Filed under: China, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford
Ford funnelling $58 million to China venture
Ford's not seeing GM-level success in China yet, but its joint venture, Chang'an Ford Mazda, is among the top ten selling automakers in China. The popularity of the Focus and S-Max have bolstered sales by 60 percent since last year, and the new money will be used to facilitate more production. Chang'an Ford Mazda is a three-way split between Ford Motor China, who will throw $20.3 million into the pot, Chang'an Auto, contributing $29 million, and Mazda, which is kicking in $8.7 million. The idea is to sell more than the record 217,000 units sold last year. A new factory was recently opened and can build 160,000 small cars for Ford and Mazda, too. Full-throttle capacity for Chang'an Ford Mazda is a tick over 400,000 cars, and it looks like the Chinese market is the next gold rush for automakers with sales growing by big numbers for Ford, and expected to rise further.
[Source: Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Menice 9:47AM (2/21/2008)
i'm sorry but in my industry,(semiconductors/components) china has made billions selling counterfeit, shoddy, unregulated garbage and ruining a great deal of US companies.
I would not invest a dime in china right now until restrictions and regulations, (as well as import taxes) are established.
just this week it was learned of bad blood thinner that was causeing death and sickness in the US.
the chinese govt doesnt monitor a thing that companies do and heres ford giving them 58 million. wth?
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steveo391 11:33AM (2/21/2008)
yes wth indeed, I bleed ford blue but if they start importing that sheit over here that's where i'll draw the line
Menice 11:43AM (2/21/2008)
its not even that, the cash is for ford china.
I'm sure a factory in detroit could have done well with $58 million bucks.
Find me a china company sinking 58million into any american production here.
Ford gets $ from the government, tax breaks, and all kinds of help from our govt... then they throw 58 million to chinas economy?
the usa is in a very sad situation. we pay out the ass to other counties to accept our goods. we place little taxes on imports and our economy is in the crapper. it seems the worse it gets, the more money we throw overseas
FThorn 9:49AM (2/21/2008)
One of my ex-roommates (and groomsman) oversees I think 3 of Ford's China plants. Probably related to this story in some manner.
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Mal Fuller 10:23AM (2/21/2008)
Too bad Ford doesn't instead funnel its money into its US operations.
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Gary Lowe 10:36AM (2/21/2008)
I live in China and yes Ford's Focus here looks great, it costs 146,000 RMB for a 2Litre engine fairly well equiped. They're Mondeo which seems to be a real hit here is gorgeous. But their quality and this includes Mazda is the WORST. You hear stories about new cars conking out even before they get off the dealers lot. So nothing new....poor quality and reliability, been there done that.
What America is really missing out on and doesn't even know it is Skoda!
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Cly 11:23AM (2/21/2008)
HAHA! oh my goodness. Shoddy American reliabilities + Chinese manufacturing. Brilliant. Fix Or Repair Daily anyone?
Seriously, while the Japanese are moving operation to North America employing Americans. The domestic manufacturers are doing the opposite, yet they're still sucking American tax dollars out of Congress.
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NYChic 11:24AM (2/21/2008)
Let's look at this real quick. Ford, with their stellar products, is going to work with a country known for counterfit goods, lead tainted toys, questionable seafood, and defective tires? Does anyone else see where this is going?
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Menice 11:45AM (2/21/2008)
fords going to get better quality?
hahahhhahah!
tanooki2003 1:58PM (2/21/2008)
That is so retarded. I can't believe how ignorant you really are
tanooki2003 12:06PM (2/21/2008)
Ford let's just say that you plain SUCK if you cannot for once quit starving us Americans of the Mondeo, Focus, S-Max, and other vehicles that the rest of the world gets except us.
You might as well just sell trucks and the mustang because that's the Only thing keeping you alive in America
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compy386 12:50PM (2/21/2008)
People who have little understanding of economics should really not comment on these things.
1. China invests more in the US, not the other way around. It's a rule of economics that capital and current accounts must net to zero. Thus if we're buying more goods from China then China buys from us, then China must invest more in the US than the US invests in China. The thing is most Americans are agains China making investments in the US. Look at the UAW trying to stop Chinese companies from purchasing US plants.
2. Yes China creates a lot pirated software and goods, but so does the US. Look at the RIAA and MPAA's fight against piracy in the US. These companies fail to adapt to newer business models. Meanwhile Apple is getting rich off of this pirated media. Would the IPod exist if Napster, Kazaa, and now Bit-Torrent didn't exist? Do you really think people are paying 10k to fill their Ipods at a $1 per song?
