With the projected increase in production by 2015, Ford India plans to export engines to Europe and other markets. This decision would help the company to fully utilize the expanding production capacity in India. The company has invested about Rs. 4000 crore for it’s expansion plans in India. Although Ford India has made car and engine exports to other countries earlier, this would be the first time Indian built engines would be shipped to Europe. The European manufacturing facility already has considerable car productions, so the initial interest would only be in supplying the engines to the European plant.
The new manufacturing facility will be spread over 460 acres of land acquired in Sanand, Gujarat.
This plant will have operations like stamping, body paint and assembly operations for vehicle manufacturing, as well as machining and assembly operations for engine manufacturing. Ford India’s current plant in Chennai produces about 2,00,000 cars a year such as the Classic, Fiesta, Figo and the Endeavour. After the commencement of production in Gujarat, Ford will have an overall capacity of 4,50,000 units and about 6,00,000 engines per annum. The construction of the dual factory plant will start by the end of this year or early 2013.
Ford plans to export the EcoSport to global markets. The company will manufacture the Ford EcoSport at its Chennai facility, which will also help them manufacture the EcoBoost engine. The EcoBoost engine is a very promising motor and has already found its way into the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo globally. This engine is likely to make its way into the next generation Figo as well, while Ford might also plonk it in the current Fiesta sold in the Indian market. The EcoBoost engine is high on mileage and performance.
