Ford Wants Foothold in Korea

Home > Business > Economy

print dictionary print

Ford Wants Foothold in Korea

Ford Company's Alex Troatman, last month, said, 'Our company wants to play a major roll in Korea and if the automobile market becomes open, there will be Ford factories in Korea for sure.'
It is the very first time that a high-ranking Ford executive asserted the possibility of building production facilities inside Korea.
He met with Yoo Jong Kun, governor of North Cholla Province, this past December, and commented, 'Concretely or exactly I am not 100 percent sure on the scale and shape, but we were interested in acquiring a piece of Hyundai Motors' Kia Motors undertaking to establish a basis in Korea.'
Regarding the failed-bid for Kia, he told Governor Yoo, 'As a result we did not make it, but we still are interested in Korea as a great market.'
'We will definately scrutinize any and all possible ways to create a foothold in Korea in the near future.' He continued, 'Yet, there are a lot of variables in Korea's restructuring movement in the automobile sector.'
When asked about the competency of Korean manufacturers and cars in the world market, he remarked, 'It will be very difficult for Korea to compete with world-wide, major auto companies in the near future considering its size and technology level so far. Furthermore, Korea is still a closed market, and in the event of the anticipated opening of its auto market, Korean carmakers will certainly face some difficulties. It will be much harder than it is now.'
Ford has reportedly been seeking to move its Asian-Pacific headquarters from Japan to Korea in 1999 so as to be more effective in promoting a new auto-parts plant in Korea.
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)