Ford and Mazda joined an air conditioner venture

The two auto makers will team with a major Japanese appliance maker to build car air conditioners in an industrial park in Japan. The new company, to be called Japan Climate Systems Corp., will begin this fall building a 75,000-square-foot plant near Hiroshima, the companies said. The plant will initially make 100,000 air conditioners a year for Mazda and will employ about 150 workers. Joining with the two auto makers will be Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. of Osaka, Japan, which makes a wide variety of consumer appliances, including products marketed in the United States under the names Panasonic, Technics and Quasar.