Ford Motor Co. F has inaugurated the Sanand Vehicle Assembly and Engine Plant – an integrated manufacturing facility, comprising a vehicle manufacturing facility and an engine plant – in Gujarat, India. The automaker will begin production of the Ford Figo Aspire, which is a new sub-four-meter compact sedan, at the plant.
Ford believes that this new plant will help it achieve higher levels of growth in India. In order to attain this, the company is doubling its manufacturing capacity in India in addition to creating new jobs.
Ford started building the plants in Sanand in Sep 2011. Since then, the automaker has invested almost $1 billion in the two plants. The integrated manufacturing facility occupies 460 acres and comprises stamping, body, paint and assembly operations for vehicle manufacturing, and machining and assembly operations for engine manufacturing.
Ford’s manufacturing excellence, combined with modern equipment and advanced technology will ensure high quality products. In addition, the energy-efficient process will reduce wastage and energy consumption, and help in lowering carbon-dioxide emissions from the paint shop by up to 25%.
The vehicle manufacturing plant in Sanand will have an initial annual capacity of 240,000 units. The engine plant will have an initial annual capacity of 270,000 engines. The integrated plant will have 2500 employees working in single shifts. Ford expects the plant to create employment for 7500 workers across tier I suppliers and the rest of the value chain.
Equipped with the most advanced technologies, it is expected that Ford will be able to fulfill the demand of Indian customers. The automaker intends to manufacture 450,000 cars and 600,000 engines in India by 2015. Ford projects sales of compact cars in India to reach about 2 million vehicles in 2018, almost double that of the 2013 level. In order to support the increasing sales, Ford aims to extend dealerships in India to 500 by 2015.
Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked auto stocks include Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. ALSN, Gentherm Inc. THRM and American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. AXL. While Allison Transmission sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), both American Axle and Gentherm carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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