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Ford to export India-built engines to Europe
Posted on 07 Sep 20129,439 Views6 Comments
Completion of Ford's Sanand plant in Gujrat will result in export of India-built engines to Europe
American carmaker Ford Motor Company is readying to export Indian-built engines to Europe, leveraging its increasing capacity in the country where it is investing more than $2 billion to build a new factory at Sanand in Gujarat.
"We would have a cumulative capacity to build 4,50,000 cars and 6,00,000 engines in India by 2015. We plan to export Indian-built engines to Europe as per the market demand," said Gary Johnson, vice-president (manufacturing) Asia Pacific and Africa.
The company's wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, Ford India, exports 40% of its engines and 25% of cars to 35 countries across the globe. The carmaker, which ships its compact hatchback Figo to Mexico and South Africa, plans to expand in the other markets as it launches new cars in India. Its dual engine and vehicle making plant at Sanand is expected to get operational by late 2014.
Ford is launching two models, including the compact sports utility vehicle EcoSport, in India as part of a product offensive to counter slumping sales in the region. The company hopes that its capacity expansion will help it compete better in the domestic market with its bigger rivals Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor and Tata Motors.
Michael Boneham, president of Ford India, said the Indian market is expected to generate major volumes and may grow to 5 million cars by 2015. "We are looking at introducing several new cars in the Indian market. Notwithstanding the current slowdown in the Indian market, we are expecting to post steady growth with big volume generation across segments," he said.
Ford plans to build nine new plants in the Asia-Pacific region and roll out 50 new vehicles and powertrains by 2015, as it expects this region to contribute 70% to its global growth over the next decade.
Besides its two plants in India, Ford is setting up five new plants in China and two in the ASEAN block with a cumulative investment of about $4.9 billion. These three regions will serve as its main manufacturing hubs in Asia. At the same time, it is reducing its operations in Europe and scaling down production in tandem with the shrinking demand in the continent.
Also Read: Ford boosts Chennai engine plant capacity
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Readers' opinions ( 6 )
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AMG
I am using the Ford Fiesta for the last 6.5 years and am quite happy with it. Nevertheless, some issues leave a bad taste. In the second year, I had to pay for a sensor failure, and then the radiator fan that conked off leaving me poorer by about 25K. And now there is a creaking noise from the rear that no one from Ford has been able to figure out the cause of.Besides that, I feel the steering is a bit stiff and the doors always shut with a metallic clang, something you don't see in a Honda or a Toyota.Otherwise, the car is quite rugged and solidly built.
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sandeep k
Ford when are you launching the Eco Sport. You had promised the launch in mid 2012. Cant wait any longer.
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Ankur
Fords are very enjoyable to drive but on 2 accounts they have a lot to learn from Honda and Maruti - reliability and mileage.
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BVB
In India, cars without roads! Strange isn't it?
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snapper
1.Get yourself a new pair of glasses.2. Get up from your arm chair so that you realize that there is a world beyond your jumbo-sized gigantic big-mac on the table which is blocking your view.3.I get the feeling that you open your mouth so wide that your facial muscles forces your eyes shut and hence your ignorance.4. If you go looking for defects, you sure will find 'em, wherever and whichever country you visit.
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Mangesh
Along with introducing new cars and increasing the capacity, please improve after sales service where Ford is miles behind competition. And revamp the dealer network which is ripping the customer pockets That will help you to increase the sales way better than new launches.
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