Ford might have to delay the launch of the upcoming 2016 Endeavour due to the heavy floods that rocked Chennai recently.
With the new year about to begin soon, a lot of anticipated vehicles are being readied to be launched in India. However, Chennai recently got lashed with heavy rains and floods and this created a huge loss for the auto industry too. A lot of top auto companies like BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Ashok Leyland, Nissan, etc. have their plants in the city and all of them had to shut down operations due to the deluge.
The weather conditions seem to have improved now and most companies like Hyundai, Renault-Nissan, Daimler trucks, etc. have resumed their operations. However, Ford is still assessing the damage caused at their production facility and hence they haven’t been able to resume production yet. Their factory is located in Maraimalai Nagar and a lot of water logging had occurred there. Inside their factory complex, they also have an engine production plant and operations over there have resumed.
This deluge could have an adverse effect on the company’s future operations for the time being. We heard that the company won’t be shipping any new units of the EcoSport for the next month or so while there is also the possibility of the launch of the all new Endeavour getting delayed. The Endeavour is going to be locally assembled at the same plant while the Figo siblings are produced at Sanand.
The third generation Ford Endeavour was expected to be launched in early 2016 but we might not be surprised if the launch gets delayed by a couple of weeks. The company will first assess all their damages and only then commence their operations. The SUV is going to be a very significant product for Ford and the vehicle was recently caught testing by us in Mumbai.
