Ford Philippines Q1 exports grow 7%

Ford Group Philippines on Tuesday reported a 7-percent growth in vehicle exports for the first three months of 2011, shipping 1,816 units in the first from 1,704 units in the same 2010 period. The announcement came on the heels of a report that Ford vehicles’ domestic sales in the first quarter jumped 74 percent to 2,387 units — the largest recorded quarterly sales for Philippine subsidiary. Ford Philippines exports the Escape and Focus models to other Ford subsidiaries in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The firm also exports the Mazda3 to Thailand. “We’ll continue to make products here beyond current product programs," Ford Group Philippines president Randy Krieger had earlier said. US automaker Ford Motor Co. had urged the Philippines to put in place stable policies and lower the cost of doing business in the country to keep its position as a regional hub for vehicle assembly. — PE/VS, GMA News