Ford drops plans to make EVs from India plant – EQ Mag Pro
Ford Motor Company had announced its decision in September 2021 to cease local vehicle manufacturing in India.
US carmaker Ford has dropped its proposed plan to manufacture electric vehicles in India and make the country a hub for EV exports. In the wake of new development, the company may write to the government communicating that it no longer intends to invest in the country under the performance linked incentive (PLI) scheme. Ford’s application was selected under the PLI scheme, among the 20 other automakers, that the ministry of heavy industries had shortlisted. The company at that time had said it will use one of its plants in India for making EVs for the export purpose.
In a statement to FE, Ford India said: “After careful review, we have decided to no longer pursue EV manufacturing for exports from any of the Indian plants. We remain grateful to the government for approving our proposal under the production-linked incentives and for being supportive while we continued our exploration.”
Ford Motor Company had announced its decision in September 2021 to cease local vehicle manufacturing in India. As part of its India restructuring, the company had decided to stop manufacturing of vehicles and planned to wind down Sanand vehicle assembly plant by fourth quarter of 2021 and Chennai engine & vehicle assembly plants by the second quarter of 2022.
Giving further details, Ford said as part of the ongoing business restructuring in India, Ford has continued to explore possible alternatives for its manufacturing facilities. This included applying for the production-linked incentives scheme, which allowed us to explore utilising one of the plants as a potential EV manufacturing base.“Ford India’s previously announced business restructuring continues as planned, including exploring other alternatives for our manufacturing facilities. We continue to work closely with unions and other stakeholders to deliver an equitable and balanced plan to mitigate the impacts of restructuring,” it added.
Ford had said last year that despite investing significantly in India, the company had accumulated more than $2 billion of operating losses over the past 10 years and demand for new vehicles has been much weaker than forecast.
In India, Ford India has four vehicle and engine plants in Chennai and Sanand. The company decided to continue operating the engine plant in Sanand while closing down the other three plants. It had said that it is exploring the possibility of selling its manufacturing plants third party companies. Close to 4,000 employees, both in Chennai and Sanand plants, were expected to be affected by the decision of Ford to cease India manufacturing.
After the decision on Ford’s India manufacturing exit, the unions at Chennai and Sanand plants had been demanding job protection in the event of a third party taking over the plants.
Source: PTI
