Ford India will launch a small car early next year. Ford recently showcased the prototype version of the small car (codenamed B517) at a dealers meet in Chennai. The small car will compete with the Hyundai i10 and the Maruti Swift. The small car will foray Fords entry into the volume segment.
“We regularly meet with our dealers, as we grow our dealership base and are seeing even greater support and enthusiasm from our dealer body supportive of our future plans. As announced previously, we are on track to bring the new small car to India in early 2010. Unfortunately, we are not able to reveal the timing of our future product introductions,” a Ford spokesman said.
The 4-door hatchback will be powered by an indigenous diesel engine manufactured at its Chennai plant. Ford India is close to signing the second MoU with the Tamil Nadu government which would see an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore to double the current capacity by one lakh cars and 2.5 lakh engines. Ford also plans to make India an export hub for its small car.
Picture Source – Autobild India
