Ford India starts second production shift at Chennai

Ford India, which is receiving an overwhelming response for its latest hatchback Ford Figo from the buyers in the country has  started a second shift at its Maraimalainagar production facility, in Chennai. The decision has been taken in a bid to catch-up with the mounting demand for the Figo model in Indian market. Mr Nigel E Wark, Ford India Executive Director (Marketing & Sales) confirmed in a statement given to a leading Indian news agency that company has started a second production shift at its Chennai plant to meet the increasing demand for Figo. He added that Figo is getting a good response from the market and the company has received 24,000 purchase orders in the first four months of launch. This small car is helping to drive company's sales growth.

The company hasn't revealed the total production capacity of this recently started second production shift. However, Michael Boneham, President Ford India had recently stated that the second shift would enhance the production capacity of the company up to 40 percent. The company has recruited about 600-700 workers for this second shift so that the capacity can be fully utilized. At present, the company has more than 167 dealerships in India which are spread across 97 cities of the country. Besides Figo, the current portfolio of the company in India includes Ikon, Endeavour and Fiesta models.

Moreover, the production capacity enhancement by the company can be seen as a part of company's plans to export the Figo model to foreign markets like Europe and South Africa. The Ford Figo was launched in India in the month of March this year in the competitive price range of Rs 3,53,700 - Rs 5,31,400.