Ford, one of the big three auto makers in the US, is betting big on India with the country becoming one of its few fast growing markets globally. It has increased local content to appreciable levels in its locally manufactured cars to compete in the price sensitive Indian car market and has announced that it would line up new models in the coming years in various segments while investing in India. Ford India president and managing director Michael Boneham speaks to FE?s Jaishankar Jayaramiah about the future plans of the company in India. Excerpts:

How do you see the Indian auto market developing in the short to medium term?

The Indian vehicle market is vibrant and it is going to grow significantly. From 2002 to 2008, the industry expanded from 0.8 million units to two million units. From 2008, it has grown to three million in 2010. It took six years to grow by 1.2 million units but it took only three years from 2008 to touch three million units. We expect the industry to grow to five million units in 2015 and touch nine million units by 2020.

What kind of market share you are eying in the Indian car sector?

We do not share our targets. Basically, we want to play and will play significant role in the domestic auto market. That?s why we are going to launch eight new models in the next five years. Currently, we are having a market share in the range of 3-4%. In fact, our market share doubled after the launch of the small car Figo. With our SUV model Endeavour, we are the market leader with a market share of 20% in the premium SUV segment, which is in the price bracket of Rs 15-20 lakh. In January-August, Endeavour sales increased by 68% year-on-year. Since 2007, Ford Endeavour has also topped the JD Power Dependability Survey three times in a row.

In which segments you would launch new models?

We are bringing eight new products to India. We cannot disclose about the segmenwise details. But 70% of market in the Indian car segment is driven by small cars. We want to play a big role in that segment.

What are your investment plans?

The company has invested close to $1 billion in India since its inception in 1995. Around $500 million was infused in the past three years alone to enhance the annual production capacity of vechile manufacturing plant in Chennai to 2 lakh units, to introduce its first compact car Figo in India and set up a new engine manufacturing facility with a capacity of 2.5 lakh units per annum. We will continue to invest in India. We have aggressive plans for the country. When we launch our proposed eight new products, we may require to expand our Indian manufacturing operations. Our investments will be driven by the new products and capacity. If it is required, we may expand our existing 350-acre complex in Chennai it self as we have adequate area there.

How is the current year for your company?

The market has really picked up in the current year. Our sales volumes are increasing tremendously this year. In August, we have trippled our volumes. We hope to continue to do in the same manner in the rest of the year. With the festival season around the corner, we are expecting to jack up sales. Already, we have received 34,000 bookings for the compact car Figo in the 25 weeks since it was introduced.

Anticipating higher domestic and export volumes, we have introduced second shift in the company?s facility in Chennai since July and doubled the car production to 400 units per day.