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.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
