Changan Ford Mazda, a joint venture between Chongqing Changan Automobile, Ford and Mazda will start building its third plant in Chongqing on 25 September in response to growing sales in the China market.

The new plant is designed to produce 100,000 vehicles a year initially with the potential to expand to 300,000 units in future. Due to be completed in the first half of 2010, the plant will mainly produce SUVs, crossovers, Focus and Mondeo models.

The joint venture’s existing two plants are located in Chongqing and Nanjing, with capacities of 250,000 and 160,000 units respectively.

Changan Ford Mazda sold 144,601 Ford brand cars during the first eight months of 2009, up 30 per cent year-on-year. In the month of August, Ford car sales surged 111 per cent to 21,127 units.