American auto major Ford Motor on Friday said it is preparing to utilise its Chennai manufacturing plant to roll out vehicles for exports and has intimated the same to the Tamil Nadu government. Minister for TRB Rajaa, who is in the United States accompanying the Chief Minister M K Stalin to woo investors, said the efforts of the Chief Minister to reposition 'Brand Tamil Nadu' in its Numero Uno place has yielded rich dividends.
Two years after winding up its India production, global automobile giant Ford Motor Company is in talks with the Tamil Nadu government to restart operations at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai, where it will focus on exports. Chief Minister Stalin visited Ford headquarters in Michigan on Tuesday and held discussions with its top management, urging it to restart production. "Had a very engaging discussion with the team from Ford Motors.
'We participate in the design/development of components and systems for electric vehicles, internal combustion engines, and hybrid vehicles.'
Ford India has offered a "final revised severance package" for its employees at the Chennai unit, which is on average equivalent to 130 days of gross wages per completed year of service. The company said this was rolled out in the absence of any suitable alternative buyer. As part of the earlier package, employees were offered 115 days of gross wages for each completed year of service, which was later revised to 124 days.
Ford India, the subsidiary of United States-based automaker Ford on Thursday said it has arrived at a settlement with the employees union on the severance package following the company's decision to shut its Tamil Nadu plant as part of a restructuring exercise. Accordingly, the company would revise the final severance settlement to an average equivalent of 140 days of gross wages per completed year of service from the ongoing offer of 130 days. "An additional one-time lump sum of Rs 1.50 lakh will also be included in the final settlement." Ford India said in a statement.
Both are finding it difficult to sell one each of their plants -- Chennai Maraimalai Nagar (Ford) and Talegaon near Pune (GM) -- and are finding the road blocked by employee severance snarl-ups, report Sohini Das and Shine Jacob.
Giving a fresh twist to the Ford India employees' strike at the firm's Maraimalai Nagar factory, the company has set the deadline for Monday evening for workers to accept a 'non-negotiable' severance package it is offering. It also indicated the possibility of legal action against workers from June 14 (Tuesday) and warned of early closure of the unit, before completing remaining export volume production. For the past 14 days, some 2,000 employees at the unit had struck work, seeking a better package from the company.
With Tata Motors subsidiary taking over Ford's passenger vehicle (PV) manufacturing unit at Sanand in Gujarat, uncertainty over the future of Ford's Maraimalai Nagar unit in Tamil Nadu continues, with workers protesting on Thursday demanding a better severance package. There are over 2,000 employees working at the unit. On Thursday, there was a meeting between agitating employees and the state labour department. The workers started protests at the Chennai unit after Tata Passenger Electric Mobility signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with Ford India and the Government of Gujarat for acquisition of Ford's PV manufacturing plant at Sanand.
American automaker Ford on Thursday said that it had withdrawn plans to manufacture electric vehicles (EVs) in India and it won't invest in the country under the performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. "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 PLI and for being supportive while we continued our exploration. "Ford India's previously announced business restructuring continues as planned, including exploring other alternatives for our manufacturing facilities.
The compact SUV's exteriors and fuel efficiency could make it a tough challenger, provided Ford plays its price card well.
A step-by-step look at how Ford Figo is built.
The carmaker on Thursday signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government for the $500-million expansion programme at its manufacturing facility at Maraimalai Nagar a city suburb.
Indian car buyers have swayed towards newer options offered by global car giants such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota and VW over the past couple of months, impacting sales of models which were once flagship ones.
Ford India is graduating from exporter of vehicle assembly kits to exporter of fully-built cars.
Ford India recently exported its 5000th container, thus despatching so far over 100,000 units of Ford Ikons in completely knocked down condition.
As part of its plan to expand its operations in Chennai, IT major Infosys will acquire 129 acres of land at the Mahindra Industrial Park Limited at suburban Maraimalai Nagar, thus becoming the first 'anchor tenant' to the 1432-acre park.
Earlier in May, Ford India announced that it had dropped its plans to make electric vehicles (EVs) in India, which it intended to export, under the production-linked incentive scheme (PLI). Ford was among 20 companies that had signed a Champion OEM Incentive Scheme under the PLI project with the government in February this year. The decision comes as a blow for the 4,000-odd employees at Ford India's Maraimalai Nagar plant near Chennai and in Sanand, Gujarat. In September last year, the company had announced that it would exit the India market, which it had entered in 1995 through an on-again, off-again joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra (they split in 1998, signed a JV in 2019 and split again in December 2020), retailing petrol and diesel brands such as the EcoSport, Figo, Aspire, and Endeavour.
With India leading the small SUV market and attracting majority of investments from Ford Motor Company, the country is set to become a hub for the US automobile major, a top official said.
As part of the new Central Motor Vehicle Rules, the government is framing a mandatory recall policy entailing penalties.
Sanand has catapulted into the big league of automobile industry hubs.
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