Ford Confirms Restart Of Manufacturing In India With Focus On Exports From India
Ford Motor Company has just announced, confirming its intentions of restarting manufacturing operations in India. They have submitted a Letter of Intent to the Tamil Nadu Government. This comes after officials from Ford Motor Company had multiple meetings with the Tamil Nadu government to discuss feasibility plans of reviving its Chennai plant.
The plan, for now, is only to manufacture for exports; the company hasn’t explicitly stated any production plans for domestic sales. Ford’s Chennai plant will be re-designed for export manufacturing with domestic sales of fully imported cards expected to be on cards too. During the discussion with the team from Ford Motors, they explored the feasibility of renewing Ford’s three-decade partnership with Tamil Nadu, to again make cars from the Ford banner in Tamil Nadu for the world.
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In March 2024, Ford Motor Company’s president, International Markets Group, Kay Hart, had visited India, indicating at the re-launch of the American brand in the country. The company has now confirmed that the Chennai facility will be repurposed for export manufacturing.
The ongoing support from the Tamil Nadu Government to explore different options for the Chennai plant aims to highlight ongoing commitment to India as Ford intends to leverage the manufacturing expertise available in Tamil Nadu to serve new global markets. As for domestic sales, it is understood that a market launch of the new SUV Everest is being closely looked at as a fully imported vehicle, along with a made-in-India affordable EV platform at a later stage.
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The company currently employs 12,000 individuals in Global Business Operations in Tamil Nadu which is expected to grow by 2,500 to 3,000 jobs in the next three year. Ford also continues to manufacture engines for export from its Sanand facility on lease from Tata Motors. India also represents the second-largest salaried workforce worldwide for the company.
Ford stopped making cars in India domestically, in 2021, after struggling to strengthen volumes and cease export production in 2022. Ford sold one of the two plants in India to Tata Motors in 2023, and its other plant in Chennai was closed. The company is yet to share more details on the exact type of manufacturing and the markets to which the vehicles will be exported.
