Six weeks after announcing an investment of Rs 4,000 crore ($1 billion) at its second manufacturing plant at Sanand, near here, Ford India Pvt Ltd on Monday said it may seek a port terminal in Gujarat for exports to the western market “when the time comes.”

The US-based multinational automaker, which commenced Indian operations at Chennai in 1995, and held the ground-breaking ceremony for the new integrated facility at Sanand on Monday, said it would be making Fiesta and other models at the new plant, from where the first vehicles and engines are scheduled to come off the line in 2014. The Sanand plant, spread over 460 acres, Ford’s seventh globally, will initially produce 2.40 lakh vehicles and 2.70 lakh engines annually. With the Sanand facility, Ford India’s investments in the country have doubled to $2 billion (Rs 8,000 crore) so far.

The All-New Fiesta, which went on sale last month, is the first of eight new vehicles Ford is bringing to India by mid-decade. Ford plans to increase its sales and service network to 200 outlets this year, of which more than 40% are located in secondary markets.

Mr Michel Boneham, President and Managing Director, Ford India, told reporters that the way the Chennai Port served the company’s markets in the East and South East Asia, the Gujarat terminal, or a roll-on roll-off (RoRo) facility, could be used for exports to the western markets like Mexico, South Africa and the Middle East as and when necessary.

The company sold 1,500 units of Chennai-built Ford Figo to 26 markets in August. So far, Figo has sold one lakh units in India and the company will eventually export it to 50 international markets.

In 2011, Ford India sold 80,332 wholesale and exports until August, a year-to-date increase of 40% compared to 57,303 units during the same period last year.

Mr Kumar Galhotra, Vice President, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa, said most of the company’s markets are now in this region and India will be the third largest market globally by 2020. “All global products of Ford would be manufactured at Sanand as well.” The new facilities are expected to increase worldwide sales by 50% by mid-decade to eight million vehicles annually.

The State Government has also prioritized land adjacent to the site for supplier operations. It will be protected by the local government in order to attract and locate automotive suppliers within close proximity of both the plants.

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