Mazda-Ford's Thai output

Mazda-Ford's Thai output

TOKYO (DPA): Japan's Mazda Motor Corporation said Friday that its joint venture in Thailand with the Ford Motor Company has produced 100,000 pickup trucks over the past two years.

Ford, the largest shareholder in Mazda, has a 33.9-per-cent stake in the Japanese company and also occupies the post of Mazda president.

The joint venture, AutoAlliance Thailand Company, started making Mazda B Series and Ford Ranger pickup trucks in July 1998.

About 70 per cent of the venture's products are shipped to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, a Mazda spokesman said.

The Thai unit, which has an annual production capacity of 135,000 vehicles, started building the Mazda 323 compact sedan and Ford's Laser models this past January.

A total output in January-July came to 42,663 cars, up 54.8 per cent from the year-earlier period. But the operation rate was around 50 per cent of capacity, the Japanese automaker said.