- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
DAYS after US auto major Ford Motor Co. decided to stop production in India, its India head Anurag Mehrotra quit the company to pursue other career opportunities. The automaker, which started its journey in the country in the 1990s and aspired to make a mark in one of the world’s most promising automobile markets, failed to turn its aspiration into reality and took a hit of $2 billion (£1.4 billion).
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mehrotra has worked with Ford in India across several roles for more than a decade. He worked in marketing, sales and then served as its president and managing director. His last working day will be September 30, Reuters reported citing an informed source.
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In a statement, Ford India said it has put manufacturing director Balasundaram Radhakrishnan in charge of overseeing the company’s restructuring in the country.
Ford’s decision to wind up production in India is set to affect 4,000 employees, the company has said. They have also been staging protests over the decision.
Ford is the fifth major car-maker to exit manufacturing in India since 2017, following compatriots General Motors and Harley Davidson. The Indian market is dominated by Asian makers. Ford had less than two per cent of the country’s passenger vehicle market and was using about 20 per cent of its total production capacity of 440,000 cars annually in two plants.
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The company has two plants in India and earlier this month, it revealed its plan to wind down production at its western plant in the state of Gujarat by the end of the current year and at its southern plant in the state of Tamil Nadu by the second quarter of next year.
Meanwhile, India’s top auto dealers’ group has asked the Indian government to draft rules to safeguard their interests when global automakers exit the market the way Ford has decided.
Reuters reported that the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) wrote to India’s industries ministry saying sudden departure by global companies “cause great distress”.
In the letter, FADA asked the ministry to draft a law to “safeguard the dealers’ and customers’ interests in India”, Reuters, which has seen a copy of the letter, said.
The group also sought legislation to ensure that adequate information is available to customers and dealers about unfair termination of dealership pacts.
According to FADA, dealers invested $337 million (£246 million) in retail outlets of the five brands whose exit has caused a loss of more than 60,000 jobs.
Ford, on the other hand, said in a statement that it has a plan in place to ensure that its dealer partners have continued viable business.
