Ex-Ford dealerships starts displaying Maruti cars

On September 9th, Ford announced their exit from the Indian market. Fords’ exit has resulted in the highest dealer loss that the automobile industry has ever seen. Here, is one Ford dealership that is now showcasing Maruti Suzuki vehicles. The name of the dealership is Chakrapani Ford and it is located in Assam.

In the picture, we can see that the name of the dealership. There is a Maruti Suzuki Baleno, an Alto 800 and a Dzire parked inside the dealership. Ford announced that the sale of Aspire, Figo, Endeavour and Ecosport will stop once the dealers run out of stock. Ford will provide services, spare parts and warranty to the existing customers.

There were 170 dealerships in India with 391 outlets throughout the country. They invested around Rs. 2,000 Crores in setting up the dealerships. The dealers themselves employees around 40,000 individuals, when compared, Ford India employed only 4,000 individuals. The American manufacturer said that they will be compensating the dealers adequately.

Also read: Royal Enfield Classic 650: What it”ll look like

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Indian Car and Bike Memes (@automaniac_memer)

In the Instagram video uploaded by automaniac_memer, we can see a Toyota Fortuner standing inside a Ford dealership. The location and the name of the dealership are not mentioned in the Instagram post. But it is clear that Ford dealerships are. It seems like these Ford dealerships will now become outlets of Maruti Suzuki and Toyota.

Before Ford, the largest automobile manufacturer to exit the Indian automobile industry was General Motors. They used to have 142 dealerships. 15,000 people were employed by the dealerships and they had invested 65 Crores. So, as of now, Ford’s exist has the largest impact on the industry. FADA or Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations has revealed that a total of 64,000 jobs have been lost because of OEM’s exiting the Indian market.

Ford’s future plan

The manufacturer will retain only their Sanand manufacturing plant which will now operate only at 10 percent capacity. It is located in Gujrat and produces engines. The Chennai plant on the other hand will continue to function till 2022 to complete the pending orders. Ford says that they will now be focusing on premium and CKD products only.

As per media reports, Ford India will be launching Mustang Mach-e in the Indian market. They will bring it as a CBU import. They might also bring back the Mustang GT. MD Anurag Mehrotra said, “The intent is to bring products that are going to be differentiated and we believe to start with the Mustang family of products, which the Mustang coupe and the Mach-E, would really help us separate out from the marketplace and deliver that sustainable, profitable business.”

Ford entered the Indian market back in 1996. They have been working in the Indian mass market for the last two and a half-decade. They set up manufacturing plants in Tamil Nadu and Gujrat. Ford used to manufacture engines, vehicles and even export them. That is why they are keeping the Sanand manufacturing plant for now.

Source

Also read: Meet “Kush”, a custom built, track-ready KTM RC390 from Rajputana Customs