atomcat68 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-mahindra-call-off-auto-212330579.html Could Ford be bailing from India? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dequindre Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 This probably makes sense for the time being. The lower cost of Indian vehicles probably leaves small profit margins. Ford may want to reassess as India continues to industrialize (and become wealthier as a result) in future decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Maybe this was aother captain's call from Jim Farley? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Mary3 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 https://gaadiwaadi.com/skoda-launching-new-suvs-sedans/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Just wondering what impact, if any, this has on the future of the Ford EcoSport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, ice-capades said: Just wondering what impact, if any, this has on the future of the Ford EcoSport. I am thinking that it would be minimal since EcoSport is built by Ford at several Ford plants around the world. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rperez817 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, ice-capades said: Just wondering what impact, if any, this has on the future of the Ford EcoSport. EcoSport will continue to be produced at Ford's Chennai plant. In the announcement, Ford said that "the joint venture isn't going to happen", meaning the 51% Mahindra, 49% Ford ownership arrangement the 2 companies announced in October 2019. Ford India Private Limited's independent operations, including its assembly plants in Chennai and Sanand, will continue operating as before. Edited January 1, 2021 by rperez817 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Rosadini Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 15 hours ago, jpd80 said: Maybe this was aother captain's call from Jim Farley? I do believe JP you hit the nail on the head. I think Covid is everyones latest excuse to bail on an issue. Either that or there are ongoing issues associated with Covid and the effectiveness of the vaccine that Dr Fauci isn't telling us about? My guess is the deal was not that well thought out and the wheels were coming off.....This was done under Hackett's regime right? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rperez817 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Bob Rosadini said: My guess is the deal was not that well thought out and the wheels were coming off.....This was done under Hackett's regime right? The JV deal was well thought out. Even though the JV was announced in October 2019, it actually came about as a result of a strategic alliance that Mahindra and Ford started exploring 2 years prior. Jim Farley (who was at that time President of Global Markets at Ford) led the charge on the Ford side, while Pawan Goenka took the lead on the Mahindra side. Ford and Mahindra are complementary. Both companies agreed that the strategic alliance and JV would "improve Ford’s reach within India" and "improve Mahindra’s reach outside of India". Ultimately, the JV was undone by India's severe economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In FY 2019 when the JV was announced, India GDP grew 6.1%. In FY 2021, India GDP is expected to decline 5%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) The economic downturn is temporary as you don't see Suzuki, Toyota, Hyundai, Renault, and VW backing away from their investment in India. And neither is Tata slowing down. And also GM relaunched in India with a major push via a joint venture with SAIC (selling GM Baojun SUV rebadged as SAIC's MG brand). I'm just speculating that Ford is not entirely happy with the XUV500 based product that Mahindra has designed to be sold as a Ford. It turned out to be just a rebadge (see link below). And they may have had a bigger disagreement on how to proceed with EcoSport replacement. Mahindra's XUV300 is based on Ssangyong Tivoli (just chopped down to 4 meters to comply with India laws) so they probably want to replace EcoSport with another rebadge. Ford probably wanted to base the Indian EcoSport on the rest of the world EcoSport (just shorter/chopped to 4 meters). And let's not forget that Mahindra decided to let its Korean subsidiary Ssangyong file bankruptcy last week rather than bailing it out. That's raises a lot of questions about the future of Mahindra's product pipeline... one the main reason why Ford linked up with Mahindra in the first place - to get lots of products in a hurry without major capital investments. If it turned out that Mahindra's drawing board was largely blank... well, this is a good time for Ford to pull the plug. Ford is prepping to launch Ranger in India so it is definitely staying in India for the long haul. The question is how big is Farley thinking. Do they want to just use India as an export based and try to compete in a few segments. Or they want to challenge Hyundai which has quietly become a formidable #2 in India behind Suzuki. India in theory is a market ripe for Ford. While vehicle ownership rate is relatively low, poor roads and consumer tastes have shifted heavily in favor of SUVs - a Ford staple. Ford just need to figure out how to get to the market quickly and keep updating its products regularly. Basically what Hyundai has done in the last 7~8 years while Ford sold the same EcoSport that pioneered the 4-meter SUV segment in India. Edited January 4, 2021 by bzcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probowler Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 (edited) NVM Edited January 5, 2021 by probowler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passis Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 (edited) To me it sounds that they found out that, in the long run, it could be more cost effective to keep Índia in the international markets scheme, with a family of lower costs B2* vehicles shared with other emerging markets. Also, someome must have reminded them of what happened when Ford/VW formed as 49/51 joint venture in Autolatina... Those 2% go a long way... *Eventually C2, as developed countries go deeper into electrification and underdeveloped ones struggle with infrastructure. Edited January 5, 2021 by passis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 FCA just announced they are expanding the local Jeep assembly in India with $250m investment. SUV sales are booming in India. https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/fiat-chrysler-automobiles-to-invest-usd-250-mn-in-india-for-production-of-4-new-jeep-suvs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausrutherford Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Apparently the XUV500 based product is still a go as it is basically finished. Just no more products will come out of the stillborn JV. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe771476 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 I think VW put the kibosh on it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 On 1/5/2021 at 3:58 PM, ausrutherford said: Apparently the XUV500 based product is still a go as it is basically finished. Just no more products will come out of the stillborn JV. Ok that makes some sense. It's basically done so might as well just go with it. In looking at the bigger picture, Ford can always merge the replacement of this XUV500 based CUV with its Territory program further down the road. They basically serve the same role as emerging market C-segment utility entry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausrutherford Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 For anyone else wondering, Ford's JV with Zoyte in China is also dead. In fact, Tech New, the parent company of Zoyte, has filed for bankruptcy. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 (edited) On 1/7/2021 at 10:25 AM, bzcat said: Ok that makes some sense. It's basically done so might as well just go with it. In looking at the bigger picture, Ford can always merge the replacement of this XUV500 based CUV with its Territory program further down the road. They basically serve the same role as emerging market C-segment utility entry. This. The development of RHD Territory is already done so no point reinventing the wheel with Mahindra. I guess this all comes down to Ford evaluating alternatives and circling back to an existing vehicle. Let's hope that Ford continues to show strength to review decisions and pick the right path. Edited January 10, 2021 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Ford's ending manufacturing in Brazil throws EcoSport replacement out into the cold... I'm wondering now what Ford is planning to do in India. The export operation seems to be the only reason Ford is still in India but if there is no next gen EcoSport to export... time to turn off the lights there too. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passis Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 After Brazil, Ford seems to be pulling the plugs of the Indian Ka/Figo/Aspire https://indianauto.com/news/ford-revamps-lineups-figo-aspire-freestyle-nid8957 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Clearing the decks for more shared VWs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 15 hours ago, jpd80 said: Clearing the decks for more shared VWs? maybe Chinese based products? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 3 hours ago, silvrsvt said: maybe Chinese based products? For India? Maybe Territory but that's about it. China and India auto markets are going to different directions. India is all about A and B segment cars and CUVs. China doesn't really care for A or B segment cars that much, unless it is tiny EVs. The main focus of the Chinese market is C and D segment cars and CUVs. The big unknown at the moment is what happens to the BX784 and BX785, the pair of low cost C-CUV and CUV coupe developed by Ford Brazil. It was supposed to replace Territory so Chinese production was probably going to happen. Does Ford now move the pair to Mexico and add India to the mix? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passis Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 15 hours ago, bzcat said: The big unknown at the moment is what happens to the BX784 and BX785, the pair of low cost C-CUV and CUV coupe developed by Ford Brazil. It was supposed to replace Territory so Chinese production was probably going to happen. Does Ford now move the pair to Mexico and add India to the mix? Maybe Mexico is getting the Puma. As for India, the situation is very confusing. So the BX duo might just be completely dead as Ford is abdicating new peripheral ICE models in favour of EVs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayXJ Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Mahindra, Ford cut final ties by ending engine, platform sharing pact. https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/passenger-vehicle/cars/ford-india-to-drop-mahindra-engines-from-its-future-products-to-rely-on-own-engines-and-products-as-part-of-future-independent-operation/81702987 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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