Ford plans $500m Indian investment
Ford Motor Co said yesterday it plans to invest $500 million in India to double manufacturing capacity by 2010 and make a small car and engines, making the fast-growing market a key production hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
The investment, which takes Ford's commitments in India to more than $875 million, comes on the heels of similar moves in Thailand and China, the other markets the US car maker has identified as key to its regional growth strategy.
"We see China, India and ASEAN as three important markets for increasing our Asia-Pacific footprint," said John Parker, executive vice-president for Asia-Pacific and Africa, referring to the south east Asian region.
"We're intent on developing these three markets with viable scale and critical mass," he said from Bangkok.
Ford, which last week named India's top vehicle maker, Tata Motors Ltd, as the preferred bidder for its luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands, will double its capacity in India to 200,000 vehicles a year by 2010, the company said.
Within the next two years the company will begin production of a new small car for a bigger share of the dominant segment, and build an engine plant adjacent to its existing car plant near Chennai in southern India.
Agencies
(China Daily 01/09/2008 page17)
