Ford Gets OK for $80-Million China Plant

Ford Motor Co. has won approval from the Chinese government to proceed with plans for an $80-million car plant, its first in China. Ford is to form a joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Group to build the vehicles, said a senior Changan official. The official, who asked not to be named, said production could begin in two years. The joint venture would be split 50-50 between Changan and Ford, the Changan official said. The plan is to build vehicles based on Ford’s C-195 car platform, he said. In other news, Ford named Ulrich Bez, a former Daewoo Motor Co. and Porsche executive, to head its Aston Martin Lagonda unit, producer of Ford’s priciest cars. Bez, 56, was chief of research and development at Daewoo Motor between 1993 and 1998 and was a consultant to Ford in its successful bid to buy the South Korean auto maker. Before that, he was a management board member at Porsche in charge of research, development and sports.