Ford Shelves Plans to Develop New Compact Cars for Emerging Markets

Drop in sales of Ford’s most popular models in emerging markets like India and China has caused the US automaker to drop plans to come up with new compact models for these markets.

Ford had planned to use the new B500 platform as the base for making a new premium sedan, compact car, and an SUV with manufacturing to be carried out in India and China. This ambitious project was to begin in the near future with production slated to start in 2018. Other markets for which Ford had planned to build new models include Russia, Thailand and Brazil. One of the reasons for shelving the plans could be the additional cost involved in upgrading the current manufacturing facilities to develop the new vehicles based on the B500 platform. There has also been a decrease in the demand for small and medium hatchbacks in the Chinese and Indian markets in view of the growing preference for SUVs and crossovers.

General Motors had recently announced that it will shelve its planned launch of USD 5 billion range of compact vehicles in India. Ford had informed its suppliers in July that it will not proceed with its plans for Russia, Thailand and Brazil.

The Detroit based manufacturer will instead focus on revamping its Figo, Figo Aspire and EcoSport models for the Indian market in 2020-2021.

With Japanese and South Korean manufacturers offering stiff competition, companies like GM and Ford are finding the going tough in emerging markets like China and India. Recently, GM had closed its factory in Indonesia due to the low demand there.