The Hindu : Business : Ford small car to hit roads by end 2009

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Thursday, Jun 26, 2008
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Ford small car to hit roads by end 2009

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Ford’s small car may be on the roads by the end of 2009, and would conform to the engine capacity requirement of the Indian Government for duty concessions, Ford India’s President and Managing Director Michael Boneham said here on Wednesday.

“Ford is entering the small car segment for the first time here and we know it has to be aggressively priced. We studied the market and know it is large and growing. The small car is designed at our R&D facility in Australia and with a team from India.

The major competition will be Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai models and Ford’s small car will have more features to suit Indian conditions and consumer expectations,” Mr. Boneham said. The engineers in Australia also worked on designs for Ford’s units in Europe.

Ford India was investing $500 million to expand its production capacity and dealer network (now eighty across India), he said.

Executive Director, Marketing, Nigel Wark, said though oil price hikes affected the Indian automotive industry too, Ford was able to retain its market share in both car and SUV segments with a 15 per cent and 20 per cent share respectively.

“The Indian automobile market continues to grow,” he said.

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