March 22: Five months after it held the groundbreaking ceremony, Ford India laid the foundation stone for its new US$1 billion state-of-the-art, integrated manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat. When complete in 2014, the plant will have a production capacity of an additional 240,000 vehicles and 270,000 engines per annum for both the Indian and export markets.

The foundation stone ceremony was held at the 460-acre plant site in Sanand where Michael Boneham, Ford India's president and managing director, was joined by Maheswar Sahu, industry secretary, government of Gujarat, and Felix Guillen, Ford's executive director of manufacturing, for Asia Pacific and Africa. “With this new plant, we are committed to significantly increasing our manufacturing output and aggressively expanding our business in India. The vehicles and engines produced at Sanand with India-based, world-class suppliers and partners, will add greatly to the full range of exciting, safe and fuel-efficient vehicles available to Indian customers at tremendous value.” The new assembly plant will be fully integrated to support stamping, body assembly, paint, trim and final assembly. The paint shop for which the foundation stone was placed, will utilise Ford’s environmentally friendly rotational dip technology and 3-Wet technology paint processes, dramatically improving paint quality, depth and durability, as well as significantly reducing Volatile Organic Compounds, CO2 emissions and waste.

“Ford is very proud to invest in India during these momentous times of rapid development, economic growth and profound change for India,’’ said Ford's Guillen. “Both in Chennai and in Sanand, Ford will create a lasting investment, not just in the physical manufacturing facilities, but an investment in our workforce themselves and in their communities, our suppliers and our partners, in Gujarat and across India," he added.

Ford’s total investment in India to date is approximately US$ 2 billion, an investment that is expected to grow with the completion of the Sanand integrated manufacturing facility in 2014. In addition to the 5,000 direct employment jobs created, the completion of the new plant will spur the creation of thousands of additional indirect jobs in Gujarat. To provide for maximum local sourcing for parts, Ford India’s operations have already attracted 19 high-level vendors to manufacture components close to the Sanand facility.

As part of its continuing aggressive strategy for the Indian market – most recently seen in the global reveal of the Ford EcoSport at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo -- Ford has announced that it will bring eight new vehicles to India by mid-decade, the first one being the all-new Fiesta, which was launched in July 2011.