Ford having a re-think on India exit? Cancels Chennai plant deal with JSW group

NEW DELHI: Is Ford having a rethink on its India exit strategy? The Amercian car company has cancelled a potential deal with the JSW group for its Chennai plant, after holding very advanced-stage discussions, said sources
While the company had also initiated talks with Mahindra & Mahindra previously and Taiwanese electric maker Vinfast recently for sale of the Chennai factory, it may now want to stay put and maintain a manufacturing presence in India, sources told TOI.
"The talks between Ford's headquarters in the US and the JSW group have collapsed abruptly, after the companies had been moving towards closing the deal. This is a sudden decision and may stem from Ford's desire to stay put in India from the manufacturing point of view. In fact, Ford has been looking to hire people in India once again in certain functions," one of the source said. "However, nothing can be said with certainty on the matter as yet. Ford is still evaluating, and has not taken a final decision on coming back."
Questions sent to Ford late in the day did not get any response. JSW group responded with "no comments" to a questionnaire on the matter. Ford has been playing a seesaw as far as its India strategy is concerned.
Ford has been playing a seesaw as far as its India strategy is concerned. While it had announced an exit from the market in 2021 after a poor run here and having invested over $2 billion, it developed an interest in the market in early 2022 as it applied — and thereafter won — benefits under the Production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for electrics.
However, it later ended up deciding on exit from a manufacturing set-up in India, remaining with only a token presence through certain imported, premium models. This had also seen the company sell its Sanand plant in Gujarat to Tata Motors, the acquisition of which was completed at the beginning of this year.
However, now with its plans to not sell the plant to JSW group — which has recently entered the auto business after its deal with China’s SAIC and MG Motor India — it seems to be having a re-think. “There has been activity at the Ford factory in Chennai, and recently there have been certain appointments in India as well,” another source said.