Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said he had met with Ford officials to discuss the future of their shuttered plant in Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai.
“Had a very engaging discussion with the team from Ford Motors! Explored the feasibility of renewing Ford’s three decade partnership with Tamil Nadu, to again make in Tamil Nadu for the world!” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The meeting with Ford is part of the CM’s 17-day US visit where he has been looking to garner fresh investments for the state.
The talks come at a time when Ford India is likely to take a definitive decision soon on its product strategy going ahead for its Chennai plant.
There have been reports of Ford looking at a third time India re-entry looking at both ICE (internal combustion engine) as well as EV production, in the CBU (Completely Built Up) form at the plant. CBU refers to cars that are imported from another country in their fully assembled condition.
The Chennai plant may also be used as an export base, as the American auto major called off a deal last December with the JSW group.
Recently Ford India filed for a design patent for its new Endeavour, which has been a best selling product in its earlier avatar like it’s entry level SUV, the Ecosport. After investing close to 2 billion dollars, Ford exited the Indian market in September 2021 as it failed to keep up with the competition, and other global economic factors led to a massive fall in sales.
