Driving eco-performance forward Ford India

DRIVING ECO-PERFORMANCE FORWARD

Ford India is leading the automotive field with its latest EcoSport models and eco-friendly hybrids. Philip Yorke takes a closer look at a major player in the Indian automotive market and how it has reached significant milestones in its ambitions to meet new targets in the production of environmentally friendly vehicles.

Ford India Private Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company in India. The company’s headquarters is located in Maraimalai Nagar, Chennai and it is currently the sixth largest car maker in India after Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata and Mahindra. Although Ford India began production as long ago as 1926, it was closed in 1954 before re-establishing its facilities in October 1995. The total investments made by the Ford Motor Company in India since it set up shop in 1995 stands at more than $2.5 billion.

New milestones

Ford India reached another new milestone recently when it produced its one millionth car and one millionth engine. This remarkable achievement has been achieved over a period of 15 years. The new Fords EcoSport is the one millionth vehicle to be produced at the Chennai facility, which is a state-of-the-art plant spread over 350 acres of land, where it manufactures the Fiesta, Endeavour and Eco Sport models. Since 2008 the ultra-modern plant has also been producing engine assembly units, which build both diesel and petrol motors at the same time.

In addition to its plant at Chennai, Ford India has invested heavily in a new manufacturing facility at Sanand, located in Gujarat province. Here the new plant mainly works on engines, as well as the production of the new Aspire Sedan and the Ford Figo. From these two plants Ford exports a large number of vehicles to over 40 different countries worldwide, including to the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the ASEAN countries.

Ford India told Industry Europe: “Chennai is the first place in India from where we started our “Make in India” journey. Apart from being a global car producing hub, for the company, the plant has set new achievements in adopting processes that not only conform to the most stringent global quality standards, but also significantly reduce their carbon footprints. The one millionth vehicle and motor production milestone stand as proof of the passion and dedication of the more than 6000 hardworking employees at the company’s Chennai plant.”

Boosting sales

Ford’s new EcoBoost engine was launched in 2012 by Ford’s president and CEO Alam Mulally. This ingenious 1.0 litre engine is Ford’s smallest petrol engine and is available in Ford India’s new

Figo models. “The new EcoBoost 1.0 litre and our entire family of eco-boost engines, represent breakthroughs that deliver power, fuel efficiency and low CO2 emissions through turbocharging and direct fuel injection” Mulally said. “These engines are delivering the fuel efficient vehicles that customers want and value”

Ford’s latest EcoBoost engine delivers performance to rival a traditional 1.6 litre engine, with significantly improved fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions. The new one litre cylinder block can fit onto a sheet of A4 paper but delivers up to 125 PS and 170Nm peak torque giving it the highest power density of any Ford production engine to date.

Expanding production capabilities

Ford India’s main manufacturing plant has a capacity to produce more than 200,000 cars per annum. After its new hatchback the Figo was launched, the company invested over $500 million to double the capacity of the plant and set up a new facility to produce a further 250,000 engines annually. In order to meet the growing domestic demand, with an eye to engine exports, the company invested a further $75 million to raise engine capacity to 330,000 units per year.

Since rolling out its latest SUV, the Ford EcoSport the company has announced an additional $145 million investment to ramp up production to over 200,000 units. As part of the company’s plan to launch eight new vehicles by 2016, the global car maker has invested $1 billion in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant at Sanand, Gujarat Province located on a 450 acre site. The plant has a capacity to manufacture around 300,000 engines and over 250,000 vehicles per year. Alongside this facility is a supplier park spread across a further 150 acres, which has attracted over 20 world class supplier manufacturers to date.

Sanand is part of the dedicated Special Investment Region of Gujarat. Located near the city of Ahmedabad, Sanand is about 70 kilometres away from a recently rebuilt international airport and is linked to the Indian state highway 17. Sanand has become one of the booming entrepreneurial centres in India. Like the industrial hubs in the developed countries and export centres in China, Sanand offers competitive incentives to companies seeking to set up operations within the Sanand region. n

For further details of Ford India’s products and manufacturing capabilities visit: www.india.ford.com