India-Built EcoSport Could Be U.S.-Bound, Report Says

Ford may be the first automaker to bring an Indian-built car to the U.S., with plans to import its EcoSport model beginning next year, according to a report in India’s The Economic Times.

The newspaper says Ford has put out a bid for quotes to local suppliers to build more 90,000 EcoSports next year for the U.S., a volume that exceeds local sale of the small CUV.

Plans are to begin selling the vehicle in the U.S. in October 2017, The Economic Times says, citing multiple people familiar with the program.

Ford builds the EcoSport at its Maramlainger plant in India, assembling 99,000 copies of the model last year. A WardsAuto AFS forecast calls for production to increase to 199,000 units in 2017, but that would not include any additional output for the U.S.

In a backgrounder with financial analysts last week, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks acknowledged Ford could look outside North America for additional product for the U.S. market.

“We can get a bit more (capacity) out (of the U.S.) – not at every facility, but we can get more out,” he said. “And I would never say never in terms of putting something in place in North America if it made sense.

“But, certainly now with the One Ford plan, we’ve got the opportunity to bring product from other parts of Ford outside of North America,” he added, pointing to current sourcing of the Transit Connect van from Spain as one example. “With the footprint that we have elsewhere, I would look there first before putting a new plant in North America.”

The EcoSport is based on the Fiesta’s B2e architecture and is built in Brazil, Russia and Thailand, as well as India, where it is offered with a base 1.5L 4-cyl. and optional 1.0L EcoBoost 3-cyl. Small volumes of the model also are assembled in Vietnam and Venezuela.

Ford currently ships vehicles from India to other markets, including Europe, and sells Fiesta-based Ikon small cars in Mexico imported from India. But no automaker has brought Indian-built cars or trucks into the U.S. India-based Mahindra & Mahindra did have plans to sell trucks in the U.S., but so far that hasn’t happened.

The Economic Times says Thailand poses the biggest obstacle to the India-export plan, as Ford operations there also are bidding to supply the U.S.-market EcoSports. Initially, Thailand was considered the frontrunner for the program, but recent request-for-quote activity with local suppliers suggests the focus may be shifting to India, the paper says.

A Ford spokesman in the U.S. declined to comment on the report.

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