Ford India, which is aiming to become a major player in the Indian car market by 2015, is looking at an agressive expansion of manufacturing capacity and human resource at its Chennai plant.
The company has ramped up its workforce in India by 33 per cent during the current year to 4,000 employees.
"As we are expanding our manufacturing capacities in India to meet the demand from both domestic and export markets, we need to recruit more and more people that includes engineers and sales staff. We have added 1,000 employees this year and will further increase next year to adjust the rate of attrition and meet the expansion," Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India said.
He said the company's manufacturing capacity would be further increased in the next few years as it was looking at launching 8 new models by 2015. Presently, the company is operating its plant at Chennai on a two-shift basis.
"We want to be a major player in the Indian car market by 2015, when it is expected to touch 5 million units per annum," Boneham told reporters, here today after launching its premium sports utility vehicle, Ford Endeavour 4x2 Automatic.
Ford India's recently launched "global small car" Figo has notched up sales of 30,000 units in just 25 weeks and the company expects to double the sales by end of this year, he said.
The car has received encouraging response from South African market and it is constrained to meet the demand from both India and South Africa, he said. Ford India plans to launch the model in 50 countries over the next year, he added.
Ford India's plant at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai presently has an annual capacity of 200,000 units and 250,000 units of engines also made there.
Further capacity expansion will be driven by the customers in India, he said adding that the company would further increase the capacity as it plans to launch 8 new models.
The company, which increased 68 per cent growth in its SUV sales between January and August 2010 compared to the same period last year, expects to further increase its share with the launch of automatic version of Endeavour.
Presently, Ford is selling 350 units of Endeavour model per month as against 210 units per month last year.
The new model sports a 3 litre, 5-speed atomatic transmission.
The model is priced at Rs 17.88 lakh (ex-showroom, Bangalore), about Rs one lakh less than Endeavour 4x4 version.
