Ford Motor Co has decided to import made-in-Chennai Eco Sport SUV to the US from 2018. This is the first instance of an American automaker using India as a sole sourcing base for an individual model.
Ford has been exporting the India-made Eco Sport compact off-roader to a variety of countries across the world, but exports to the highly-evolved American market is certainly one of the biggest compliments to the quality of manufacturing at the Chennai plant. Recently , Maruti had also started export of the India-made Baleno hatchback to Japan, the home market of its parent Suzuki.
The compact SUV market in the US is dominated by models such as Honda HR-V , Jeep Renegade and the Chevrolet Trax and this segment has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last few years. “The current size of this category is around 300,000-3,50,000 units annually , and we expect this to double by 2018.“
The shipments to the US are likely to begin from early 2018 and a variety of changes have been made through a facelift in line with the requirements of the market.
As the India unit will begin exports to the US, Ford will discontinue shipments to western Europe. Eco Sport was launched in 2003 in Brazil, and was primarily targeted at emerging markets. A new-generation version was launched in India in 2013. The length was kept under four metres to avail lower excise duty rates.
Since its global launch in 2003, the company has sold nearly 1.3 million units across the world.Apart from Chennai, the Eco Sport is also manufactured in Brazil, China, Romania, Russia (through a joint venture) and Venezuela (through completely-knocked down kits).
Ford has been exporting the India-made Eco Sport compact off-roader to a variety of countries across the world, but exports to the highly-evolved American market is certainly one of the biggest compliments to the quality of manufacturing at the Chennai plant. Recently , Maruti had also started export of the India-made Baleno hatchback to Japan, the home market of its parent Suzuki.
The compact SUV market in the US is dominated by models such as Honda HR-V , Jeep Renegade and the Chevrolet Trax and this segment has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last few years. “The current size of this category is around 300,000-3,50,000 units annually , and we expect this to double by 2018.“
The shipments to the US are likely to begin from early 2018 and a variety of changes have been made through a facelift in line with the requirements of the market.
As the India unit will begin exports to the US, Ford will discontinue shipments to western Europe. Eco Sport was launched in 2003 in Brazil, and was primarily targeted at emerging markets. A new-generation version was launched in India in 2013. The length was kept under four metres to avail lower excise duty rates.
Since its global launch in 2003, the company has sold nearly 1.3 million units across the world.Apart from Chennai, the Eco Sport is also manufactured in Brazil, China, Romania, Russia (through a joint venture) and Venezuela (through completely-knocked down kits).
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