Ford India's new engine plant inaugurated

Ford today formally inaugurated its facility at its Chennai plant that is meant to be turned into ‘Ford's global low displacement engines' hub. The facility will produce both petrol and diesel engines.

The engines that will be produced initially will go into Ford's small car — the Figo, whose commercial production began today. “The public introduction of the car is a few weeks away,” Mr Micheal Boneham, President and Managing Director, Ford India Pvt Ltd, told journalists here on Friday.

As Ford India's investment programme of $500 million (Rs 2,300 crore) is “about 90 per cent complete”, the Chennai plant is now equipped to produce 200,000 cars and 250,000 engines.

Mr Boneham said that Ford would probably achieve full capacity production in about five years, but disagreed that such a perspective of the future was defensive, given the fact that last year Ford sold only 30,000 cars.

The engines

The single assembly line that can produce both petrol engines and diesel engines, and not necessarily in batches, will initially focus on manufacturing 1.2 litre petrol engine and 1.4 litre common rail diesel engine (CRde) engines that the Figo will be fitted with. The petrol engine has been specifically designed for the Indian market “with emphasis on fuel efficiency”.

It belongs to the ‘Ford Sigma' family of engines, and is “one of the ten types of engines that the plant can produce.”

Seventy-nine per cent of the diesel engine parts and 60 per cent of the petrol engine parts are indigenously manufactured. Amtek, TVS Autolec, Sundaram-Clayton, PCL and GKN are among the principal vendors for the petrol engine, and Mecaplast, Sargam Metals and Mahle India Pistons and Alucast, for the diesel engines. Jayahind of Pune will make the castings of cylinder block, bed plate and head.

Exports of the engines, mainly to Asia-Pacific, ASEAN and Africa regions, will commence in 2011. Exported engines will have the ability to be fitted with either manual, or Ford's new 6-speed automatic transmission.

In a recent interview to Business Line Mr Boneham had said that Ford “finally listened to the customer”. The result of the new thinking is the small car ‘Figo'.

Both petrol and diesel versions of the car will feature 5-speed manual transmission, which will come from Avtec, a components manufacturer co-owned by Hindustan Motors and private equity fund Actis.

Eighty-five per cent of the Figo will be indigenously sourced.

The price of the Figo is to be announced just ahead of the vehicle's public introduction. But it is said that the car “is set to transform Ford from niche player in India to the vehicle for the masses.”

The $500-million investment of Ford in India has led to 1,000 additional direct jobs. Ford India has given rise to 8,000 direct and indirect jobs, Mr Boneham said.

The first Figo was flagged off the assembly line by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi.

The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr M. K. Stalin, said the State Government is working on an ‘automobile policy' that could be finalised over the next three months.

Source: Indiacar.com Source : Business Line (Online Edition) (2/5/2010)