Ford to build more EV software capability at Chennai tech hub

American automaker Ford, whch is known to be working on an affordable EV platform, is set to build more electric vehicle (EV) software capabilities at its Ford Business Solutions India operation, based in Chennai. This information is as per a tweet by TN Investment today.  

The Ford Global Technology and Business Centre (FGTBC), set up in September 2019 in Chennai, is today a hub for cutting-edge engineering and technology, product development, mobility solutions and business services for global markets. 

Ford’s Chennai technology hub, which currently employs 12,000 personnel, comprising software developers, data scientists, R&D engineers as well as finance and accounting professionals, is expected to add another 3,000 people. The plan to develop additional EV software capability is indicative of the software development potential Ford foresees on this front in India to cater to its global EV business programme including new product development.

Ford Business Solutions India, which was set up in 1988, is a strategic project designed to provide Ford with cutting-edge solutions, with a focus on innovation and collaboration. The company which has, thus far, invested around US$ 250 million (Rs 2,082 crore) in the Chennai hub, plans to make further investments.

The Ford Business Solutions programme per se is essentially a global hub of technology and business services aimed at providing a diverse portfolio of innovative solutions for the automaker’s businesses worldwide. The expertise ranges from software engineering, analytics, data sciences, artificial intelligence and machine learning, product engineering and fintech through to accounting and financial analysis, digital marketing, enterprise connectivity, manufacturing engineering, logistics and supply chain management.

Despite having stopped manufacturing operations in India, the country remains strategically important to Ford, and the growing Ford Business Solutions India business activity remains an important global programme for the company. 

Ford India stopped vehicle manufacturing operations on July 20, 2022 when the last made-in-India EcoSport SUV rolled off the assembly line at the Maraimalai Nagar plant in Chennai.

Meanwhile, Ford is understood to be evaluating its India market re-entry. Last month, the company’s head of the International Market Group visited India, close on the heels of the government of India announcing the new electric vehicle policy and paving the way for the entry of more global automakers in the country.  

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