By Christina Rogers
Responding to slowing growth in China, Ford Motor Co. trimmed
factory production in the first quarter to avoid having to match
price cuts taken by other auto makers there, the company's Asia
chief said Thursday.
"We have seen a little bit of a slowdown in showroom traffic,"
Dave Schoch, Ford's group vice president of Asia Pacific. "If there
is softness in the market, I won't let stock build and we'll cut
production."
The reductions are "nothing material" and targeted only certain
models, Mr. Schoch said, declining to name which ones. Ford is
trying to resist making price cuts to preserve the value of its
cars, he said.
The move comes as Ford and other car makers continue to add
factory capacity in China even as growth in the broader auto market
stalls amid a slowdown in the country's economy.
Last year, Ford brought two new plants online in China and
opened another one in the first quarter this year, hoping to tap a
market that it expects to grow from 24 million last year to 32
million in 2020.
Despite such projections, the Dearborn, Mich., auto maker last
month cut its industrywide outlook for the year in China by about
half a million units to reflect the slowdown, forecasting sales of
24 million to 26 million in 2015.
Mr. Schoch is optimistic Ford can weather the slowdown with a
number of new models arriving in China this year, including a new
Ford Edge and Ford Taurus, both vehicles tailored to the Chinese
market.
Write to Christina Rogers at christina.rogers@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Ford Motor Co.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US3453708600
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires