Ford in China (1): mid-term business/model plans and development/sales structures

Ford aims for sales of 1.5 million units, 8% share by 2015-2020

2011/11/16

Summary

 Though Ford forecasts sales of below 400K units in 2011 in China, it aims to sell 1.5 million units by 2020. To achieve this, Ford plans to launch 15 new models from 2012 to 2015.

  Ford is reorganizing Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, its key joint venture. Upon receiving approval by the Chinese government, Ford expects to establish Changan Ford Automobile with Changan Automobile Group on a fifty-fifty basis by the end of 2011. On the other hand, Mazda will establish Changan Mazda Automobile. In addition to expanding the production capacity of its main plant in Chongqing, Ford is building a new joint venture plant with Jiangling Motors in Xiaolan, Nanchang city, and planning to build a new passenger car plant in Tianjin (proposed site) to increase production capacities for Ford brand vehicles.

  The following is on Ford’s recent activities in China regarding to its latest medium-term business plan, development and sales structure, and model plan.
  For Ford’s latest finished vehicle and engine production structure, etc. in China, please refer to ”Ford in China (2): plans to enhance vehicle and engine production capacity” which was issued on November 28, 2011.

Ford's business plan in China

Outlines
Sales ・From 2015 to 2020, Ford aims for an annual sales of 1.5 million units (including sales of imported products and export of China-made vehicles) and a market share of 8% (3% as of September 2011).
・Ford will expand sales in various parts of China (except in large cities) by 2015.
(The 2010 sales in markets of the western part of China were up by 59% over the previous year.)
・Ford will strengthen its tie with Changan Automobile Group in global business such as jointly developing overseas markets.
Model ・Based on the concepts of quality, green, energy saving, safety, and smart, Ford will strengthen its product lineups of China-made vehicles (in other words, penetrate into each segment more than before) to expand its share in the Chinese market.
・Ford will introduce a total of 15 new models over four years from 2012 to 2015 (of which about ten models will be produced at the Chongqing plant).
・Ford will enter into the Chinese high-end vehicle market with its Lincoln brand models (before local production, it will start the import and sale of these models soon).
・Ford will accelerate its launch of low-end model vehicles.
Environmental responsiveness:
・HV/PHV/EV models developed by Ford will be proactively introduced into the Chinese market.
・By 2020, Ford will improve emission gas levels of all its models, and reduce CO2 emission by 30% from the May 2010 level.
  ・Ford will expand its installation of high efficiency powertrains such as the combination of a new type direct-injection turbo engine (EcoBoost GTDI) and the PowerShift transmission (DCT). *See the NOTE.
・Ford started the test run of three environmental responsive models (Transit Connect [EV], Escape PHV, and Fusion HV) in several cities of China in April 2011.
・Ford plans to produce electric passenger cars (HV, PHV, and EV) at Changan Ford Automobile. The production will be expanded to a certain scale by 2020.
Production ・Ford will develop Changan Ford Automobile Co., Ltd. (a joint production base in Chongqing) which will be the major production base next to its Detroit base.
・Ford will raise Jiangling Motors Co., Ltd. (a joint production base in Nanchang) to the world's leading commercial vehicle base. The joint company will also strengthen the production of Ford brand passenger cars.
・Ford will establish a joint venture company with Changan Automobile Group in Taiyuan, Shanxi province to enter into the medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicle business in China.
 

・Ford will invest 1.6 billion U.S. dollars to build a total of four plants, three plants for finished vehicles, engines, and transmission in Chongqing, and a finished vehicle plant in Nanchang. These plants will start running by 2013 (as of the end of September 2011, the construction of all plants have already started).

Source: Press release of Ford Motor (China), other various media reports
*Note: Some reports say that, in 2013, Ford will mount the EcoBoost GTDi engine nearly 80-90% of all models globally sold, including China.

 RemarkOn November 21, 2011, Ford has announced the Powertrain Strategy of the Changan Ford Automobile, its Chinese joint venture company.   For details, please refer to related news article.

 

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