New Delhi: United States-based carmaker and automotive conglomerate Ford Motor Company has decided to shut down its manufacturing operations in India. According to an official statement released by the firm, Ford India will cease manufacturing vehicles for sale in India.
The company will shut down its two manufacturing plants in India and will sell only imported vehicles in the country as part of a restructuring exercise, people aware of the development informed news agency PTI.
A formal announcement by the company is expected soon.
With this, Ford Motor becomes the second global auto firm to cease local manufacturing operations in India. US-based General Motors, which came to India just a few years before Ford, stopped selling cars in the country in 2017.
Ford India, which invested about $2.5 billion at its Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Sanand (Gujarat) plants, will stop selling vehicles such as the EcoSport, Figo and Aspire, produced from these plants.
Going ahead, it would only sell imported vehicles like Mustang in the country.
"This is a restructuring decision, where the company will shift to imported vehicles," a person aware of the development told the news agency. It is to be noted that despite two decades of existence, Ford has been struggling for years to strengthen its prominence in India's automotive market.
The loss-making entity has been further damaged by the first and second waves of Coronavirus in the country.
However, overcoming the slump in growth momentum, India's automobile manufacturers posted healthy sales numbers for August despite high fuel costs as well as the shortage of electronic components.
In terms of sales, auto major Maruti Suzuki's total off-take in August rose to 130,699 units from 124,624 units sold during the corresponding month of last year.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor's sales rose by over 12.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis, rising to 59,068 units last month from 52,609 units sold during August 2020. Auto giant Mahindra & Mahindra's overall auto sales for August 2021 stood at 30,585 vehicles.
Tata Motors' total August sales rose to 57,995 units from 36,505 units sold during the corresponding month of last year.
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