- Ford announced today that it will cease production of vehicles in India following a decade of losses totaling $2 billion. The restructuring will result in about 4000 layoffs.
- The company’s plants in Chennai and Sanand are responsible for the Figo, Aspire, Freestyle, and Endeavor, which are not sold in North America; the EcoSport, which is sold here, is also produced in India and will be discontinued.
- The American automaker’s presence in India will continue through the Ford Business Solutions arm and by importing vehicles into India that were assembled elsewhere.
UPDATE 9/9/2021, 5 p.m.: The Detroit Free Press reported this afternoon, citing Ford as confirmation, that the EcoSport and other India-built models will stop production. Ford said in a statement, “Sales of current products such as Figo, Aspire, Freestyle, EcoSport and Endeavour will cease once existing dealer inventories are sold.”
Following a decade of losses, Ford announced today that it will end production of vehicles at its two assembly plants in India. The company said that over the past 10 years its Indian manufacturing arm has posted losses totaling $2 billion.
The two Indian plants assembled vehicles for sale locally in India, including small cars such as the Figo, Aspire, and Freestyle. The North American version of the EcoSport is also built at Ford’s plant in Chennai and The Detroit Free Press has reportedly received confirmation that the subcompact SUV will be discontinued as a result of the plant closures.
“As part of our Ford+ plan, we are taking difficult but necessary actions to deliver a sustainably profitable business longer term and allocate our capital to grow and create value in the right areas,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a press release. “Despite investing significantly in India, Ford has accumulated more than $2 billion of operating losses over the past 10 years and demand for new vehicles has been much weaker than forecast.”
Ford’s presence in India will continue after the restructuring, with about 100 manufacturing workers retaining jobs to provide parts and support for current customers and about 500 remaining on at the Sanand plant to build engines for the Ranger pickup truck. As part of the restructuring, the American automaker will refocus its efforts in India on its 11,000-person Ford Business Services team, which offers engineering, software development, finance, accounting, and data analysis services.
Although the Indian market will no longer include the aforementioned small cars and SUVs, the company plans to begin exporting models to India, including the Mustang and the electric Mustang Mach-E.
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Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
