Ford's Chinese joint venture Changan Ford Mazda Automobile recently announced that the company will invest $500 million to build the second engine plant in Chongqing, China. The company on Sept. 25 signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chongqing Municipal Government on the construction of the new plant.
Construction of the new plant is scheduled to start next year and be completed in 2013, with an annual production capacity of 400,000 engines.
The new engine plant is just part of Ford's recent expansion in China. In July of this year, the carmaker announced the kick off of the construction of a facility with a planned capacity of 300,000 complete vehicles in Nanchang, Jiangxi province in partnership with Jiangling Motors Corporation.
Ford is accelerating its expansion in China in a move to gain a bigger share in the world's fastest growing automobile market. The company sold 191,935 vehicles in China during the first eight months of 2010, a year-on-year increase of 33 percent, statistics show.