The new Ford facility in Chennai will initially make 1.4-litre diesel engines for the Fusion and the Fiesta
Ford India has started operations at its engine assembly plant near Chennai. The new plant will initially make 60,000 engines per annum, for the Ford Fiesta and Fusion models. Production will start with the Ford 1.4-litre Duratorq diesel engine.
‘This facility will help position Ford India as a strategic manufacturing hub for low displacement powertrain engines within our Asia Pacific and Africa region. The domestic assembly of these engines will facilitate quicker time-to-market response, and greatly enhance the efficiencies of our operations,’ said Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India.
Ford makes no secret of the fact that it wants a much larger share of the Indian car market than it currently has. The new engine assembly plant will allow Ford to increase the local content in its diesel engines to nearly 50 percent, as a result of which the company will be able to compete more effectively in the fast growing diesel car market in India.
Ford, which started its India operations back in 1995, will invest US$500 million towards doubling its manufacturing capacity to 200,000 units by 2010, and also launch a small car to compete with Indian, Japanese, Italian and Korean car manufacturers.
