Mazda and Ford invest additional us$27 million in Autoalliance Thailand to boost pickup production capacity

•  New investment made to meet extraordinary global demand for all-new pickup trucks
• New production capacity comes online from next month
• AAT’s pickup line was upgraded in 2011 for production of the all-new Mazda BT-50 and all-new Ford Ranger

HIROSHIMA : April 26, 2012 - Mazda Motor Corporation and Ford Motor Company today announced an additional investment of US$27 million (approximately THB 837 million) in their AutoAlliance (Thailand) (AAT) joint venture to upgrade production equipment and increase pickup truck production capacity by 20,000 units per year.

ATT produces the all-new Mazda BT-50 and all-new Ford Ranger pickup trucks for the Thai domestic market and export markets around the world. The new investment will include facility upgrades such as additional robotic equipment and tooling to help increase line speed and output. The new capacity will come into effect starting next month.

The additional 20,000 units bring the total annual capacity of AAT’s pickup truck line to 140,000 units (195,000 units when including CKD), bringing overall capacity of AAT to 240,000 units (295,000 units when including CKD) per year, including the passenger car line.

This latest investment increases Mazda and Ford’s total joint investment in the AAT facility to nearly US$2 billion (THB 62 billion) since operations began in 1995. In 2010, the two companies jointly-invested US$350 million (THB10.8 billion) in support of facility upgrades and supplier tooling to enable production of the all-new Ford Ranger and all-new Mazda BT-50trucks.

“This additional AAT investment is part of the strategic business partnership between Ford and Mazda,” said Yuji Nakamine, Senior Managing Executive Director of Mazda Motor Corporation. “Additionally, it allows us to continue to meet exceptionally strong demand for our all-new BT-50.”

“This new investment reinforces Ford Motor Company's long-term commitment to Thailand as a global production and export hub, and will allow us to meet the extraordinary demand for the all-new Ford Ranger,” said Peter Fleet, president, Ford ASEAN.

AutoAlliance (Thailand), one of the most modern automotive manufacturing facilities in Thailand, has helped to set the standard for automotive manufacturing in the ASEAN region through its ongoing commitment to world-class quality, standards and cost-competitiveness.

In addition to the Mazda BT-50 and Ford Ranger pickups, AAT produces the Ford Everest SUV, and passenger vehicles such as Ford Fiesta, Mazda2 (known in Japan as Demio) and Mazda3 (known in Japan as Axela) for sale in Thailand and for export to ASEAN and other markets.

[Source : FORD, MAZDA]