The new Ford Thailand facility is fully integrated to support stamping, body assembly, paint, trim and final assembly. Mazda is notably absent.
Ford Motor Company today celebrated the official grand opening of Ford Thailand Manufacturing (FTM) – a new $450 million (baht 14 billion) passenger vehicle manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand.
FTM is Ford’s second plant in Thailand, and one of eight new Ford manufacturing facilities across the Asia Pacific and Africa region the company will open by 2015 as part of its global expansion. FTM has an initial production capacity of 150,000 vehicles – increasing the company’s annual capacity in Thailand to 445,000. Mazda, which runs the other plant in Thailand in a joint venture with Ford, is not part of the new entity, the latest example of the ongoing divergence of the two companies.
The latest Ford facility has the potential to support up to 11,000 new jobs – including 2,200 direct jobs with Ford and 8,800 indirect jobs through its supplier and dealer networks – with the first 1,600 already on-site, preparing for the launch of production.
“Ford Thailand Manufacturing will allow us to meet the enormous growth in vehicle demand across this region in the coming years,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa.
Minister of Industry, M.R. Pongsvas Svasti, Thailand Board of Investment Secretary-General, Dr. Atchaka Sibunruang, and U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, Kristie Kenney, were among the guests joining Ford executives and employees at the new 200,000sqm plant in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate.
