Mazda, Ford to Hike Truck Capacity in Thailand

Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. say they are investing an additional $27 million to expand pickup truck capacity of their joint venture in Rayong, Thailand, by 20,000 units per year.

The partners say increase will take effect next month, thus bringing the venture's annual capacity to 295,000 units. The companies invested $350 million last year to retool the factory for the redesigned Ford Ranger and Mazda BT-50 compact pickup trucks.

The plant also makes the Ford Everest SUV and Ford Fiesta, Mazda2 and Mazda3 small cars. The venture's car and truck output is sold locally and exported to other markets in southeast Asia.

Ford and Mazda have invested a total of $2 billion in the AutoAlliance Thailand Co. venture since it was formed in 1995. It is one of the few shared projects that remains after Ford reduced its stake in Mazda to 3.5% in late 2010 from 34.4% stake in 2008.