US auto major Ford has decided to export made-in-India Ecosport to the North American markets. The move reiterates the fact that the country continues to be a cost competitive for the global OEMs.
Speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of CII's Conference on Automotive R&D Trends, Balasundaram Radhakrishnan, executive director - manufacturing, Ford India Pvt Ltd said that India is going to be a major hub for Ford.
Commencement of exports to the US marks a significant milestone in Ford's Make in India journey and boosts India's credentials as a world-class manufacturing hub, said the company.
Following ONE Ford, Ford produces EcoSport for more than 100 markets worldwide and manufactures it with quality at six global locations. This milestone is a testament to its continued faith in India's manufacturing prowess and its skilled workforce that is churning out quality products for mature markets across the globe, it added.
So far it has exported more than 200,000 EcoSport vehicles from its factory in Chennai, since commencing exports in June 2013. Majority of its exports mainly comprised of the Ecosport and the Figo, from India.
The company has exported 151,638 vehicles in the year 2016, in comparison to 99,143 vehicles in 2015. In 2014, the total exports were at 76,981.
Chennai is an important piece of the puzzle. But Gujarat has state of art facility, set up three years back and the ability to expand in Gujarat is significant. Chennai has a legacy and advantage, because the business centre and the manufacturing plant are in that location.
In Chennai and Gujarat, the company has set up manufacturing facilities to produce 1.50 lakh units a year. Around 70 per cent of the produced from Chennai facilities are exported, while in Gujarat currently around 60 per cent are exported, he said.
Currently Ford is exporting 97 countries including Europe, Africa, Gulf and before end of this year export to North America will commence, which clearly shows that the company is competitive in terms of talent, in terms of cost, said Radhakrishnan.
India definitely having an advantage in terms of ability to export, he adds.
Not only in manufacturing, India is also a major role when it comes to development of cars.
The company is investing around Rs 1,300 crore ($195 million) to set up Ford Global Technology and Business Centre at Chennai. The centre will serve as a hub for product development, mobility solutions and business services for India and other markets globally. The facility is expected to be ready by 2019 and it will change the whole scenario, said Radhakrishnan.
It is going to be one centre where Ford finance, accounting, engineering, material planning logistics, product development etc.
"Product development is going to be a big hub. They are able to do some basic engineering and mid-level engineering, but then very shortly they would get into the advanced stage of engineering of designing an entire car," he added.