Before the end of next month, Ford Motor Company’s ‘Figo’ — the Ford Endeavour sub-B category car — will hit the Indian roads, triggering further competition in the compact car segment that currently generates over 70% of the country’s total new car sales. Figo, the sixth new Ford model to be introduced by the US automaker, was flagged off by Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Friday at the Maraimalainagar facilty near Chennai. Nearly 90% of the $500-million investment by Ford has been completed though there are still some parts to be added in the new 40,000-sq-m flexible engine plant that will quadruple the production capacity to 2.50 lakh engines a year. Incr
emental investments would be made as and when necessary, Ford vice-president, operations (Asia Pacific and Africa) Raj Nair told reporters. Remaining non-committal about the price of Figo, Ford India president and MD Michael Boneham said, “it will be very competitive. We will compete with i10 and Swift and others as we are targeting the segment, which accounts for 70% of all new vehicles sold in India.” The definition of small car in India is a “bit different,” he said. The new engine plant is designed to meet the growing needs of the Indian vehicle market. It is an advanced manufacturing centre that has been created with the world’s best practices for engine manufacturing. Currently, a single production line produces approximately 60,000 diesel engines a year. The plant, which will produce both diesel (1.4L) and petrol engines (1.2L), has been benchmarked against other competitive facilities globally as well as the current volume manufacturers in India for quality and production efficiency, he said. Seventy-nine percent of the diesel engine parts and 60% of the petrol engine components are produced locally in India. Like the assembly operation for vehicles at Chennai, engine component manufacturers and suppliers are conveniently located for better logistics, Mr Boneham added.
For Further: economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/auto/automobiles/Ford-Figo-set-to-hit-road-next-month/articleshow/5540783.cms
emental investments would be made as and when necessary, Ford vice-president, operations (Asia Pacific and Africa) Raj Nair told reporters. Remaining non-committal about the price of Figo, Ford India president and MD Michael Boneham said, “it will be very competitive. We will compete with i10 and Swift and others as we are targeting the segment, which accounts for 70% of all new vehicles sold in India.” The definition of small car in India is a “bit different,” he said. The new engine plant is designed to meet the growing needs of the Indian vehicle market. It is an advanced manufacturing centre that has been created with the world’s best practices for engine manufacturing. Currently, a single production line produces approximately 60,000 diesel engines a year. The plant, which will produce both diesel (1.4L) and petrol engines (1.2L), has been benchmarked against other competitive facilities globally as well as the current volume manufacturers in India for quality and production efficiency, he said. Seventy-nine percent of the diesel engine parts and 60% of the petrol engine components are produced locally in India. Like the assembly operation for vehicles at Chennai, engine component manufacturers and suppliers are conveniently located for better logistics, Mr Boneham added.For Further: economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/auto/automobiles/Ford-Figo-set-to-hit-road-next-month/articleshow/5540783.cms
