[ValarMorghulis]

Sends a wrong message to the customers. EcoSport and other Ford models' sales will suffer. Sigh.

[GTO]

Their partnership with Mahindra was the first step to taking the backseat in India & moving from being an "active" manufacturer to a "passive" one. This is the 2nd. Sharing my post from another thread:

Originally Posted by GTO

We've known this'll be happening since a while, but it's still a bit tough to digest. From Ford USA's POV, they've spent 20 years in India and an overwhelming majority of those have been loss-making years. If they made a profit, it was only because of exports. Their sales & market-share in India are tiny, for a brand that is a Top 5 worldwide. Clearly, Ford headquarters wants to preserve its resources & management bandwidth for markets where it has a stronger standing or greater potential (USA, China etc.). The company is taking tough decisions - remember their recent announcement where they'll stop selling sedans in the USA (not one I personally agree with - link to post).

Mahindra having 51% is noteworthy. That means, Mahindra will effectively be the one in control of the JV. And they'll now get access to Ford India's assets. Make no mistake, they'll be taking over. This is a BIG win for Mahindra. I think the 49% gives Ford a wait & watch approach. 5 - 10 years later, if it's still not interested in India, it can simply sell off its stake & exit India completely.

The changing emission & safety norms are going to make things more challenging in the market. And Ford would've been concerned with the entry of aggressive heavily-funded players like Kia & MG who will create a hyper-competitive scenario. Ford's USA HQ obviously didn't see any growth potential in this situation, at least in the short & mid-term. They didn't want to invest more money here either.

Still, this is better than a full exit like GM. It allows Ford to still maintain partial presence in the country ("foot in the door"), with Mahindra doing the hard work, and freeing up Ford USA's bandwidth. So, in the future when the Indian market experiences huge growth and / or Ford wants to increase its presence here, it can do so easily (not the case with General Motors which is now a bad name in India).

Also good news for Ford customers who will continue to receive support from the new JV. They aren't left in the lurch like Chevrolet owners.

GM is gone, VW has handed things over to Skoda, the Fiat brand is RIP and now Ford is exiting its independent business...I predict more will come (e.g. Nissan). This market isn't for weaklings. Am frankly surprised Peugeot-Citroen is thinking of entering.

Originally Posted by kiku007

From the day the Ford Sanand plant was announced, it didn't make any sense to me.

That is so damn true. It was such an overoptimistic move!

Originally Posted by kiku007

Which of the below gets better sale value?

1. Sparingly used 2017 Ford Ecosport with only 15000 kms on the odometer.

2. 2005 Ford Ikon

Well said, man. Well said.

Originally Posted by i74js

These are the official numbers for previous FY. Ford indeed is making profits from exports.

These profits have been seen only in very recent years (like 2 or 3). Else, for almost 20 years in India, Ford has burned cash.

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

the overall ecosystem is strong enough to receive service and spares support for the useful life of the car.

If you care about the ecosystem, buy a popular model. If lakhs of them are there on the road (e.g. City, Swift, Innova), you are guaranteed support by the market. Irrespective of whether the manufacturer is around or not. E.g. the EcoSport will enjoy parts support in the market for years to come, simply because of the demand from existing owners. Remember, there is a lot of money in parts & service.

[GrammarNazi]

I remember reading in a political magazine somewhere that Ford had gotten an extremely sweet deal when they opened the Gujarat factory.

Anyway, since all other car-makers are crying foul over a slowdown, theres only 1 company MG viz a new entrant looking to infuse Rs.2000 CR for a new factory in India. Maybe if its similar to what they're looking for with respect to size & scale, then I guess a short period for re-tooling would be enough to press out units of the Hector ?

[Romeo_Mike]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

On the other hand, if Ford just sells it off & doesn't actually open / enlarge another plant elsewhere on the planet - that would mean they grossly miscalculated business pipeline, their own capability to make & sell cars & invested money where they aren't getting any returns at all. Built for a capacity that wasn't needed at all.

My vote goes to this scenario. Didn't Ford announce last yr that they would "fix or eliminate unprofitable global ventures" ?

