Chennai: Foreign car makers have indicated inoecterest to the state government of Nadu Tamil India in acquiring the Ford Motor Co factory there, said the State Industry Minister on Thursday, after convincing talks with Tata Group.
Ford announced plans to stop production in India in September, because they did not see the road to profitability there.
The car maker is expected to operate operations on the vehicle manufacturing unit and its engine in Tamil Nadu in 2022.
“The initial conversation occurred,” Thangam Thennarasu, the Tamil Nadu industry minister told Reuters, adding that he could not provide company details to be interested.
“Finally until Ford because it will be a commercial arrangement.
We only facilitate talks between the company,” he said.
Thennarasu said the Tata Group also showed an interest in buying a Ford factory, after meeting with the Minister of State and visited the factory for the preliminary study but the state government had not heard from them about the agreement.
“Now it’s up to them to make an official announcement,” said Thennarasu told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
Ford India will explore the operation in the second factory, in the state of Gujarat, in the fourth quarter of 2021 and manufacturing vehicles and machinery at the Tamil Nadu factory in 2022, the company said in September.
Ford has the capacity to produce around 440,000 cars in India a year in both plants but only uses around 25% of it, according to global data data intelligence data.
Ford, asking about which companies might be interested in buying the Tamil Nadu factory, told Reuters in a statement: “We continue to explore the possibility of alternatives for our manufacturing facilities but do not have anything to share.”