Ford India has commenced production of diesel engines at its new engine assembly plant in Maramalai Nagar near Chennai. These engines will be used in the popular mid-size Ford Fiesta and Ford Fusion product lines. ?The new $26-million assembly plant, with an annual capacity of 60,000 units, officially went online in late April,? said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India. The 10,000-sqmt assembly plant includes a cylinder block machining line capable of producing 50,000 diesel and 10,000 petrol engine blocks. The first engines being produced are the 1.4-litre turbodiesel Duratorq engines, he said. The new engine assembly plant created an additional 200 technical and engineering positions, increasing the overall employee strength to 2300. Twenty-five new local suppliers have been added to the supply network to support the new diesel engine assembly operations, which help to contribute nearly 50% of local content to the diesel engines.
