Ford Motor Company today said it will invest Rs 4,000 crore in a new plant in Sanand, Gujarat, to make cars and engines.The company signed an agreement with the Gujarat Government for the project that will come up on 460 acres. The plant will create 5,000 jobs, according to a company press release.The State Government has prioritised land adjacent to the site for supplier operations.

This will be Ford’s second plant in India, the first being near Chennai. Ford India makes the hatchback Figo, Fiesta sedan and Endeavour SUV at the Maraimalai Nagar plant, to the south of Chennai, which has been in operation for over a decade. The vehicle plant can make over one lakh cars a year and the engine plant is being expanded.According to the press release, the vehicle manufacturing plant at Sanand will have an initial capacity of 2.4 lakh units and the engine plant an initial annual capacity of 270,000 units.

Ford said it selected Gujarat because of its pro-business environment, infrastructure, access to ports and skilled workforce. The new facilities will allow quick access from operations at the new manufacturing site to the heartland of the critical north and western India regions, where the largest share of the country’s passenger car industry exists.Construction of both plants will begin later this year, with the first vehicle and engine scheduled to come off the line in 2014. In 2010, Ford announced it would bring eight new vehicles to India by mid-decade.

At a ceremony held in Gandhinagar, the Gujarat Industry Secretary, Mr M. Sahu, and Mr Michael Boneham, Ford India’s President and Managing Director, signed the MoU, in the presence of the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr Narendra Modi, and Mr Hinrichs.

[Source]

Pricing is at par with the respective new benchmarks for hatchbacks. The 1.2 petrol Figo will equal the smaller but newer Chevrolet Beat in its pricing, while the 1.4 diesel is almost at par with the Maruti Suzuki Ritz. The diesel variant will also undercut the newly launched Volkswagen Polo 1.2 diesel by almost half a lakh of rupees.

Deliveries for the new car will begin immediately, in fact we have already spotted the car on display at various Ford dealerships already. The company has also ensured that its sales and service network has been suitably ramped up to accommodate the initial demand for the Figo. The company currently has 167 dealerships in 97 cities ? 28 of these dealerships were opened in one day. Clearly, Ford India seems geared up for the bringing the Figo on the streets in a large way.

Figo 1.2 Petrol

Figo 1.4 TDCi Diesel

Lxi – Rs 3,49,900

Lxi – 4,47,900

Exi – Rs 3,81,900

Exi – 4,72,900

Zxi – Rs 3,99,900

Zxi – 4,96,900

Titanium – Rs 4,42,900

Titanium – 5,29,900

[Source]

Ford India on Wednesday said in a statement that it would increase prices of all its vehicles from January 1, 2010, due to rise in input costs and exchange rate fluctuations. The upward price revisions will be in the range of Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 40,000 across various models. After the price hike, Ford Ikon will cost Rs. 4.83-5.43 lakh, while Fiesta will be priced between Rs. 6.13 lakh and Rs. 8.07 lakh and Endeavour at Rs. 15.99-18.39 lakh.

[Source]