Ford to shut down both its manufacturing plants in India

US auto major Ford Motor Co will shut its two manufacturing plants in India and will sell only imported vehicles in the country as part of a restructuring exercise according to people aware of the developmentThe company which invested about USD 25 billion at its Chennai Tamil Nadu and Sanand Gujarat plants will stop selling vehicles such as the EcoSport Figo and Aspire which are produced from these plantsGoing ahead it would only sell imported vehicles like Mustang in the countryThis is a restructuring decision where the company will shift to imported vehicles said a person in the know of the developmentA formal announcement by the company is expected soonFord has been struggling for years to make a mark in Indias automotive marketFord India has an installed manufacturing capacity of 610000 engines and 440000 vehicles a year It also exported its models such as Figo Aspire and EcoSport to over 70 markets around the worldAlso read CCI imposes Rs 200 crore penalty on Maruti Suzuki over discount diktatIn January this year Ford Motor Co and Mahindra amp Mahindra had decided to scrap their previously announced automotive joint venture and instead chose to continue independent operations in IndiaIn October 2019 the two companies had announced an agreement under which Mahindra amp Mahindra would acquire a majority stake in a whollyowned arm of Ford Motor Co FMC that will take over the automotive business of the US auto major in IndiaThe new entity was to develop the market and distribute Ford brand vehicles in India while also selling both Mahindra and Ford cars in the highgrowth emerging marketsAs part of the agreement MampM was to acquire 51 per cent stake in a whollyowned arm of the US auto major Ardour Automotive Private Ltd presently a whollyowned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company Inc USA for around Rs 657 crore The balance 49 per cent equity shareholding in Ardour was to be held by FMC andor any of its affiliatesThe new venture was also envisaged to acquire the automotive business of Ford India Pvt Ltd FIPL a whollyowned subsidiary of FMC that has been engaged in the automotive business in India since 1995The automotive business which was to be acquired included vehicle manufacturing plants of Ford India at Chennai and Sanand but excluded the separate powertrain facility in Sanand which is essentially used for FMCs global markets and the powertrain division of FIPL also did not form part of the dealFord is the second American auto major after General Motors to shut plants in IndiaIn 2017 General Motors announced that it would stop selling vehicles in India as there was no turnaround in its fortunes here even after struggling for over two decades to make a mark The company sold its Halol plant in Gujarat to MG Motors while it continued to run its Talegaon plant in Maharashtra for exports but ceased production there last DecemberThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever