Ford Shelves Plans To Manufacture EVs In India

Ford India has shelved its plans to manufacture EVs in India. The carmaker had as part of its ongoing business restructuring applied for the Indian Government’s Product Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. Under the PLI scheme, Ford had considered utilizing one of its two manufacturing facilities to manufacture EVs for exports and domestic markets though it has now announced that it is no longer pursuing that avenue.

In a statement, the company said, “After careful review, we have decided to no longer pursue EV manufacturing for exports from any of the Indian plants. We remain grateful to the Government for approving our proposal under the Production-Linked Incentives and for being supportive while we continued our exploration.”

Ford India had announced a halt to its domestic car manufacturing operations in September last year, with manufacturing for export markets ending by the end of the calendar year. The company though had carried on manufacturing engines for export markets which too are set to close this quarter (Q2 2022).

Coming to how this would affect its manufacturing facilities in India Ford commented, “Ford India’s previously announced business restructuring continues as planned, including exploring other alternatives for our manufacturing facilities. We continue to work closely with unions and other stakeholders to deliver an equitable and balanced plan to mitigate the impacts of restructuring.”

Ford’s current restructuring plans involve moving to a CBU only line-up for the Indian market with models such as the Mustang and the all-electric Mach-e expected to be on the card for India with other models from its global range also likely to be considered. The company is also looking to sell its existing manufacturing facilities in the country with Tata Motors and Hyundai reportedly interested in acquiring the plants.