Ford to Consider More Value Models for Smaller Chinese Cities
Ford Motor Co. (F) is considering introducing more models in the value segment to target consumers in the country’s smaller and less developed cities.
The automaker will produce electric vehicles in China, with the timing undecided and depending on market acceptance, Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford’s Asia Pacific and Africa region, said in an interview at the Beijing auto show today.
“We’ll be bringing in more value proposition products from the Ford brand, lower price points, more value oriented,” Hinrichs said. “Those tier four, five cities in the central, western part of the country, that’s where the opportunity is, where the untapped potential is.”
Ford, playing catch up in China with General Motors Co. (GM) and Volkswagen AG (VOW), announced plans last week to build a $760 million assembly plant in Hangzhou that will double its Chinese output to 1.2 million vehicles annually. The Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford has said it will bring 15 new models and 20 new engines and transmissions to China by 2015.
The automaker will begin selling three additional sport- utility vehicles in the country within the next year to meet demand for the fastest-growing segment of China’s auto industry.
Ford’s China inventory fell to 30 days at the end of the first quarter from the “mid-30s” at the start of the period, Hinrichs said.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Tim Higgins in Detroit at thiggins21@bloomberg.net; Liza Lin in Shanghai at llin15@bloomberg.net; Stephen Engle in Beijing at sengle1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net; Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Stephen Engle reports from the Beijing Auto Show on the outlook for China's auto market, which includes more than 100 domestic carmakers and countless joint ventures with foreign players. Volvo Car Corp., the Swedish carmaker owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., said it plans to more than double its number of models to compete with Volkswagen AG’s Audi and BMW AG in the world’s largest automobile market. (Source: Bloomberg)
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Motor Co.’s Asia Pacific and Africa region, talks about the company's business strategy for China. Ford, playing catch up in China with General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG, announced plans last week to build a $760 million assembly plant in Hangzhou that will double its Chinese output to 1.2 million vehicles annually. Hinrichs spoke at the Beijing Auto Show on April 23 with Bloomberg Television's Stephen Engle. (Source: Bloomberg)
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