Ford to open new engine plant in China, doubling capacity

Ford to open new engine plant in China

CHONGQING, China — Ford and Chinese partner, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Ltd., plan to build a $500 million engine plant in China.

They signed a memorandum of understanding with the city of Chongqing on Saturday.

Construction is to begin next year with engine production starting in 2013. The plant can make 400,000 engines annually; more than double the partnership’s existing engine capacity in China.

The partnership operates two assembly plants in China, including one in Chongqing. It is building a third to produce the Ford Focus.

Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford is the 11th-ranked brand by sales in the Chinese market, but its sales have risen dramatically since it entered the country in 2003. Ford and its partners have sold 368,103 vehicles in China through August, an increase of 42 percent from a year ago.