Ford Plans Expansion In India

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Published: Friday, April 8, 2011, 14:40 [IST]

With the phasing out of the Ikon, Ford India is yet to decide on expansion activities in its Chennai facility. The company was to have expanded this Ford plant facility to increase the production capacity and the company"s MD and President said the company has sufficient space for expansion and decision will be taken at the right time. The existing facility has the capacity of 2 lakh annual units along with the engine facility in three shifts having the capacity of 2.5 lakh annual u nits. The company is on the increase spree by operating two shifts to yield the capacity of 1.5 lakhs by this December, he said.

The sale volume for Ford in 2010 calendar year stood at 83887 units by which the company anticipates to attain 20% growth in this year. To meet this, already as on 31 March 2010, the company has sold out 29,804 units and has made explorations of 50 markets globally for its fast selling Figo. As proposed earlier, the company intends to launch 8 models in another four years for which the increase in capacity has become essential.

He further clarified that the talks about the second Ford plant in Gujarat is only on the air and any decision taken will be duly announced. The earlier investment for Ford plant expansion was in 2009 with 0 million taking the net investment in India to 0 million. On new launches, he said, Fiesta sedan will be ready during the mid-2011and this will have a 1.4 lit petrol and 1.6 diesel engine each having two variants. The price tag of these is Rs549030 for petrol version and Rs648000 for diesel version.

Article Published On: Friday, April 8, 2011, 14:23 [IST]

Read more on: #ford #luxury cars #new car

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