[TusharK]

Earlier this month, Ford announced its exit from the Indian market. The carmaker will stop manufacturing cars in India and is slowly winding down its operations. At the same time, Ford is in search of buyers for its Sanand and Chennai factories.



Now, according to a recent report, MG Motor India might be interested in buying Ford India's assets. The China-based carmaker is said to be in talks with Ford to take over both manufacturing units.

Earlier, MG and Ford had tried to work out a contract manufacturing deal, which would've helped Ford fully utilize the production capacity of its manufacturing plants. As per the report, the option of an outright sale is also on the table, this time around.

Source: ET Auto

Link to Team-BHP News

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

This is interesting.

MG started by taking over the Halol facility from General Motors which had a capacity of 80000 units per annum and they have invested to increase that capacity to 1L units. They currently have about 4000 units of the Gloster and Hector - which leaves another 4000 units approx for the Astor. If Astor really takes off, this would be tight - but looks decent overall for the current requirements.

However, what they are looking to add now - is an additional capacity of 4,40,000 units (?) per year from both Sanad and Chennai plants. That's huge for a company which doesn't have presence in volume segments. Overkill? They should probably just get the Sanand plant which is supposed to be ultra modern and state of the art?

Should have aggressive plans for the rumoured new platform with a mainstream sub-4m SUV included.

[dsuman]

This is good to hear. MG can utilize India to build and export its cars and SUVs worldwide. All those people (employees, suppliers, dealerships etc) who would have been impacted by Ford's exit shall get a new lease of life. More Investments in India. I hope MG grows big and make Ford realize what a mistake it was to exit India Market.

[Big Smoke]

This is good news. And with the plant, if MG also gets the manufacturing rights for the 2.0 litre diesel engine of Ford, then they can manufacture their own engine for the Hector, Hector Plus & even Gloster.

And not to mention, it would be really nice if they could continue manufacturing the 1.5 Litre Diesel engine from Ford as well. They could use it in the Astor.

[CEF_Beasts]

I distinctly remember Ford India's IG handle made a post on Friendship's Day and MG had responded with 'We'd like to begin this yaari over a cup of chai.' I knew something was cooking and this rumour almost proves it.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post5118958 (Ford to wrap up India operations)





https://www.instagram.com/tv/CSBUUrC...dium=copy_link

[andafunda]

First, Chinese MG taking over the American GM plant, and now the American Ford plants.

Pretty similar to what is happening in geopolitics.

On another note, why isn't Mahindra or Tata bidding? Isn't Mahindra severely constrained on capacity. This should help?

[omranga98]

Has anyone considered the possibility of this being the very thing that MG does best; that is staying in the news some way or the other?

As someone mentioned that the production capacity of both plants are over 4,40,000 units a year, it's realistic to assume that MG does not expect a hike of 5xx% across it's product portfolio.

[PYSO]

Originally Posted by omranga98

As someone mentioned that the production capacity of both plants are over 4,40,000 units a year, it's realistic to assume that MG does not expect a hike of 5xx% across it's product portfolio.

The way the Chinese have won market share in most of the products that we consume

It's not impossible that Chinese brands could grow to 25% market share of our auto market in another 10 years.

The only show stopper may be geopolitical rivalry. But geopolitical rivalry hasn't really stopped Chinese brands from having a huge market share of our smartphone market for example.

[girishglg]

It is very clear that Ford's current situation is its own undoing from a strategy point of view. However the physical assets could be put to some good use if some smart alec be it an MG can make use of the setup and even some products like engines etc for their benefit.

At least this could be great news for the employees in the two units who could albeit with some cuts could still be productive. That said from a future point of view MG could launch their very own MG Ecosport meaning a sub four meter CSUV to their already competent lineup with all the gizmos that out market croones for and bingo you have a winner in your hands.

Given that the best selling Brezza sells over a lakh of units, one of these Ford plants can easily get to fully capacity pretty soon which would be a win win for all parties involved.

Lastly as a existing Ford car owner would be very pleased if some of the critical parts get transfused to MG models so that it would directly result in long term spares availability for Ford vehicles and this would further make it a worthwhile decision to keep the Ecosport for as long as one could.

[Bhupesh_2628]

Apologies if this query appears to be inappropriate for this thread.

If MG Motors do plan to buy both the Ford plants in near future, then how does manufacturing & procurement of spare parts take place.

Like I want to know how & where will the spare parts be manufactured to support the services of existing vehicles for a period of say 10 years?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by Bhupesh_2628

I want to know how & where will the spare parts be manufactured to support the services of existing vehicles for a period of say 10 years?

Valid question, but we have a different thread about spare issues with Ford. Please go through it.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...support-5.html (Ford India Exit - What should existing owners do? Worried about spare parts & support)

Short answer, many models are as per Global platforms, like Endeavour aka Everest as well Eco Sports. Ford can get the spares from Overseas but the prices are definitely going to be different. Some of the local Ancillary suppliers may continue to produce consumables like Oil Filters etc but the ones which are not frequently consumed/ body panels can take a hit.

Any other manufacturer like MG will never produce the parts for Ford unless they both come to an understanding of contract manufacturing and MG or someone else continues to produce cars in India for Ford as well use the excess capacities for themselves. Easier said than done, I guess.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by Bhupesh_2628

Apologies if this query appears to be inappropriate for this thread.

If MG Motors do plan to buy both the Ford plants in near future, then how does manufacturing & procurement of spare parts take place.

As far as I know, most of the parts are supplied by 3rd party vendor, who operates outside of the maker's factory. They will continue to produce spares, as they need make maximum copy of a particular spare for good ROI for the tools.

This how we still get spares for vintage models like Maruti 800, long after it was discontinued.

[fazayal]

Originally Posted by Bhupesh_2628

Apologies if this query appears to be inappropriate for this thread.

If MG Motors do plan to buy both the Ford plants in near future, then how does manufacturing & procurement of spare parts take place.

Like I want to know how & where will the spare parts be manufactured to support the services of existing vehicles for a period of say 10 years?

Spare parts are not manufactured in the plant. It's supplied by suppliers. OEMs just assemble these parts. They maintain warehouses for spare parts in plants and at times at different geographic locations for supply to workshops. They just need to continue with them and don't need complete plants.

[landcruiser123]

Once the weaker players start shutting factories, the Chinese will buy them. Chinese brands aren't exactly world class, so their immediate target will be India as the US market is a tough one to crack. Just ask Hyundai which has taken many years of hard work to get some sort of mainstream acceptance in the US.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

This is interesting.

MG started by taking over the Halol facility from General Motors which had a capacity of 80000 units per annum....

...However, what they are looking to add now - is an additional capacity of 4,40,000 units...

They plan to set up an export base and/or parent company SAIC introducing more affordable brands/models.

Besides, setting up a new factory and associated supplier base is very difficult. Why not buy an existing factory at a reasonable price?

[dr_TJ]

This rumour is a similar situation what we see in the ending of the new "The Grand Tour" episode "Lochdown" where American stuff is taken over by Chinese.

MG could have and should have taken over Ford and Ford should have stayed. Ford and MG could have done a JV and both would have benefited.

Although MG is not a mass market player in India, but taking over Ford's facilities will help them export their products.

Ford had good products albeit old but a totally useless management