HispanicBusiness

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday said it planned to invest $600 million to expand annual production by 350,000 units at its plant in the central Chinese city of Chongqing.

The company and its Changan Ford Mazda Automobile joint venture would expand capacity in Chongqing by 2014 to "meet growing demand in the world's largest auto market," Ford said.

"With this additional investment and capacity expansion, Ford continues to lay the foundation for long-term growth in the world's largest automotive market," Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia-Pacific and Africa, said in a statement.

"Expanding our production capacity in Chongqing is a key part of our aggressive growth plans in China and Asia," said Dave Schoch, the chairman of Ford China.

Schoch said the expansion would equip Ford to bring "more high quality, safe, fuel efficient, fun-to-drive vehicles from our global portfolio to Chinese customers."

Ford said the expansion would raise its annual capacity in China to 950,000 vehicles, allowing it to market 15 new models in the country by 2015.

The Chongqing complex is Ford's largest production centre outside the United States.