Ford is a major global automaker, one that surprisingly doesn’t have a strong presence in the increasingly important Chinese market. As the CEO of Renault / Nissan puts it, the Chinese market is the future — those automakers without a strong presence in the region in the next 10 years might as well file for bankruptcy. Fortunately, the American automaker is working on something to address this concern.
According to a report by Reuters, Ford of China has been increasing its interest in the region. It doesn’t want to leave GM and Volkswagen‘s dominance uncontested.
“We are always in discussions with our joint-venture partners,” said David Schoch, chairman and CEO of Ford’s China operations, in an interview. “All I can tell you is we are studying indigenous brands, but our total focus in terms of brand enhancement is really on the Ford brand.”
The Chinese automotive market was 18.5 million units — already the largest in the world — strong in 2011 and is expected to grow by 5 percent per year over the next five years. Ford sold around 519,390 passenger cars in the region last year.
Reference: Reuters
