Come 2010 and Ford India will roll out petrol engines from its power train unit in Chennai. The plant,?which has an installed capacity of 2,40,000?units, became operational in April and is currently manufacturing 60,000 units of diesel engines a year.?
Currently, the company is sourcing petrol engines from its power train unit in South Africa.
?We have started with diesel engines but once our Chennai plant goes full steam in 2010, we may look at manufacturing petrol engines as well,? says Nigel E Wark, executive director (sales and marketing), Ford India.
This is part of the company?s $500 million investment in India that includes setting up a manufacturing unit in the country, a power train unit and developing a small car for the Indian market.
In order to give a fillip to the dwindling sales of Ford Ikon, the company on Wednesday introduced the diesel variant of the Ford Ikon.
The vehicle, which is priced at Rs 5.19 lakh, is fitted with the 1.4 litre DuraTorq TDCi engine that has been there in Fiesta for 3-4 years. Even the 1.3 litre petrol version has got a face-lift and is now priced at Rs 4.59 lakh.”