Ford group makes dent in India

Two automotive component subsidiaries of Ford Motor Company, USA, are making their presence felt in the auto ancillary sector. The two are: Visteon India, and Climate Systems India Ltd.

Visteon India, which has its manufacturing facilities near Chennai, makes starters, alternators and other auto components. It has two units, Automotive Systems India Pvt Ltd and Visteon Powertrain Control Systems Pvt Ltd. Visteon Powertrain is an export-oriented unit.

Visteon plans to invest $50 million in these two units in the next one year. It has already invested $100 million in them. The workforce will expand from the current 300 to 800.

Ford Motor absorbs nine-tenths of Visteon's products to meet its needs in India, Europe and Brazil. Besides, Maruti and Hyundai also buy Visteon products. The company has also approached Telco for possible component supplies for the Indica. Revenue from non-Ford businesses is targeted to rise to 20 per cent by the year 2000.

Climate Systems India Ltd is also planning expansion. It proposes to invest about $5 million this year to update technology and improve manufacturing capacity.

Climate Systems is a joint venture between Ford Motor, Maruti Udyog and Sumitomo Corporation. It makes mainly aluminium radiators at its plant in Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. The entire output is sold to Maruti Udyog, the Suzuki-government of India joint venture. Climate Systems is also approaching the Tatas for supply of radiators for the Indica.