Earlier this year, Ford India and Mahindra released a joint statement stating their joint venture talks has come to an end. Ford is now exploring its future options in India and is trying to working to figure out its future plans in the Indian market. The American car manufacturer is yet to figure out its plans for the Indian market and will do it later this year.
In a key reshuffling of the top management, Ford has appointed Steven Armstrong as a transformation officer for its Indian and South American operations. Particularly for the Indian market, Armstrong will an important role. Anurag Mehrotra, Managing Director, Ford India will report to Armstrong, who is a Ford corporate officer and is president of Ford America and International Markets Group. He will be accompanied by Dianne Craig, Ford’s newly appointed president of International Markets Group.
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The move will accelerate improvements to its global automotive business as per the American car manufacturer. The move comes after the appointment of Ford’s new CEO Jim Farley.
Dianne Craig said,
“We have a lot of work to do as we continue to assess our capital allocations in the market, while we expect to have an answer in the second half of this year, the appointment of Steven…will help focus our efforts and speed up the process,”
Will evaluate Ford India’s investment
The newly appointed senior officers will also evaluate Ford India’s investment in the country. As per reports earlier this year, Ford India was planning to launch a few high-performance cars including the Ranger Raptor truck.
Ford India remains to be an important market for the American brand. Ford says that India is an important market and is a source of global powertrains for its Ranger SUV.
Ford and Mahindra planned to launch several vehicles together. To save on development costs, both the manufacturers joined hands to develop new vehicles for the market. In fact, three new SUVs were planned and one of them was to be based on the upcoming Mahindra XUV700’s platform.
Ford’s future in India
Ford has recently launched the new EcoSport SE in the Indian market. However, the manufacturer is still missing from some of the most important segments in India, especially the mid-size SUV, which is ruled by vehicles like Hyundai Creta and newly launched Kia Seltos. Ford’s best-selling vehicle EcoSport has been around for years in the Indian market but it has lost to new, highly competitive vehicles like the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet and a slew of other cars in the segment.
After cutting its ties with Mahindra, Ford may develop all-new vehicles specifically for the Indian market. The brand may also choose cars from its global portfolios to launch in India. According to a report, Ford already has plans to launch cars like Focus, Focus ST, new Ford Figo, Ford Ranger Raptor and the new-generation EcoSport.
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The post Ford India currently exploring future options in India after break-up with Mahindra first appeared on Cartoq.
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