Ford India was one of the 20 companies selected under the Government of India’s PLI Scheme, announced in February 2022. Recently, Ford’s management team communicated with their employees in the Chennai plant, and they might withdraw their application as they are not planning to invest in the country anymore.
Business studies conclude the cause of retraction to the drop rate in the volume projection and internal targets. Ford is likely to pursue its initial plan of selling the factories in Gujarat and Chennai. The Sanand plant is rumoured to be acquired by Tata Motors, but Ford is still looking for suitors for their Chennai plant.
The official statement of Ford India’s spokesperson states, “After careful review, we have decided to no longer pursue EV manufacturing for exports from any Indian plants. We remain grateful to the government for approving our proposal under the Production-Linked Incentives and being supportive while we continue our exploration.”
Ford announced their exit in September 2021 but still applied for the Government of India’s PLI scheme. Ford continued to explore the viable alternative for its manufacturing facilities as part of their then ongoing business reconstruction in India. Thus, the application for the PLI scheme, allowed them to explore the idea of utilising one of their plants to manufacture EVs in India.
We can conclude that Ford has wrapped up their Indian explorations and might continue to bring cars by the CBU (Completely Built Unit) route. With the EV plan shelved, Ford is going to join a growing list of automakers that have exited India. Two decades ago Peugeot and Daewoo and more recently General Motors and Harley-Davidson left behind the casualty of the workforce, although Tata is said to provide jobs to the existing employees at Sanand after buying the Gujarat plant.
