Apart From One Mid-Size SUV, Ford Developing Two More SUVs for Indian Market

• Published On: 28 June 2019
• 100 Views

Ford developing two all-new SUVs for India

Earlier there were reports that the US carmaker Ford was preparing to pull out of Indian car market altogether, but the brand has not only dispelled the rumor, but has now gone ahead and made announcement of the plans to make major investments in India. The US car giant has announced that the over the coming years, the brand will make a huge investment of Rs. 7,000 crores or $1 billion in a joint venture with Indian UV maker Mahindra in order to develop new products for the Indian market. Now there are reports on the internet stating that the company is in the processes of developing two all-new cars for the Indian market. These new models will be from the burgeoning SUV segment and one of them -- codename BX744 -- will take on Maruti Brezza, Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300 and the upcoming Hyundai Venue and act as a replacement for Ford EcoSport in India. The other SUV – codname BX745 – will be a compact SUV that will take on the likes Hyundai Creta and Renault Duster among others in the segment.

While the brand is already developing a mid-size compact SUV in collaboration with Mahindra for the Indian market. It is not yet clear as to whether the company will share the two upcoming SUVs with its partner in India as both of these SUVs are being developed by Ford on its own. Out of these two SUVs, the smaller one will be sold only in India, but the larger of the duo will be offered in other developing markets like China and Brazil as well.

As already mentioned, the company is developing a mid-size SUV in collaboration with Mahindra and this upcoming SUV will take on Tata Harrier and Jeep Compass in the Indian market. The upcoming SUV being developed by Mahindra and Ford will be based on the platform that the next-generation Mahindra XUV500 will also utilize.  

Talking to leading daily, a source mentioned the following about Ford’s upcoming plans for India:

Beyond independently penetrating the Indian market, Ford is looking at ways and means of participating in the global emerging market in tandem with Mahindra. A partial JV may not be ruled out… maybe one of the plants, but exiting is definitely out of question.

As of now, the US carmaker has no other SUV in India apart from the EcoSport and Endeavour, and hence the upcoming mid-size SUV can fill a major gap in the company’s product line-up in India. Apart from the upcoming SUVs, Ford in partnership from Mahindra is also getting ready to bring out the electric version of the global model of Aspire sedan in the Indian market.