Ford Motor Company invests Rs 1,300 crore for new Technology Centre in Chennai

CHENNAI: US carmaker, Ford Motor Company on Tuesday announced an investment of Rs 1,300 crore in setting up a new Technology and Development Centre in Chennai, which will work on tailoring products to Indian market needs.

This will be Ford's third R&D base in the Asia Pacific region and it will become the second largest IT development base and largest App development base for Ford globally. The new R&D centre will go on stream by early 2019 and will provide employment to 3000 skilled workforce

Inaugurating the new R&D centre, Bill Ford, chairman of Ford Motor said India is not only a vibrant market for cars and new mobility ideas, but is also rich in talent and technical expertise that Ford can tap into

Calling Chennai home away from home, the great grandson of Henry Ford said, "Chennai centre will serve as a hub for our product development, mobility solutions and business services for India and also for the world. This new centre of excellence is planned to bring in open and collaborative environment for the speed in decision making for both our core products and emerging business opportunities.”

Ford says, the R&D base will help the company transition from Make in India to research and develop in India. This new centre will integrate all the Ford’s global business service function into one campus, and turn into the third development centre in Asia Pacific.

As the company transitions from an automotive company to a mobility solution provider, the executive chairman of the Ford said, the company is investing in tools needed to achieve this vision and India will be a significant contributor as an innovation hub.

Ford India has already invested over $2 billion in the country and employs over 14000 people across the country. It uses India as a key export base for its compact cars and small engines for the world.

But the presence of the company in the domestic market has remained fairly modest.

Led by fresh product portfolio of five cars, the company has posted a sales growth of 25% this calendar year and has registered a 40% growth in overseas volumes.

With local development centre, the company hopes to react to the local market needs faster than ever before.