Ford Motor Company celebrated the official opening of its Ford Thailand Manufacturing (FTM) plant in Rayong, Thailand. It's the company's second plant in Thailand.
The $450 million passenger vehicle manufacturing plant "will serve as the foundation for Ford’s plan to introduce eight new vehicles to the ASEAN region by mid-decade," according to a company press release.
The ASEAN region includes the countries of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and VietNam.
Ford officials said no other auto company has invested more in Thailand over the last five years:
“The opening of this new, world-class facility is the latest example in our aggressive growth plan for this region, which represents Ford’s largest industrial expansion in half-a-century,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa. “The world-class One Ford vehicles produced here will be part of our plan to launch 50 new vehicles and powertrains in Asia Pacific and Africa by mid-decade.”
Ford officials said the new facility in Thailand includes "one of the world's fastest stamping presses, and the latest in automotive manufacturing robot technologies. The plant is capable of producing 6 different vehicles simultaneously.
This allows the company to bring new vehicles to market faster, and test new vehicles while maintaining full production speed.
The company released this video of the plant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvUJwMQJyko&feature=youtu.be
