Ford was said to be looking into contract manufacturing prospects in India earlier this week. However, according to a new report, the automaker may be planning to shut down its operations in India entirely.
Ford Looks To Wrap Up India Factory Operation!
It is said that Ford could shut down manufacturing operations at its factories in Chennai and Sanand, Gujarat. Besides contract manufacturing, Ford is also said to be keen on selling off its Indian factories.
According to rumours, Ford has been in talks with Ola, which could use Ford’s factory to manufacture electric vehicles.
An Ola spokesperson refused to comment, while Ford India’s spokesman termed it speculative: “We would not like to comment on speculations. We continue to assess our capital allocations in India and expect to have an answer in the second half of this year,” Ford India’s spokesperson said.
Ford And Mahindra’s Joint Venture
Ford’s Chennai plant has an installed annual capacity of 2 lakh cars and 3.50 lakh engines, while the Sanand facility can produce 2.4 lakh cars and 2.7 lakh engines.
Last year, talks between Ford and Mahindra over a possible joint venture broke down. It is said that Ford had initiated talks with other manufacturers like MG, Changan and Great Wall following this.
Initially, Ford and Mahindra had plans to share platforms and technologies and would’ve utilized the production capacity at Ford’s factories in India.
Ford went slow with their contract manufacturing discussions for two years because “talks were at an advanced level with Mahindra & Mahindra” and were looking at “cross badging and new product alliance plans with the Indian partner would take care of Ford India’s 400000 units per annum capacity at Maraimalainagar and Sanand,” said a source.
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