SANAND, INDIA-Ford Motor Co. executives and local government officials recently laid the foundation stone of a new $1 billion automotive plant here. The company, through the local subsidiary Ford India, is building a massive complex here that will produce 240,000 vehicles per year.
The plant should be finished by 2014, and will be fully integrated to support stamping, body assembly, paint, trim and final assembly. The company has announced it will introduce eight new vehicles to the country by 2015. Ford currently has its only India plant located near Chennai.
“Ford is very proud to invest in India during these momentous times of rapid development, economic growth and profound change,” says Felix Guillen, Ford’s executive director of manufacturing. He says the plant has already attracted 19 supply firms to the Sanand facility.
The company, which didn’t take a bailout during the financial crisis, has seen strong sales figures. The firm’s US sales increased 14% in February compared to February 2011, with 179,119 vehicles sold in in the United States. The automaker’s North American production plan is to build 730,000 vehicles in the second quarter of 2012, up 3% (20,000 vehicles) compared with the second quarter 2011.
However, high interest rates in India have slowed new car purchases. After double-digit growth in 2011, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers predicts only a 0-2% growth in car sales in 2012. The country is still very reliant on motorbikes, buses and even three-wheeled motorized rickshaws, according to SIAM data. Ford introduced a version of the Ford Fiesta in June 2011.
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