Mahindra Begins Sale of Ford Cars in India, Further Strengthens Alliance: Report

Mahindra Group and Ford Motor Company had earlier announced that both companies will jointly develop new SUVs, and a small electric vehicle as part of several initiatives. The two companies had signed five new memoranda of understanding (MoU) that further strengthened their strategic alliance and accelerated the development of key products for consumers in India and emerging markets. The MoUs, which are non-binding, mark the progress made by the two companies since announcing their alliance in September 2017.

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Mahindra and Ford have now taken a step forward in the alliance formed back in March 2018. According to a media report, Mahindra Group has started the sale of Ford vehicles in India, taking forward the alliance from just joint development of vehicles. Furthermore, Mahindra dealers will be setting up showrooms for Ford in regions where the Detriot based automaker had not garnered enough success and also where the dealerships had not existed previously. Mahindra is also believed to be setting up separate service centres for Ford at their dealerships in India.

Under the definitive agreement on powertrain sharing signed by both companies earlier, Mahindra Group will develop and supply a low-displacement petrol engine to Ford India for use in its present and future vehicles, starting in 2020. The BS-VI compliant powertrain will help Ford extend and strengthen its existing offering of petrol engines, that currently includes the all-new 3-cylinder TiVCT family.

Building on their intent to co-develop a suite of connected car solutions, Mahindra and Ford also announced joint development of a telematics control unit. Once developed, the connected vehicle solution will be deployed across both Mahindra and Ford vehicles.

Both companies continue to make progress on the remaining MoUs signed earlier this year. This includes leveraging their respective strengths on product development for India and emerging markets, including co-development of compact SUVs and electric vehicles.

Aiming to generate synergies and improve efficiencies, the strategic alliance between the two companies focuses on leveraging the benefits of Ford’s global reach and expertise and Mahindra’s scale in India and its successful operating model.