Ford Motor Company and Mazda Motor Corporation have decided to invest a total of US$350 million (Bt11.1 billion) in their AutoAlliance Thailand joint venture to support the production of nextgeneration pickup trucks.
"This new investment in AAT reinforces Ford Motor Company's longterm commitment to Thailand as a strategic manufacturing base for our global operations," Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president for AsiaPacific and Africa, said yesterday.
This will bring total investment in the ATT facility to more than $1.85 billion since operations began in 1995.
Production of the new pickups is set to start in the middle of next year and both products should hit the local market in the second half of 2011.
The AAT plant currently produces the Ford Ranger pickup, Mazda BT50 pickup, Ford Fiesta, Mazda2 and Ford Everest. The extra investment will finance facility upgrades and supplier tooling for the assembly of Mazda's and Ford's nextgeneration compact pickup trucks.
"The new production line, with the support of the hardworking employees at AAT and the continued commitment of our Thai suppliers, will raise the bar in flexibility, efficiency, quality and environmentally friendly production at AAT," Hinrichs said.
Ford recently also revealed plans to invest $450 million to produce the new Ford Focus in Thailand by 2012. This investment, however, is fully Ford's, as opposed to the AAT factory, in which the company shares its investment with Mazda. The Focus is currently produced in Ford's facility in the Philippines.
Ford Thailand will launch the Fiesta sedan next Wednesday, September 1.
Masaharu Yamaki, Mazda's representative director, executive vice president and assistant to the president with oversight of research and development, production, purchasing and quality, said: "The new investment means that AAT will continue to be a global centre of excellence for the production of both brands' compact pickup trucks, and play an important role in Mazda's global strategy."
The AAT plant exports Ford and Mazda products to more than 130 countries.
Mazda is also studying the options for setting up a plant in Thailand to produce the Mazda3. A Mazda Thailand source said having Mazda3 production in Thailand would help solve the problems of back orders and help the company to cater to the needs of customers better.