Ford opens auto plant in China, boosting capacity by a third

SHANGHAI (AP) – Ford opened its third passenger-car factory in China on Friday, increasing the automaker's manufacturing capacity in the country by a third to more than 600,000 vehicles annually.

The $490 million assembly plant, set up by the Dearborn, Mich.-based company's venture with Changan Automobile Group Co., is in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing and will produce the new-generation Focus sedans, Ford said in a statement Friday.

"This new flexible plant will help give us the capacity to realize our aggressive growth plans for the world's largest automotive market," David Schoch, chairman of Ford China, said in the statement. The production line at the new factory will be able to make six different vehicle types, the automaker said.

Expansion in the world's largest vehicle market is part of chief executive Alan Mulally's push to increase annual global sales by 50 percent to 8 million vehicles by 2015 and have one third of its deliveries in Asia by 2020. Ford plans to bring 15 new models to China by 2015.