Joint venture builds car plant

Mazda and Ford plan to build a new passenger car plant at AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT) - their joint venture manufacturing plant - to produce both companies’ small passenger cars.

Mazda and Ford’s small car production will commence at the new plant in 2009. The total initial investment of more than $500m for the new plant construction is expected to be split evenly between Mazda and Ford.

The new AAT passenger car plant will be built on the same site as an existing pickup truck plant. To maximise manufacturing efficiency, the new plant will feature an integrated production line from stamping through to final assembly.

In addition, a three layer wet paint system – invented by Mazda – will be introduced as a space-saving measure and the completely refurbished paint shop facility will be used for painting pickups and passenger cars. The three wet paint system reduces VOC and CO₂ emissions and waste, and improves paint quality.