[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by poloman

Even direct Ford employees will be more than this. Thousands more will be employed in dealerships and ancillary units. They all will be affected in a dull job market. So expect wide spread job losses in tens of thousands, direct and indirect combined. A big car manufacturer shutting shop can be one of the worst things which can happen to a country's economy.

I picked up the numbers from article below since there is no way for us to estimate. It mentions 4000 jobs will be impacted. But I agree with you, the actual count could be higher.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/86062587.cms

[anjan_c2007]

Selling most models in the hundreds every month in our market will not sustain any car maker, which has made huge investments by establishing a full fledged manufacturing base here. We have had quite a few of them winding up operations here, the last one being GM.

There are some more like Mitsubishi and Fiat Chrysler who may sooner or later invite their D-days unless they reboot their performance.

Ford has been here for some 25 years and it's a real pity that Ford Motors could not get to understand the pulse of the Indian car market. It's a very shabby performance by their marketing department. It's also a lost opportunity for the company sadly. The thousands of present day Indian customers, who had faith in their cars will also be left in the lurch.

[volkman10]

It was a writing on the wall early Jan 2021, but we never believed it though.

- In January 2021, the company pulled out of the Brazilian market, stopping manufacturing after all of 101 years.

-Despite investing significantly in India, Ford has accumulated more than $2 billion of operating losses over the past 10 years and demand for new vehicles has been much weaker than forecast

- Its call off of its JV plans with Mahindra's

- It's call for partnerships,platform sharing, contract manufacturing for other OEMs etc. were visible signs of this coming exit.

New plan:

Ford India will maintain a smaller network of suppliers to support engine manufacturing for exports and will work closely with other suppliers to ensure a smooth wind-down of vehicle manufacturing.
Ford also will continue to rely on India-based suppliers for parts for its global products, and suppliers and vendors supporting Ford Business Solutions will continue to support the business as normal," said the company statement.

Hope this exit does not set a trend, and others loss making manufacturers taking this path.

Link

[Big Smoke]

Woah! I currently am a Ford Aspire owner. This is really sad news for me. Not that Aspire production would be stopped, I expected it anyday. But Ford winding up India operations (unofficially) is shocking.

Anyway, I have no regrets. I bought my Aspire in 2018 at 6.2 lakhs on road (for Titanium Diesel variant) which is a stellar deal. I've used it for 45000 km, maintained it like a BHPian. So even if I sell it today, I'll get Rs. 5 lakhs for it. And touchwood, it's been very reliable.

[Electromotive]

I wouldn't be so sad about this. Think of this as the old dying and making room for the young and new.
The black death in medieval Europe made resources available for those that survived and heralded the renaissance period and since then the western culture has been a powerhouse of discovery and innovation in science and arts.

Before the smartphone era we only had nokia, sony and samsung in India. Nokia dropped the ball and pretty much died. Are we worse off for that loss? We now have 10 different brands selling us decent quality smartphones as very reasonable prices.

Same thing is going to happen in the automotive world. We are staring at the upcoming watershed moment where EVs are going to overtake and outsell ICE vehicles. And there are going to be more players than ever before. Xiaomi, Apple, BYD, MG, OLA and who knows how many new players are going to enter the mobility segment. The entry barriers have been permanently lowers. Expect more mod-ability and customization options as well from EVs.

You can also expect better quality vehicles at more competitive prices in the next 5 years.
More fun to be had for sure. Hold your tears.

[avishar]

Don't be fooled by all their talk about "continuing" operations. They will probably close much before seven quarters from now and the CBU stories are just so as to make for conciliatory news stories. Which dealer is going to hang around to sell Mach Es and Mustangs? Definitely not the one in your smaller city. At most they might keep one an experience center in Chennai attached to their R&D offices and one more in Delhi. That is all.

[bullitt1]

My first car was Ikon 1.6 and what a choice it was. Could not think of driving other than Ford. Fiesta 1.6 replaced the Ikon.

Hard to imagine Ford could not bridge the gap between Ecosport and Endeavour, when they have some of the best suv's globally. Very sad that they had to exit.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by GTO

We need a market where 10 players have 10% each & fight fiercely everyday, not 2 players having 70%.

NOT many would like to be in the market for a share of 10% or less. They would like to be among the Top 3 OR would like to make an exit.

Also, the new global CEO has his eye set on the EV challenge and would like to exit all loss making business.

[arijitkanrar]

Really really disheartening!
With news of EcoSport facelift, Endeavour Bi-Turbo etc, was hoping that Ford finally might be waking up from a slumber and making a concerted effort. But alas it wasn't meant to be.

Options for true driver focused cars seem to be on the decline. In my friends circle have a lot of Fords. If there is one thing that Fords stand out for, is they are all amazingly well engineered fun-to-drive vehicles which always got the basics right.
Unfortunately, they are going away.

Meanwhile, this gentleman right here...

... is a soul-healer! A remedy for a tiring day!

I can understand why Ford pulled the plug, but still how I wish they had continued!

[livelyyoungman]

A sad note indeed. But are they serious about launching iconic brands? Only time can answer.

I too felt that Endevour's Bi Turbo impending launch, Ford might be here to stay.

I simply loved their Fiesta - infact that was in contention when I wanted to upgrade from hatch to a Sedan. One of the few companies that have not compromised on quality.

[balenoed_]

2 months ago a colleague of mine was discussing with me on his Ford Ecosport buying plans and I informed about this imminent exit that may happen and he said that has been in news for many years and nothing is going to happen, and went ahead getting one.

Today I just called to check in with him and he is now wondering what to do. Though the service is said to continue, I wonder how good it would be with the morale of the employees throughout the future with no exciting thing to look for rather just keep serving the existing base. Not so promising!

[Vitalstatistiks]

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

So even if I sell it today, I'll get Rs. 5 lakhs for it.

This is another casualty of this exit. These prices could have been expected till a few hours ago- not any more. Resale prices will drop like a stone.

[headbanger]

This deserves a big analysis, a case study with chronology of events and some deep dive holistic investigation. Catastrophic events have always pointed to learnings and the automotive world will be keen to learn the underlying fault lines.

All said and done, Ford's exit is a sad day.

[sukarsan]

their Ecosport DPF issue made headlines(atleast on Teambhp ) last month. There is no confirmed solution to that issue and dealers had stopped taking bookings last month. So , the ones who are struck with the faulty product are in a really bad position. The dealer will just stop caring after a while as he is in a much worse position.. Company has no incentive to provide a solution , especially if it involves money to be spent. The whole chain of command in resolving a complex field issue has collapsed with this news. Inventories has to be stocked, mechanics have to be trained, software has to be released , payments has to be done , VIN co ordination has to be done... Very unlikely all this is going to happen

[Hayek]

Really sad. But the writing was on the wall - they have taken USD 3 bn of charges in the last decade, and have budgeted USD 2 bn more to wind up operations. So Ford’s India foray has cost them USD 5 bn. Just tells you what a terrible regulatory policy framework we have in India. In sector after sector, foreign investors come in and lose their shirt. Telecom companies (Vodafone, Telenor, Batelco, AT&T, Sistema, Axiata et al) lost billions (likely upwards of USD 20 bn down the drain even without counting the liabilities of Vodafone Idea). Autos has been a better sector - with Suzuki and Hyundai having done very well but a much larger list have lost money - Ford, GM, Fiat, Peugeot with Nissan, Renault, VW-Skoda on life support, and several others. Not good for the Indian customer or for the future of India.