Ford is slowly shutting down its Indian operations and dealers have already moved on. A Ford was now seen selling Maruti Baleno.
Even though Ford India was expected to start making EVs at one of its facilities, it is still going ahead with its plan to completely stop making cars in India. As of now, all its EV manufacturing plans that were earlier announced stand canceled. As the popular brand reaches the final shutdown phase, the stakeholders are looking toward other alternatives. In an interesting development, a Ford dealer has been seen selling Maruti Suzuki models like the Baleno, Swift, and Alto. Previously, another Ford outlet was seen selling the Mahindra XUV700. More such incidents could be seen in the coming months.
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Ford India Backs Out of EV Manufacturing Plans
The exit plan is not going as smoothly as expected for Ford. The company has been facing protests from factory workers demanding higher compensation. Now, many car dealers have started offering other brands at their Ford outlets. As you can see in the image above, this dealership is showcasing a Maruti Baleno, Swift and an Alto. This showroom is likely to move on to Maruti products. Many owners have multiple dealerships affiliated with multiple companies. Hence, in incidents like Ford’s exit, it is pretty useful to offer other models from the premises.
The news of the Ford exit came as a shock to many customers and dealerships. However, this was inevitable due to low sales. While Ford will be operational in India via imported products like Mustangs, Mach E, and Ranger/Raptor pick-up trucks, dealerships will face a challenging time once the remaining stock finishes. While Ford has promised to keep the service going on for at least 10 years, there have been some reports of the ground reality being a bit different.
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Unfortunately, all of this is a part of the business. Quite often auto brands have closed or downsized their operations. Since they are quite in touch with the market demand, no one is really surprised by the Ford exit. Ford offered several well-sorted cars to the rather highly demanding car buyers of India. While the brand will be missed on the Indian roads by many fans and enthusiasts, it is good to see some dealerships making use of their premises to minimize the affect on the business.
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Public Reaction
Above is what some social media users had to say about this incident. It doesn’t look like any of them is really surprised by this as it’s not uncommon for such things to happen. Of course, the owner of the dealership has to make a living and he/she can’t go down with the carmaker. Many of these have multiple dealerships and hence, they can use the premises to showcase products from other carmakers. Hence, Ford dealer selling Maruti cars is not a surprise to anyone but a natural consequence.
