US automaker Ford Motor is planning to commit about Rs32.5bn ($370m) to restart and retool its Maraimalai Nagar factory in Tamil Nadu, India.
The facility, which the company closed four years ago, will manufacture high‑end engines for export markets, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.
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It is expected to have an annual output capacity of more than 200,000 engines.
The engines will not be destined for the US; the specific export destinations were not disclosed.
An announcement could come as early as this week, according to the report.
The move follows signals from Ford over the past year that it was considering a return to local production.
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By GlobalDataThe US company originally established a manufacturing presence close to Chennai in 1995 and later in 2015, opened a second plant in Sanand, Gujarat.
Ford ceased vehicle production in India less than a year after Jim Farley became CEO in 2020, after concluding it could not continue investing in marginal markets such as India and Brazil.
By the time it exited, the automaker had accumulated losses in India of more than $2bn.
The Sanand vehicle plant was subsequently sold to Tata Motors, which now produces electric vehicles (EVs) there.
Ford’s decision to refurbish the Maraimalai Nagar site comes amid strained relations between India and the US.
Ford refused to comment on the news.
Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Indian imports during a broader trade dispute and has criticised India’s purchase of Russian oil.
Trump has also sought to encourage manufacturing in the US and has in the past publicly criticised Ford for expanding production overseas, while later praising some of the company’s domestic investment announcements.
Tamil Nadu is a significant automotive manufacturing state, hosting plants operated by Hyundai, Renault and BMW.
The company has also been active in other markets recently; earlier this year it was reported to be in the process of setting up a new wholly owned subsidiary in China.
