Ford Motor Company, after barely developing its presence in the Indian market in two and a half decades, has closed two of its manufacturing facilities in the country. With this, Ford vehicles manufactured in India will not be on sale here. However, it will continue to sell imported four-wheelers, although heavy customs duties will mean only high-end vehicles aimed at wealthy motorists, such as its iconic Ford Mustang, are likely to make up its domestic line-up.
Ford’s inability to compete in a price-conscious market dominated by low-cost carmakers was a major reason for its failure. Its India operations had lost $2 billion over the past decade, and its market share remained stuck at around 2%. But it wasn’t only because it didn’t have any entry-level hot-sellers. Its mid-market offerings also didn’t perform very well, and some of the ones it promised didn’t generate the volume needed for cost viability. India’s car market has been in a bad shape, with sales plummeting even before the pandemic, which didn’t help the reason for its existence. In 2017, General Motors closed shop. Our car market is now an all-Euro-Asian affair.
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