The Indian unit of US based leading car maker Ford is planning to invest an amount to the tune of USD 72 million in its Chennai plant. With this investment, the company plans to take the total capacity of this plant to 330,000 units as compared to the existing capacity of 250,000 units.
Speaking to the reporters, Mr. Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India, said, the expansion phase of the plant will be completed by mid-2012. He added that, "This investment reinforces the importance of our Chennai plant and Ford's continued expansion in India. The new investment also further supports our plan to introduce eight new global Ford vehicles in India by 2015."
According to Mr. Boneham, when the expansion is finished, a third production shift will be added at the engine assembly plant, creating more than 300 new direct jobs.
Ford is currently one of the fastest growing car makers in the Indian market. Since the month of June 2010, the company has been exporting over 4,000 of 1.4L and 1.6L petrol engines to Thailand every month.
Meanwhile, the company is gearing-up to launch its new Ford Fiesta global sedan in the country by the end of this year.
