Ford Motor to shut down both manufacturing plants in India, 4,000 employees affected

By Benson | Published: September 9, 2021 06:44 PM2021-09-09T18:44:23+5:302021-09-09T18:44:23+5:30

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Ford Motor Co (F.N) will stop manufacturing in India and take a hit of about $2 billion.

The decision will impact over 4000 employees as Ford will cease to be a mass-market brand in the country.

The top management told employees that it would rapidly "ramp down" production of its popular models made in India, such as Ford Figo, Ford Freestyle in India.

The hastily organised townhall by the Indian management of Ford reflected the woes of the US carmaker's journey in India, where it has been struggling amid weak domestic volumes, falling exports and lack of new products for the domestic market.

However, the company will retain its engine plant in Sanand, Gujarat and continue to service its products in India.

The decision on the shutdown is taken as the Indian operation is understood to have posted over 1-1.5 billion dollars of loss and write off in the last couple of years alone, and sustaining future operation independently was seen as unviable.

The company's total sales, meanwhile, declined by 68.1 per cent. In addition, the company's market share in the passenger transport segment is now down to 0.6 per cent from 2 per cent in August last year.

Ford currently sells EcoSport, Endeavor and Freestyle models in the SUV segment, including the Figo hatchback and Aspire sedan cars in the Indian market. The Endeavor was the company's best-selling model last month, with a total of 928 SUVs sold during the period