Ford Motor Co, the second--biggest US automaker, is unfazed by growing competition from the Asia--Pacific and African (APA) automobile industry and is aiming to grow its business with a rollout of more models to customers in the region.
“Ford, for many years, has not brought all its products to the APA for different reasons. But our plans for the next several years are to bring a significant number of great products and develop new ones to add to the current product portfolio for the APA,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford’s Asia-Pacific and Africa operations.
In Taiwan Ford will add four vehicle models within the next three years as part of its expansion plan in the region, he said.
Photo: CNA
Hinrichs refused to divulge the details, but said “most” of these models will be produced in Taiwan and are tailored for the consumers here.
“That [variety of offerings] gives us confidence and excitement when competing with all competitors in the APA, including Luxgen and Toyota,” he said.
Taiwan’s Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) is set to introduce its own-brand vehicle Luxgen to China next year, after seeing great success on its home turf.
Luxgen boasts global positioning, night vision and blind-spot cameras — and at NT$800,000 (US$25,000), the company hopes it will appeal to tech-savvy and moderately wealthy Chinese consumers.
Hinrichs was in Taiwan for a one-night stopover to attend the 2 millionth vehicle rollout ceremony at Ford Lio Ho Co’s (福特六和) plant in Jhongli (中壢), Taoyuan County.
Set up in 1972, Ford Lio Ho is a joint venture between Ford and Lio Ho Group.
Ford predicts that over the next decade, 70 percent of the company’s business growth will be driven by the APA region, mainly China, India, South Africa and ASEAN, Hinrichs said.
The APA vehicle industry has a projected market of more than 30 million units this year, dominated by China, with 18 million, he said.
Ford lost US$86 million in the APA market last year, but it reversed the loss with earnings of US$166 million for the first three quarters on strong demand from China, where the second-largest contributor to GDP growth is the automotive sector.
“China is all about growth and the auto industry is growing very rapidly,” Hinrichs said.
The company said its vehicle sales in China for the first 10 months rose 40 percent from last year, and it is ushering in “record sales” for the year.
For Taiwan, the market is expected to improve next year, when as many as 330,000 cars are likely to be sold, Ford Lio Ho president Albert Li (李國寶) said.
“There is no sign of cooling down and my expectation is that the market next year will be steady at the minimum, but I see there could be some upside,” he said.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
CHEMICAL FIRE: 10 Indian employees were injured by smoke inhalation at a Tata Electronics plant in Tamil Nadu state that produces components for Apple Inc At least 10 people received medical treatment, with two hospitalized after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd plant in southern India that makes Apple Inc’s iPhone components. The fire occurred at the plant in the city of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state that makes some iPhone components. It broke out near another building inside the Tata complex, which was to begin producing complete iPhones in the coming months. The fire was contained to one building and has been extinguished fully, top district administrative official K.M. Sarayu said. No decision has been made on when
RSS