Siddharth Philip New Delhi
FORD Motor unveiled a compact SUV in India yesterday, ahead of introducing the model in about 100 markets globally.
The car maker was planning to target production of more than 2 million units of so-called B-segment small cars, including the EcoSport, by the middle of this decade, chief executive Alan Mulally said in New Delhi, where he introduced the vehicle.
Ford would manufacture the EcoSport at its plant in Chennai, in southern India, the company said.
The South Asian nation might become one of Ford’s three biggest markets by 2020, Joe Hinrichs, the president for Asia-Pacific, said yesterday.
Mulally, who has revived Ford by focusing on quality and fuel economy in new models such as the Fiesta subcompact and redesigned Explorer SUV, expects the EcoSport to win it more customers.
“This vehicle offers the flexibility, reliability and quality of a compact car with the gait and roominess of an SUV,” Mulally said.
Ford’s India unit would have a capacity to make 440 000 vehicles annually by 2014, Hinrichs added. The unit would spend $142 million (R1.15 billion) on making the EcoSport available in India, he said, without providing the price of the SUV or saying when sales will start.
Ford will be showcasing the EcoSport at the New Delhi car show this week. This is the second of eight new models the company plans to introduce in India by 2015.
The EcoSport would feature a one-litre, three-cylinder direct-injected EcoBoost engine, Ford said in a statement.
Ford is adding more models and expanding its sales network in India to boost growth.
The company had 220 outlets in the country, up from about 170 units in June, said Michael Boneham, the president of Ford’s India unit.
Ford introduced its first small car in India last year.
The 1.2 litre Figo helped almost triple deliveries to 95 395 in the year ended March 31. That ranked Ford behind Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai and Tata Motors in passenger car sales, according to data from the manufacturers group.
Ford’s local sales rose 15 percent last year to 96 270 units.
In July, Ford announced it would spend 40 billion rupees (R6.15bn) on a second car factory in India to cut shipment time to the northern part of the country and access ports on the nation’s west coast.
The factory will be ready by 2014 and have the capacity to make 240 000 cars and 270 000 engines annually. – Bloomberg