CHINA

Ford Plans Components Joint Ventures: Ford Motor Co. is in the early stages of setting up joint ventures in China for each of its five main components divisions as the first step toward producing vehicles there, Ford’s first China representative said. Ford plans to set up joint ventures in plastics, electronics, glass, climate control and electrical and fuel handling systems, said David McKee, head of China business development for Ford’s components group. China’s potentially enormous automobile market is increasingly attractive to foreign manufacturers. The government is committed to small-car production, and increasingly affluent households in China’s booming southern coastal cities are expected to be eager consumers.