Back in November last year, Ford India had announced that they will be exporting EcoSport SUVs made at their plant in Chennai, to the US. But, in the past few weeks, the new US President, Donald Trump has sent threats to car manufacturers who are manufacturing their cars outside the country and selling it in the US.
Trump has already threatened car makers like GM, Ford, BMW, with added tax for selling cars produced outside the US in the US. It was expected that Ford India might not go ahead with the EcoSport export. But that is not the case.
Ford India has not changed their plans of exporting EcoSport to the US. Anurag Mehrotra, their interim MD has stated that their plans are on target and will be executed as planned.
“The choice of global manufacturing hubs for different models is part of a broader decision. India is one of the six global locations where Eco Sport is manufactured with same quality parameters for more than 100 markets worldwide. The India-made Eco Sport is already exported to more than 50 countries across the globe,” Mehrotra said.
Speaking about their equation with the US, Mehrotra says – since 2011, we have created 28,000 jobs in US and invested more than $12 billion in US plants.
Equipped with either an award-winning, 1.0-liter three-cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost® engine or 2.0-liter four-cylinder with Intelligent 4WD, all-new Ford EcoSport provides power and control.
Exporting the EcoSport to the US is a huge push to PM Modi’s Make In India campaign as an American car maker will be making cars in India for their home market in the US. It was back in 2014, that the news about Ford looking at either India or Thailand for importing EcoSport SUV to the US was reported. However, India was selected due to many reasons
This will be for the first time that a US automaker will be shipping made-in-India cars back to the US. Ford India already exports the EcoSport to more than 62 countries, but exporting to the US will be something special. The request from headquarters is for about 90,000 units annually – this is more than what Ford sells in India.
Ford India is confident of delivering cost, quality and volumes while logistics of shipments out of the country are also efficient and cost effective. They will be ensuring that all products will be of the highest quality, meeting global standards.
All-new Ford EcoSport SES features unique interior styling cues such as bold copper accents for instrument and door panels along with sport seats.
Back in Nov 2016, Ford unveiled their new 2017 EcoSport facelift. It comes with revised exteriors and interiors. Highlight is the addition of a large 8 inch touchscreen infotainment system on the dashboard. The new EcoSport is expected to be launched in India next year. It is believed that the exports of EcoSport facelift will commence first, and then it will be launched in India.
via Times of India
