The Ford Motor Company has announced plans to build a $450 million car plant in Thailand to meet rising demand in the region. Analysts say the investment shows confidence that Thailand will remain a leading auto manufacturing hub despite political unrest and competition from China.

Ford executives say the plant will be built in Rayong, southeast of Bangkok, by 2012 and will produce about 150,000 passenger vehicles a year, most of them for export to Southeast Asia and Australia.

The new car production will support up to 11,000 new jobs at the plant and indirectly through suppliers and dealers.

Ford says they will purchase up to $800 million a year worth of vehicle components through Thai suppliers.