India: Ford Plans to Build Small Cars

[Coventina]

Source: New York Times

Ford Motor said it planned to start producing a small car in India next year. The car will be sold in India and exported. Rising disposable incomes in India may more than double car sales, to three million annually, by 2015. Ford expanded a factory near the city of Chennai with a $500 million investment. The plant will have an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/business/global/04fobriefs-FORDPLANSTOB_BRF.html

[alfredo]

1. I'd love to see the Ford Ka made here. At least sell them here, please.

[HopeHoops]

3. That's kind of cute!

Beats the hell out of the cookie-cutter shit.

[alfredo]

5. It's a fuel miser too.

[JI7]

10. that looks WAY better than the Tata Nano

[alfredo]

12. And young boys don't snicker at the sound of its name.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. They bringing the Ford Fiesta back? Remember that car?

[Mopar151]

4. very well!

Fiesta's were a "parts bin" car - engineered around existing components, particularly the 1600 cc "Kent" engine. Obsolete the day they were built - but the Kent engine is a classic, tough as an anvil, and the rest of the car was Zen simple. Some of my friends have roadraced and hillclimbed Fiesta's with success.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. Interesting! Thanks for the info

[alfredo]

6. It's been quite popular in Europe.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. The Fiestas I knew didn't look like that!

[alfredo]

9. Ford fiest Mk1 and now

Cute and tame


800hp of fire-breathing aggression.

[jmowreader]

11. It would be nice if they'd plan to build small cars in the United States

They currently make the Focus, which isn't small anymore; the Fusion and Taurus, which never were small, the Mustang, which is small but that's not why people buy them, and a vast array of vehicles not even I could get 8.5mpg in--and I'm the fuckin' fuel economy king of DU, man, I get eight and a half in an 18-wheeler.

[bamacrat]

13. A guy from Germany came into my store and showed me the Fiat 500.

Probably the future of the american car, pretty cool thought just google fiat 500

[alfredo]

14. Fiat is part owner of Chrysler.

[alfredo]

15. Remember the Ford Anglia? Harry Potter drove one.

Drag racers liked them too.



Ford has had a presence in Rally for many years.

[JonQ]

16. Seems like a reasonable business model over there

even here the trend seems to be going that way.


I've actually seen some smart cars around here lately.