Ford India’s President and Managing Director Joginder Singh, on Friday, said the automobile major was committed to investing $2 million on its facilities in Chennai, its greenfield plant at Sanand, Gujarat, and global business services centres.
Apart from boosting its facilities to fully meet the domestic demand, he said the objective of investing $142 million was also met, with the production capacity at its Chennai plant geared up by having an assembly line and an engine manufacturing unit.
When the Sanand plant becomes fully operational in 2014, with an investment of about $1 billion, Ford India’s two plants would have a combined capacity of 4.4 lakh cars and 6.10 lakh engines, annually.
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“An estimated 25 per cent of vehicles that roll out from our two plants and 40 per cent of engines put together in India is what we envisage for exports, as part of our long-term strategy,” he said.
He said Ford India was committed to the growth story in India, despite concerns over the slowdown in the automobile market.
Describing the phenomenon as temporary, he said the company was continuously adding more people and would increase the headcount to 15,000 next year from 10,000 now. The network was growing too, and the focus was on expanding in Tier-I and Tier-II cities.
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Mr. Singh was here in connection with the showcasing of Ecosport, the latest SUV from the Ford India stable.