BEIJING: US auto giant Ford will invest nearly US$2 billion on research and development in China, despite falling sales in the world’s biggest auto market, the company said yesterday.
The 11.4 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) investment, to be completed by 2020, will build up Ford’s R&D capability in the country, especially at an existing engineering center in the eastern city of Nanjing.
“With this investment in research and development, the next generation of Ford vehicles will be completely designed around our customers,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president and chief executive officer.
Ford sold 700,196 vehicles in China during the first eight months of 2015, but that was down around 1 percent from the same period last year, amid an overall slowdown in the market due to weaker economic growth. Still, Ford will expand its product line for the Chinese market by launching two electric vehicles next year.
Beijing has made new-energy vehicles a priority but sales have disappointed despite the government push.
