04 Sept 2009;business-standard.com:Chennai: Ford India has expanded the capacity of its Chennai plant ahead of the production of its new small car. Speaking to reporters, Michael Boneham, president and managing director, said around 70 per cent of the proposed $500 million (around Rs 2,000 crore) investment has been utilised for expansion of the capacity of its facility and building of an integrated diesel engine manufacturing facility. It has increased the plant footprint to 353 acres from 250 acres and introduced a 30-acre supplier park to house automotive components and parts. The company has planned to localise around 85 per cent of its components. The company has also increased automation in the factory by 30 per cent and has installed 92 robots in the facility that was previously in zero-automation mode. “The plan is to increase production to 330 units per shift by next year, compared to the present 150 per day. In this way, we can double the installed capacity by 100,000 units per year,” he said. The engine manufacturing facility will start operations next year, added Boneham. On the small car, he said the company would focus on domestic markets before starting to export it. The Chennai plant will also be the first volume car plant of Ford globally to introduce the new paint process called Three-Wet High, and the company plans to launch the new ‘Endeavor’ with this process. The process increases durability and is scratch-resistant, according to Tom Chackalackal, vice-president, manufacturing.
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