Mazda, Ford and Changan JV to begin Operations

Mazda Motor Corp has a Chinese plant that is jointly owned by Ford Motor Co. and local firm Changan Automobile Group.

The joint venture will start operating next month, initially producing the Mazda2 subcompact.

The plant is located in Nanjing and construction was completed yesterday.

A new Ford subcompact based on the Mazda2 design is coming, too.

Mazda has three joint ventures with Ford….in China, the U.S. and Thailand.

The plant has:

1. 1,400 workers,

2. annual capacity of 160,000-200,000 vehicles

3. cost 57 billion yen

4. Mazda's latest technologies – produce 6-8 different models on the same assembly line

5. environmentally friendly painting processes

Mazda wants to sell 300,000 cars in China by 2010.

Do you think joint ventures are a good idea?