US carmaker Ford drops plans of making EVs in India for global markets

Ford has dropped its plans of making EVs in India for the global markets. The same was communicated to employees in Chennai plant earlier on Thursday morning.

The company was selected under the Government of India's Production Linked Incentive Scheme to avail the benefits, but it may withdraw its application now, as it no longer will be investing in the country.

In an official response Ford India spokesperson confirmed and said "After careful review, we have decided to no longer pursue EV manufacturing for exports from any of the Indian plants. We remain grateful to the Government for approving our proposal under the Production-Linked Incentives and for being supportive while we continued our exploration.

After announcing the exit in September of 2021, the US car maker did apply to participate in the Government of India's PLI scheme.

As part of the ongoing business restructuring in India, Ford had continued to explore possible alternatives for its manufacturing facilities, the spokesperson said this included applying for the production-linked incentives scheme, which allowed us to explore utilizing one of the plants as a potential EV manufacturing base.

The company is likely to pursue its initial plans of selling both its factories in Sanand, Gujarat and Chennai. While the talks for the Sanand plany sale to Tata Motors is progressing well, it is still pursuing multiple suitors for its Chennai factory, say people in the know.

"Ford India's previously announced business restructuring continues as planned, including exploring other alternatives for our manufacturing facilities. We continue to work closely with unions and other stakeholders to deliver an equitable and balanced plan to mitigate the impacts of restructuring," added the spokesperson.