3. If you've ever been to China, you'd know that the Chinese really value US goods. GM is the largest automaker in China. Rather than profiting from this relationship, people on this blog seem to want to isolate the US. While the manufacturing takes place in China, what about all the other jobs it creates here? Engineering, finance, etc.
Michigan's economy is a prime example of what happens when people resist change. Rather than courting Japanese auto companies. Michigan made a good habit of criticizing them and keeping their business away.
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FThorn 2:16PM (2/21/2008)
Thanks for the taking the time to share these thoughts. I do think that the iPod would be and/or is successful without regard to pirating. There is a lot of content out there that is royalty free, unlicensed or as expected, paid for properly.
JM 12:51PM (2/21/2008)
Ford, the All American car company.
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JM 1:13PM (2/21/2008)
"Thus if we're buying more goods from China then China buys from us, then China must invest more in the US than the US invests in China."
You need to check with your logic. Something is definitely wrong with the way your mind operates.
"China invests more in the US, not the other way around. It's a rule of economics that capital and current accounts must net to zero. "
You're wrong. Why don't you first research what the current US international trade deficit is, as well as how many billions of dollars of discrepancy there was last year on import vs. export of goods between the US and China.
"2. Yes China creates a lot pirated software and goods, but so does the US. Look at the RIAA and MPAA's fight against piracy in the US. These companies fail to adapt to newer business models. Meanwhile Apple is getting rich off of this pirated media."
First of all, if you go to China, you will easily see pirated movies, DVDs, and music being sold ON THE STREETS. US music, software, and movie production companies have lost billions of dollars in China alone. You go to Ebay, you'll see tens of thousands of individuals from China and Hongkong selling bootleg movies.
And no, Apple doesn't get rich from these pirated music because they don't sell pirated/illegal copies off of their store through iTunes. iPod has prospered because people dont want to walk around carrying clunky CD players in their hands.
"3. If you've ever been to China, you'd know that the Chinese really value US goods."
Yeah, that's because it gives them an opportunity to pirate, hack, and create more knock-offs out of products that arises from other people's hard work and innovation.
"While the manufacturing takes place in China, what about all the other jobs it creates here? Engineering, finance, etc."
What are you saying, that when manufacturing goes to China, a corresponding job of equal value gets created here?
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compy386 1:32PM (2/21/2008)
I said capital + current accounts = zero. This is law of economics. Yes we run a trade deficit. That's the current account. So China gets a bunch of dollars. It invests those dollars back into the US (capital account). What else do you think the Chinese is doing with these dollars? Just because you don't understand economics doesn't mean you should question other people's logic. It's like arguing against Newton's first law because you roll a ball and see it stop.
And what do you propose people are filling those Ipods with? Ipods got big when I was in college. Trust me very few people were filling them with legal music. Itunes store is getting bigger, but I bet big money that pirated music is bigger than real music. I personal am 100% against pirating, but it happens and companies need to learn to deal with it.
No one in China aspires to purchase pirated goods. They do because they can't afford better. If you want to waste American brand equity then fine. I'm sure GM's investors are happy that they're making millions (probably billions soon) in Asia and the Pacific rim.
tanooki2003 2:13PM (2/21/2008)
Don't mind JM or even try understanding his tainted logic. He's just your typical old american fartknocker dinosaur who has tunnel vision, or inother words refuses to become globalized. You can't teach people like him economics because it would be equivalent to teaching a 3 year old to recompile a Linux kernel. It's best to let people like this die in their own ignorance.
Changing the subject I for one do welcome the Chinese. As far as Chinese products go I own a business importing Chinese and Korean electronic goods which are totally and completely unique to this side of the pond. I have so many customers everyday mostly because nobody has seen or heard of any of the products that I offer, not to mention I make a killing on these cool gadgets. No none of what i import are copies, lead based, or fall apart in 2 weeks. In fact it's quite the opposite, not to mention the suppliers are very generous to me, allowing for me to have a larger profit yield than most.
One of the products that I personally own and also sell is a mobile fully featured smart phone with a built in ASTC TV, 3.0" screen, Windows Mobile 6, 16GB memory, dual SIM, dual standby, quad band, programmable flashing software, telescoping lens for the camera, stereo speaker w/ 3D sound, dual bluetooth, GSM + CDMA bands, and PMP features all in a very nice attractive and slim package. And this does not look like any phones that are offered on the market.
Polly Prissy Pants 1:38PM (2/21/2008)
I for one welcome our new Chinese overlords.
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