[headers]

Ford is exiting India Business by 2021 or 2022. So it makes sense to sell the newer plant first.

The Chennai plant could be taken over my Mahindra!!

Fords Engineering is controlled by Ford Europe and hence they find it difficult to understand Indian VFM preferences.

The Mondeo was a great car, but sadly ahead of its time. The Mustang came in after the party was over!!

[anumod]

Originally Posted by headers

Ford is exiting India Business by 2021 or 2022. So it makes sense to sell the newer plant first.

Do you have some source for this news? In fact with Mahindra partnership, they are planning to revive the export as well. And Full length Aspire electric is planned .. At least these are all facts we know of it. when you are saying a date associated with the statement, you are forcing us to believe it.

[i74js]

This is an era in Indian automobile sector which will bring in a paradigm shift both from introduction of Euro VI and inclination of government machinery to make eV as mainstream.

Practically a clean slate with first mover advantage for everyone who will stay. Consolidation of market will happen since large investments are required. I see no issues in forming a JV with M&M or selling Chennai plant off because of available capacity alongside M&M production facilities in India.

Exiting at this point will push Ford back by several years if they again decide to come back / venture India. It is a price sensitive market but it will grow, the present slump is not permanent and I am sure the market will bounce back within 12 - 24 months.

Market disruption is the only way to sustain for the time being which KIA and MG has done. The companies will have to stay relevant and reinvent themselves rather than surviving on one trick pony (Read EcoSport).

I am certain about auto sector success. Its nearly 7% of GDP (through sales) and about 4% of GDP through operations (fuel consumption). No government can afford to loose a sector which contributes so much. The only example I have seen so far is Australia where production of cars has stopped and the country has switched to imports.

[headers]

Originally Posted by anumod

Do you have some source for this news? In fact with Mahindra partnership, they are planning to revive the export as well. And Full length Aspire electric is planned .. At least these are all facts we know of it. when you are saying a date associated with the statement, you are forcing us to believe it.

It was there in the news - a few months ago. Ford has no long term plans in India especially now that their SOPs are being withdrawn!!

Fail to recollect which paper or magazine

[anumod]

Originally Posted by headers

It was there in the news - a few months ago. Ford has no long term plans in India especially now that their SOPs are being withdrawn!!



Fail to recollect which paper or magazine

I searched the net, but couldn't see one. What is SOP ?

[wheelguy]

Ford to transfer most of its Indian assets to the JV that it is going to form with the Mahindra including the Gujarat factory.

https://auto.economictimes.indiatime...indra/71287623

As envisioned, the new entity will hold most of Ford’s assets in India, including the two car plants it owns in the country. Ford was one of the first automobile companies to enter India when it liberalized the economy in the early 1990s. Ford first entered India in 1926 but shut down that operation in the 1950s.

[Turbanator]

I got a chance to speak to one senior person at the FORD Dealership. It appears partnership is more or less finalised. They will have few models being made by FORD but will be sold by Mahindra on the patterns of Maruti/ Toyota. Though I am not sure which models Mahindra can sell better than FORD

[coolkurt]

It'll be interesting to see the kind of SUVs that'll be churned out after this partnership. If they can leverage each others' strengths in that department, it'll be a win win.

[gururajrv]

It seems like American companies have a history to struggle in India. Be it Chevy (already history), Harley Davidson (facing challenges in boosting sales) & then Ford now. This is bad as it seems but somewhere Ford & Chevy never really kept up with the pace of Indian likes that was changing so dynamically. But, Ford did make wonders by bringing in the Ecosport which was well received for years before new entrants like Brezza, Venue, XUV300, eating into its sales volume. Ya, for a company to sustain, all of its products across the range should do well which wasn’t the case with Ford & Chevy. Chevy was a big failure but Ford did try with facelift’s which didn’t really help them. But, I am always going to be a fan of theirs for the new Endy. Hope, their new venture with Mahindra will still retain Endy in the long run for me to buy it one day

Good luck to both Ford & Mahindra on their new step. Mahindra is certainly going to benefit from this venture due to access to their R&D that they could use for new upcoming vehicles.