INTERVIEW - Ford aims at Asian small car market with Thai venture

By Vithoon Amorn

RAYONG, Thailand (Reuters) - Ford Motor launched a new $500 million passenger car plant in southeast Thailand on Monday, a move aimed at raising its share of a lucrative small car segment in Asia dominated by Japanese firms.

The plant, a joint venture with Japan's Mazda for producing Ford Fiesta and Mazda2 models, will export 85 percent of its annual capacity of 100,000 cars a year.

David Alden, Ford's president for southeast Asia and Japan, said Thai-built Fiestas would be shipped to southeast Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa from early 2010 when production started.

"A half a billion dollar investment is a huge investment in any business, especially in the economic environment that we are facing," Alden told Reuters in an interview.

"It is a pretty important strategic statement that we are making of the importance of the ASEAN countries, with Thailand as its production base."

ASEAN is the 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations.

The 1.4-to-1.6-litre-engine Fiestas to be exported from Thailand to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will replace those now shipped from Cologne in Germany and Valencia in Spain.

Ford is the only Detroit auto company not supported by emergency U.S. government funding. The new General Motors emerged from bankruptcy on Friday.