Ford Motor Looks to India as Export Hub

VOA Breaking News (Voice of America)
March 9, 2011 at 5:20 pm

U.S. automaker Ford Motor says it is looking to make India its chief manufacturing site for small cars, by expanding exports of its made-in-India Figo compact model to more than 50 countries.

The world's fifth biggest automaker said Wednesday it would soon expand its Figo exports beyond South Africa and Nepal, with the shipment of 1,500 vehicles to Mexico. The automaker said it would also send the cars, with 85 percent Indian content, to other nations in North Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

Ford manufactures larger vehicles in Mexico, but has looked to India as a base to manufacture and sell the smaller Figo models that cost $12,000 or less. India is one of the world's fastest growing car markets in the world as the personal incomes of its 350 million middle class people increase. The company says that it expects 70 percent of its growth in the next decade to come from the Asia-Pacific region and Africa.

Vehicle sales in India reached a monthly record of 189,000 in February. Ford built the Figo specifically for the Indian market and has sold 50,000 of the models there in their first six months on the market.