Ford will no longer make country-unique models with all future rollouts to be on global platforms, tweaked to suit domestic conditions.
Ford India executive director for marketing, sales and service, Nigel Wark, said: “We have gone down that path (made for India models), but we don’t have any one platform for just one country anymore.”
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Ford India currently makes – and also exports – the Figo which is a previous generation Fiesta hatchback slightly restyled and updated. The unit has also previously made a Fiesta sedan different from a similar model made in Brazil.
Wark said an India-specific model was quite different from an India ‘unique’ model and the former works better as it combines the strengths of a global platform with the specification necessary to suit Indian road conditions.
Toyota developed its Etios, exclusively for the Indian market. It was launched in late 2010 and will now be exported to other countries from March. But Wark said that global platforms will allow Ford to launch derivatives in multiple countries and offering more customer choice.
He said with the launch of eight more models during the next five years, Ford was focusing on the Indian market more than ever before. The company is setting up its second plant in Gujarat and also expanding its engine factory in Chennai which is part of a US$1bn new investment in the country.
This will bring Ford’s total investment in India to US$2bn.
