Nanjing, China – The new Ford Fiesta, the first in a series of global cars coming from Ford, has begun production at a Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Company manufacturing facility in Nanjing, China.
The four-door hatchback and sedans are being produced for the Chinese market and will go on sale in the first quarter of 2009.
The Fiesta rollout will continue this year in China, and will reach the U.S. and other key world markets in early 2010. Models for North America will be built in Mexico. The new global Fiesta debuted in Europe in 2008; in just over two months on the market, 61,000 have been sold in the traditional 19 European markets, making it Ford of Europe’s second-best selling model behind the focus.
Within five years, Ford expects to build about one million vehicles worldwide off the new global B-car platform that forms the basis of the Fiesta. The Nanjing plant is the second Ford facility worldwide to build the new global car, and the first to build the four-door sedan version.
The Chinese plant is highly automated, with more than 150 automated robots, and is launching an eco-friendly paint technology that produces fewer volatile organic compounds and carbon dixoide emissions than traditional water-borne paints.
