Ford to Fire Up Car Production in India as Market Rebounds

Ford is returning to building cars in India just three years after bailing out, citing a global restructuring program that many thought cast doubt on the health of the country’s automotive market.

Now the U.S. giant says it will restart production at its shuttered plant in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, following talks with the state’s chief minister M K Stalin, reports English-speaking Indian newspaper The Economic Times.

In a statement, Ford says: “The move will see the facility re-purposed to focus on manufacturing for export to global markets.” Models to be built at the facility will be announced later, the company says.

While the reopening of the plant near Chennai is slated for production of export-only vehicles, many auto experts in the country see it as a precursor for a full re-entry into a market that has defied some analysts’ predictions of doom.

Ford stopped building vehicles for sale in India in 2021 after struggling to boost volumes and ended production for export in 2022, exiting the world's third-largest car market.

A commentary piece in the newspaper, reads: “However, the runaway success of smaller brands such as Korean Kia Motors and Chinese MG Motors proved that India's automobile growth story is intact. It is a mark of the Indian auto market's attraction that speculation about Ford's return to India refuses to die.”