Ford India has started testing prototypes of its new small car, which it says is on track and will be launched in India early next year.
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A report in The Financial Express says the car is expected to have a localisation of around 85% from the start to production stage.
“Around 300 prototypes of the small car are already on the road for testing,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India. He added that the car is predominantly designed for the Indian market and will be exported to other markets after its launch in the country.
“It is from the common global platform with design inputs from Europe and Australia, with contributions from Indian suppliers,” he said. Further, the car will have petrol and diesel engine options. “We are looking at sub-1.2 petrol and sub-1.5 diesel engines for the car,” he added.
The report said that Ford is currently producing around 60,000 (1.4-litre Duratorq) diesel engines at its engine plant near Chennai, which it said will be ramped up to 250,000, including both petrol and diesel engines, by this year end. “These will also be exported from India to Asia Pacific and Africa,” he said.
All of the diesel engines for Ikon, Fiesta and Fusion are locally produced.
