Reuters India Investment Summit: Ford (F) Unveils Its India Plans

Ford Motors (NYSE: F) is planning to work aggressively in the Indian market. During the Reuter’s industrial summit, Ford Motors India’s President and Managing Director Michael Boneham stated that Ford plans to introduce new models in the Indian market every 12-15 months for the next five years.

Ford Motors is also planning to focus on India as its manufacturing hub. India is particularly attractive to Ford due to its low-cost production facilities. Ford also stated that it plans to focus on the small car segment as it makes up about 70% of total car demand in India.

Ford currently garners 2% of market share in India and generally deals in mid-size cars such as Ikon, Fusion and Fiesta. It plans to enter the enormous small car market with the introduction of ‘Figo’ in 2010. Ford has also injected $500 million for doubling the production capacity of its Chennai production unit. Mr. Boneham asserted that Ford plans to develop Indian units as production hubs for domestic sales as well as for export.