The 350 million USD invested transmission plant of Changan Ford has put into production in Chongqing. The mayor of Chongqing Mr. Huang Qifan, President & CEO of Ford Alan Mulally, President & CEO of Ford China John Lawler, Chairman of Changan Ford Xu Liuping, Vice president of Changan Auto Company Wang Kun, President of Changan Ford Marin Burela and the executive vice-president Mr. Luo Minggang attended the launch ceremony.
The new plant is Ford’s first transmission plant in Asia-pacific area, and is a second strategic step since the engine plant launched last year. The new plant is situated in the Liangjiang New Area in Chongqing, covering 75,000m2, and the initial output will be 400,000 units.
Changan Ford engine plant is reported to have been put into production since last June, the total investment is 500 million USD, and the expected output is 400,000 units. The overall annual output will increase from 350,000 units to 750,000 units after its full operation.
According to Changan Ford, the new plant will adopt the advanced production process, and implement fully the production concept of “intelligent, quality first, safe and environment friendly”. For example, the plant uses the Ford MQL process to greatly reduce the need of machining and cooling system, as well as the consumption of energy. The gear machining plant uses the “dry hobbing” technology to reduce the emission of hazardous liquid effectively. Moreover, the plant will adopt automatic process in all key manufacturing processes.
With the operation of the transmission plant, integrating the existing engine plant, two vehicle plants, together with the Chongqing third plant and Hangzhou plant that are to be completed, the Changan Ford industrial structure which is composed of vehicle, engine and transmission will be shaped soon. Chongqing will become the largest production base beyond Michigan in the near future.