|
(PlasticsToday) -- India
appears to be the hottest market nowadays for automotive investment, with the
latest company to break ground on a new assembly facility and engine plant being
Ford Motor (Detroit). The USD 900 million complex will be located in the Sanand
automotive cluster, where Peugeot (Paris, France) recently announced its
intention to build an assembly facility.
The new Ford manufacturing facility will create 5,000 jobs, and will be
able to initially produce 240,000 vehicles and 270,000 fuel-efficient engines
per year. The first vehicles and engines are scheduled to come off the line in
2014.
The investment will "help us reach the goal of increasing worldwide sales
by nearly 50 percent by mid-decade to 8 million vehicles per year," said Joe
Hinrichs, president, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa. Last year Ford announced that
it will bring eight new vehicles to India by mid-decade, the first one being the
All-New Fiesta, which was launched in July.
The new engine plant represents one of several new investments that Ford
has made to support its aggressive expansion plan in India and throughout the
globe. Earlier this year, Ford announced an investment of USD 72 million by 2012
to expand its already operating powertrain facility in Chennai. Ford's total
investment in India to date is valued at approximately USD 2
billion.
mrcplast.com
| 
