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

Tata Altroz Turbo Petrol will be Launched in India on 13 Jan 2021

2021 Hyundai i30N Teased - All you need to know

Tata Altroz Turbo Petrol With 7 Speed DCT

Ford Introduced 6 Years Extended Warranty and Upto 150000 Kms!

Ford has introduced a new extended warranty scheme of upto 6 years or 1.5L kms in total for all Ford car owners in order to build a solid reputation among consumers. This scheme can be opted by owners of almost all Ford cars be it BS4 or BS6. However, cost and benefits differ from model to model. Ford India is also offering this scheme on its only CBU product muscle car, the Mustang in its BS4 guise. The Ford Endeavour facelift receives multiple offers covering a wide range. However, the offers are on the expensive side for the premium full-size

SUV due to its heavy cost and expensive servicing and spare parts. The package is more affordable for the Figo, Aspire, Freestyle and other small/ midsize cars including the Fiesta and Classic sedans.

Ford India has also introduced a unique warranty package called Any Time Warranty. Through this, customers can avail all benefits of an extended warranty even after lapse of Factory/Extended warranty. The package covers additional 20,000kms or 1 year, whichever is earlier over the standard warranty package. Vehicles that have completed the factory extended warranty and have an odometer reading less than 1,20,000 Kms are eligible to avail this scheme within 72 months from date of purchase of their car. This extended warranty is transferable to the resold owner as well. Prices may vary depending on the car, years and mileage.

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.

Honda City Hatchback - Are you waiting for it?

Honda has launched the new City hatchback which will go on sale in Thailand first. It is essentially a shorter, hatchback version of the existing 5th Gen Honda City Sedan which was recently launched in India.

Design:

The new Honda City hatchback looks almost same as the Sedan, till the C-pillar. However, instead of an elongated trunk, the car gets a hatch beyond that. The rear too resembles the Sedan when it comes to the wide, horizontally placed tail-lights and the number plate housing. However, the hatchback gets a shorter overhang and a

more rounded appearance. The rear bumper too is sporty with vertically placed faux air vents and a contrast black rear faux diffuser.

The new Honda City hatchback RS Turbo gets more sporty bits like a blacked-out grille and dark-chrome finish for the 16-inch alloy wheels, similar to the City Sedan RS Turbo version sold in Thailand.

The new Honda City hatchback is 4,349mm long, 1,748mm wide and 1,488mm tall and has a 2,589mm long wheelbase. It is 200mm shorter than the Thailand-spec City sedan but is 314mm longer, 53mm wider and has a 59mm longer wheelbase than the Honda Jazz.

Interior:

On the inside too, the City hatchback is exactly the same as the sedan without any significant changes. However unlike the Sedan, the hatchback gets Honda’s innovative rear seats that can split 60:40, fold down to increase boot space, fold up to increase vertical space and sit flush with the front seats to create a bed.

Powertrain:

The City hatchback will be currently available with only a 1.0-liter turbo-petrol engine that produces 122hp through a CVT gearbox. More powertrain options will be offered based on the different markets.

Launch markets:

The new City hatchback will be introduced in many markets like South America and in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia where it will also replace the third-gen Jazz. However, the fourth-gen Jazz has already been launched in markets like Japan, Europe and even North America where the City hatchback is not expected to be launched.

In India however, Honda has just introduced a facelift version of the 3rd Gen Jazz with more features. This Jazz facelift will not be replaced by any new model anytime soon.

Stay tuned for further updates.