Ford India expands its Engine Plant, capacity now 3.4 lakh units

Ford India has announced the expansion of its engine plant. With the expansion of the plant the production capacity has gone up by 36 per cent to 340,000 units helping transform the facility into a regional small engine hub. The new facility which added a capacity of about 80,000 units to the plant was completed in record time of just over 14 months. The extra capacity will cater to the surging demand for diesel powertrains in India and growing exports. The expansion also led to the hiring of 200 employees.

Manufacturing nearly 17 variants of petrol and diesel engines, nearly 40 percent of which will be exported, the facility strategically positions Chennai as a regional small engine hub for Ford. The facility is the first Ford plant in the world with single flexible production line manufacturing petrol and diesel engines. It is also the first Ford facility to run a flexible crank shaft production line producing crank shafts, and to have a fully flexible Cold test, Hot test and Dyno test facility for petrol and diesel engines.

1.6 TiVCT, 1.4 HC and Duratorq engines from the expanded plant will be exported to markets such as South Africa, Thailand and Taiwan. Nearly 40 percent of engines manufactured here will be exported. The Chennai Engine plant has delivered several achievements in terms of Quality, Green, Safe and Smart. These include:

• The plant has the lowest water consumption among all Ford plants worldwide
• Uses vegetable-based cutting coolant for machining: An environment-friendly oil
• The plant has been awarded Ford’s technical excellence award (TMM) for four consecutive years

“We are delighted to see this new addition to our capacity in the Engine Plant as we gear up to move to the next stage of growth in India and the region. We are at an interesting phase of growth with the markets demanding swift responses from manufacturers, and I’m proud to say that with this plant’s amazingly flexible production lines of both petrol and diesel engines, we’re well-poised to move quickly” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India.

Boneham recently joined the Engine Plant’s chief, Radhakrishnan Balasundaram, vice-president, Powertrain Operations, Ford India, in cutting a ribbon to mark the roll-out of the 400,000th engine from the plant.

“To be rolling out the 400,000th engine from the Chennai plant in just under four years is an outstanding achievement, and one that everyone involved should be extremely proud,” said Gary Johnson, vice president, Manufacturing, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa. “Ford is currently building seven new plants across Asia Pacific and Africa, and we are making a significant commitment in India, which will see it become a regional hub for low-displacement engine production.”