Ford India is moving forward with new plans.
Ford India is making up for lost time. While its competitors have managed to get ahead in the small car game and even put up powertrain facilities, it has been lagging in both regards. Now though, Ford India is fast tracking them both. It’s already assembling its 1.4 Duratorq engine for the Fiesta, Fusion and new Ikon at its facilities at Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu.
It will move to a new facility within the same premises later next year, where it will eventually start assembling up to 50,000 Duratorqs and 10,000 1.6 Duratecs a year. The 1.6 Duratec is currently assembled by Avtec, a Hindustan Motors company.
The Duratorq, built in collaboration with Peugeot is built at four other facilities in the world — a total of over five lakh units a year are built. The Duratorq currently has around 70 per cent localisation levels and is helping Ford save up to 20 per cent by building it here. Ford eventually plan to export a portion of its diesel engines each year.
A new 2,50,000 capacity plant is currently being readied which will have the first products roll out by late-2010, early-2011. This includes a small car, whose name, according to unconfirmed reports, is Project 597. The all-new small car will be the first new product to roll out of this new assembly plant and will conform to excise duty benefit requirements.
The new assembly plant will also have a state-of-the-art paint shop, the only one outside Ford US. Ford’s new facility can handle cars from hatchbacks to D-segment cars like the Mondeo — a sign that Ford hasn’t dumped its Mondeo/Focus plans for India just yet.
Meanwhile, Ford has announced that the Fusion will receive the axe, as the company hasn’t been satisfied with the response it has generated. Ford had initially launched the Fusion with a 1.6 Duratec, but introduced the 1.4 Duratorq and brought its length within four metres to enjoy excise benefits. However, the move did not help Ford enjoy better production numbers and it has planned to end its run in the coming months.
Global crisis notwithstanding, Ford India is trying to put its house back in order and become a big player in the Indian auto industry in the years to come.
