Ford has ceased its production in India as the last made-in-India Ecosport rolls off the production line in its Chennai facility. This Ecosport in particular was a Diamond White SE variant with a 2-liter petrol engine and all-wheel-drive drivetrain. This left-hand drive model was built for export and is most likely destined for the United States. This marks the end of Ford producing cars in India for domestic as well as export markets.
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Ford’s India Exit
Back on September 9, 2021, Ford India announced that it will stop selling cars in the Indian market. However, the American carmaker stated that it will continue to build cars for the export markets thus utilizing its production facilities. Speaking of production facilities, Ford India had two facilities, namely, the Maraimalai Nagar facility in Tamil Nadu and the Sanand facility in Gujarat. The Tamil Nadu facility is the first and the oldest facility of Ford India and it produced cars like the Ecopsort and Endeavour for domestic as well as international markets including the United States. The newer Gujarat facility produced cars like the Figo and Aspire for the domestic and export market as well. It was also the first facility to shut down after Ford India’s exit. This plant will now be taken over by Tata to produce cars and upcoming EVs.
There were a number of reasons for Ford to cease its operations in India. One of the major reasons was that the losses incurred were far too many over the years. Other than this, Ford India was hardly able to fully utilize both the production facilities due to low sales. Another major reason was Ford’s partnership with Mahindra failed which was announced in 2019. This JV was canceled on December 31st, 2020 leaving Ford with no other plans for the Indian market. After announcing its exit, Ford mentioned that it will be exporting EVs and niche models to India like the Mustang and Bronco. However, there has been no development regarding this news yet. Ford is the third carmaker to exit India and it will surely be missed by enthusiasts.