Ford Earmarks $370 Million for Fresh Manufacturing - in India

The bleatings of current White House occupants telling American-based automakers to BUILD MOAR CARS HERE GOBBLESS notwithstanding, Ford is setting aside nearly half a billion dollars as part of initiative to reopen a plant in India it shuttered four years ago.

Referred to by local media as the Tamil Nadu plant in Chennai, this facility will be tasked with churning out “high-end engines for export markets” to the tune of about 200,000 units per year. Ford has been musing about this for a spell, making for interesting reading considering the tough diplomatic relationship right now between Washington and New Delhi. You can bet that, should this news make it onto the Oval Office radar, its occupant is likely to suggest Ford spend its money at home instead.

Ford largely hauled itself out of India a few years ago, citing a lack of return from its efforts in that market. It took a charge on its balance sheet somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2 billion when it locked the doors. It then sold a plant to Tata Motors to help defray the situation but hung onto a couple of others, including the one it now seems on the cusp of restarting.

To be clear, the chances of these engines making it stateside run somewhere between nil and nonexistent. Rather, they seem destined for European and other markets across the pond after the company (and many others) started to more correctly read the tea leaves on electric vehicle opportunities.

Talking heads place the Tamil Nadu area - the country's southernmost state about the size of Alabama in terms of total area but with almost 80 million people - as India’s factory capital, no small feat in a country where there is no shortage of manufacturing. According to data from the government, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Tamil Nadu housed 40,121 factories in FY2023–24, up slightly from 39,676 in the previous fiscal year. Gujarat follows with 33,311 factories. Not all of them are the size of an engine-making facility run by an automotive giant - but those numbers are still no small shakes. 

[Images: Ford]

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