Changan Auto and partners team up for Nanjing factory

Shenzhen-listed Changan Automobile and its foreign partners plan to invest US$480 million in a manufacturing plant in Nanjing to double their venture's capacity.

The plant, 50 per cent owned by Changan Auto, 35 per cent by Ford Motor and 15 per cent by Japan's Mazda Motor, will have annual production capacity of 160,000 units when operation begins in the second half of next year.

The three carmakers plan to invest US$27.5 million for the first phase.

The Nanjing plant will be the venture's second on the mainland after a factory was set up in 2001. The Chongqing plant has annual production capacity of 200,000 units at present.

'The Nanjing plant will support Ford's product development for worldwide operations and is an act to strengthen its manufacturing blueprint in China,' said Cheng Meiwei, the chairman and chief executive of Ford Motor (China).

Many global carmakers are sourcing more components or raising capacity in China to avoid higher import tariffs and cut costs in an effort to improve margins as they tap the mainland's rising market.