Ford Motor Co. (F) and its three-way joint venture (“JV”) with China’s Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. and Japan’s Mazda Motor — Changan Ford Mazda — plans to recall 236,643 units of Focus sedans in order to fix a problem with their engines. The recall will include the models manufactured between August 18, 2008 and May 28, 2010.
Recently, Ford has also announced its plan to recall 166,000 vehicles in Brazil in order to fix a problem with their electrical wiring. The recalls included the domestically made subcompact Novo Ka models of 2008–2010. Ford has discovered the faulty wiring to cause short circuits and even fires (in extreme cases) in the engine compartment.
Automotive safety recalls have become the talk of the town after Toyota Motors’ (TM) announcement of the largest-ever global recall of more than 8.5 million vehicles in this year. So far, the Japanese automaker has recalled 8.5 million vehicles related to problems such as faulty accelerator gas pedals and slipping floor mats as well as defective braking systems.
At the beginning of this month, Ford, Changan Automobile and Mazda submitted a joint proposal to the Chinese government to split their three-way joint venture. The three automakers will split their three-way tie-up into two entities. They will likely spin out the JV’s factory at Nanjing as a 50-50 JV between Mazda and Changan Automobile Group while Ford and Changan will run the JV’s other factory in Chongqing.
Ford owns a 35% stake in Changan Ford Mazda, with Changan holding 50% and Mazda the remaining 15%. The venture, which manufactures Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo and other sedan models in China, has posted a staggering 55% rise in sales to 316,139 vehicles in 2009, driven by the Chinese government’s incentives to push auto sales.
Read the full analyst report on “F”
Read the full analyst report on “TM”
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