Ford to hike production 30 per cent to meet festival demand
10 Sep 2009
Amercian auto major Ford plans to raise vehicle production in India by over 30 per cent from September to meet additional demand spurred by the festive season, when demand for high sticker value products is at its peak, spurred by special festival-season offers.
Michael Boneham, president and managing director Ford India said the company had been producing around 130 vehicles a day, which would increase to 174 vehicles a day.
He said the demand for the company's cars, the entry level sedan Ikon, which received a facelift last November, the mid-sized sedan Fiesta and also for its SUV Endeavour had increased.
The company has launched an advanced version of its sports utility vehicle Endeavour priced between Rs15.99 lakh and Rs17.99 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi).
He said the company was not expecting any significant increase in the overall vehicle sales in 2009 and projected unit sales at 31,000.
Boneham said that the government had done a good job to boost the auto sector though issues like extra Rs15,000 duty on big cars needed to be addressed. He added that things were improving however caution was needed.