) than 2010
Australia 9.0% (2)
China 2.7% 0.2
India 2.9% 0.3
South Africa 8.4% 0.7
Taiwan 6.1% No Change

APA at a Glance

  • More than $6 billion invested since 2006
  • 3,000 jobs to be added by 2015
  • 25 manufacturing and assembly plants
  • Under construction: 4 new assembly plants, 2 engine plants, 1 transmission plant

Since 2006, we have announced investments of more than $6 billion in the APA region, including the following in recent years:

  • In 2011 we broke ground on a $350 million transmission plant in Chongqing, China, as part of our Changan Ford Mazda Automotive (CFMA) joint venture. This will be our first transmission plant in China, with initial capacity of 400,000 six-speed transmissions per year
  • In April 2012 we announced a $600 million investment to raise the CFMA’s capacity by 350,000 units, as well as a $760 million investment to build a new CFMA assembly plant in Hangzhou with an annual capacity of 250,000 units
  • The CFMA built a new $490 million assembly plant that came online in March 2012. A $500 million, state-of-the-art engine plant in Chongqing is under construction
  • Ford and our commercial vehicle partner Jiangling Motors Corp. (JMC) are investing $300 million in an assembly plant in Nanchang, China, that will produce Ford- and JMC-branded vehicles
  • In early 2012, we announced we will be investing $142 million to build a new compact SUV – the EcoSport – at our plant near Chennai, India
  • We’re investing $72 million to increase production capacity at our Chennai engine plant
  • We broke ground in 2011 on a $1 billion integrated manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat, India. The new plant will create 5,000 jobs and will initially produce 240,000 vehicles and 270,000 engines per year, starting in 2014
  • In Thailand, we invested $450 million in a new plant in Rayong province that is building the Ford Focus for Thailand and other Asian markets

Small cars account for 60 percent of APA industry sales volume and are anticipated to continue to benefit from favorable government policies. The highly successful launches of our all-new Figo and Fiesta demonstrate our ability to successfully compete in this key growth segment. We anticipate further success with the introduction of the all-new EcoSport later in 2012. The EcoSport will be based on Ford’s global B-car platform, like the Fiesta, and developed from a previous-generation model that has proved extremely popular in South America since its launch in 2003. The new EcoSport will be sold in more than 100 markets worldwide. It will initially be built in India, Thailand and Brazil.

At the same time, we know that our long-term success in these developing and revitalizing economies will depend on our offering new types of mobility solutions that are sustainable and tailored to the unique needs of these markets. Our Blueprint for Mobility is aimed at ensuring we do just that. During early 2012, for example, we kicked off a novel project in the region of Chennai, where we have manufacturing operations. The project, called SUMURR (Sustainable Urban Mobility with Uncompromised Rural Reach), is using our vehicles and our technology to address critical social needs, such as health care. Read more about the SUMURR project in the case study found in our web report.

For a discussion of our global economic impact and financial health, please see the Financial Health section.