Teamautotrend

Ford and Mahindra JV Called Off - Ford India Operate Independently!

by admin | January 01, 2021

Ford CEO

Ford Motor Company and Mahindra & Mahindra have dissolved their joint venture that was announced in October 2019. In the official statements issued separately by Ford and Mahindra, both automakers have mutually decided to part ways and function as separate entities.

Overview

On the 1st of October 2019, Ford India and Mahindra had signed an agreement in Mumbai to create a joint venture that will develop, market and distribute Ford vehicles in India along with Mahindra vehicles in high-growth emerging markets overseas. The JV was to see Mahindra having the 51 percent controlling stake and Ford owning a 49 percent stake. Ford was to transfer its India operations to the JV, including its personnel and assembly plants in Chennai and Sanand. Ford was to retain the Ford engine plant operations in Sanand as well as the Global Business Services unit, Ford Credit and Ford Smart Mobility. The JV was planned to be the next step in the strategic alliance forged between both brands back in September 2017.

The main aim of the joint venture was to grow the Ford brand in India and export its products to Ford entities globally. Both manufacturers were to share components, platforms, technology and engineering capabilities on their new cars.

Reason for dissolving:

According to the companies, the reasons to call off this JV were “Fundamental changes in global economic and business conditions; caused, in part, by the global pandemic over the past 15 months.”

Upcoming products:

Ford has already been developing its next big launch, the new C-SUV ( C757) based on the next-gen Mahindra XUV500 (W601). This new SUV was already planned for an early-2022 launch. Therefore, it's likely that Ford will enter into a contract manufacturing arrangement with Mahindra to build the C-SUV in its Chakan plant. Ford is also likely to source the 1.2L TGDI engine from Mahindra for the upgraded 2021 Ecosport compact SUV. The Ford C-SUV too will use the same 2-litre petrol and 2.2 diesel engines that will power the next XUV500.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Related News

Maruti Vitara Brezza BS6 2020

MG Gloster SUV Launched at 28.98 Lakh , Feature loaded and cheaper than Toyota Fortuner !

2021 Mercedes Benz Maybach S Class Ultra Luxury Sedan Unveiled

Nissan Kicks E power 2020

In terms of looks, the Facelifted model receieves many visual updates. The front looks a bit more aggressive and more modern. LED headlamps, new bumper design and grille give it the much needed change from the boring avatar it had. The rear has remained mostly unchanged apart from the LED tail lamps and a rear skid plate integrated quite well into the rear bumper.

The interior of the new Facelifted Nissan Kicks is quite different from the existing India-spec model. The central AC vents are positioned above the 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system while it also has a semi-digital instrument cluster with

a 7-inch TFT display. Other changes include a flat-bottom steering wheel, updated centre console for the e-Power drive train, six airbags, active safety systems like front collision warning and rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, auto headlamps, 360-degree camera and engine start-stop button. That’s a good deal of features to start with!

While the Kicks e-Power and its hybrid powertrain are unlikely to come to India, Nissan could refresh the existing model with updates from the Facelift e-Power version that could go on sale in 2021. Nissan had previously stated it will study the feasibility of the e-Power tech in India, but so far no announcement has been made regarding its introduction. The Thai-spec Nissan Kicks e-Power starts at a price od from Rs 21 lakh (converted 889,000 baht), which is quite a lot of money for a car that size.

The Indian version of the Nissan Kicks recently updated wothBwith complaint with new 1.3-litre turbo-petrol engine churning out 156PS, making it the most powerful in this segment The BS6 Kicks has been recently launched with prices ranging between Rs 9.5 lakh and Rs 14.15 lakh (ex-showroom, India). It will continue to rival the likes of the Renault Duster, Kia Seltos and Hyundai Creta.

GNCAP Result 2020 - Disappointing performance by S-presso, Grand i10 Nios and Kia Seltos!

Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) have now revealed the crash test results of three more best selling cars, under its Safer Cars for India initiative. The entry-level variant of each was chosen for the crash test.

Global NCAP crash tests cars at a speed of 64kmph, which is 8kmph higher than the stipulated test speed under Indian safety norms. The Indian safety norms were upgraded in October 2019, and is now at par with, and ahead in some areas, in terms of safety norms, compared to markets like USA and Brazil.

All

the cars were tested only for frontal crash protection.

November 2020 crash tests:

Maruti Suzuki S-presso : Adult : 0 stars. Child : 2 stars
Hyundai Grand i10 Nios : Adult : 2 stars. Child : 2 stars
Kia Seltos : Adult : 3 stars. Child : 2 stars

Maruti Suzuki S-presso:

The S-Presso got an appalling zero star for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection. The S-Presso offers only driver airbag as standard. The body structure was rated as unstable along with the footwell area. Child occupant protection was poor with the poor performance of the restraint systems. The S-presso does not offer 3-point belts in all positions as standard and has no ISOFIX Child Restraint Systems (CRS).

Hyundai Grand i10 Nios:

The Grand i10 Nios achieved a disappointing two stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection. The Grand i10 Nios offers dual airbags and pretensioner equipped seatbelts for front passengers as standard. Its structure and the footwell area were rated as unstable.

Child occupant protection showed poor results due to the absence of ISOFIX Child Restraint Systems. The Grand i10 Nios does not offer standard 3-point belts in all seating positions and does not offer standard ISOFIX anchorages.

Kia Seltos:

The Biggest disappointment is that the best selling Kia Seltos Crossover SUV achieved only three stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection. The Seltos offers dual front airbags and pretensioner seatbelts as standard. Its structure was rated as a borderline case unstable and the footwell area too was rated as unstable. Child occupant protection showed poor results mainly because of the absence of ISOFIX Child Restraint Systems. The car does not offer standard 3 point belts in all seating positions and has no ISOFIX anchorages standard.

The USA and Australian spec Kia Seltos had scored a full 5 star rating at the USNCAP and ANCAP tests respectively.

Domestic Manufacturers such as Tata Motors and Mahindra secured a full five-star rating for models including the Mahindra XUV300, Tata Altroz and Tata Nexon while the Mahindra Marazzo, Tata Tiago and Tata Tigor scored four-star ratings earlier this year.

These stark contrasts show the double standards of global manufacturers of Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Kia towards Indian consumers.

We recommend consumers to choose safer cars and drive safe.

Airbags are not a substitute for seatbelts, passengers must always wear seatbelts.

Skoda Rapid 1.0L TSI

A smaller engine it is for sure when compared to the big 1.6 unit. However, the 1.0L engine is not really a tortoise. Generating 110 PS and 175 NM of torque, power figures aren’t that bad for such a small engine. After all, the engine is of a Turbocharged Stratified Injection (TSI) type that offers all the power when you need it but otherwise remains fuel efficient as fuel efficiency claimed by Skoda is 18.24 KMPL.

Prices of the Skoda Rapid TSI start at 9.06 Lakhs and go all the way upto 14.72 Lakhs. Prices are Ex- showroom. Available in 5

manual transmission variants, the petrol only sedan comes with a choice of six colour options- Flash Red, Candy White, Lapiz Blue, Brilliant Silver, Carbon Steel and Toffee Brown. Some colours however maybe restricted to a few variants only.

For the kind of kit it offers for the price, the Rapid TSI competes with the Volkswagen Vento, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, and Hyundai Verna. Though some cars like the Tata Nexon, Maruti Vitarra Brezza and Ford Ecosport are from a different segment, they could compete if buyers are not restricted to one segment since they are priced in a similar way.