In a first, where an American automaker will be using India as a sole sourcing base for an individual model, Ford Motor Co has decided to import made-in-Chennai Eco Sport SUV to the US from 2018. Eric Loeffler, chief engineer for the Eco Sport said, "The compact SUV market in the US is on fire, and we plan to take on the incumbents with the India-made Eco Sport."
Ford has been exporting the India-made Eco Sport compact off-roader to a variety of countries across the world, but exports to the highly-evolved American market is definitely an extra feather in the hat for the Chennai plant. Maruti just recently had begun the export of India-made Baleno hatchback to Japan. The compact SUV market in the US is led by models such as Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, and the Chevrolet Trax, and the segment has recorded considerable growth over the last few years. "The current size of this category is around 300,000-3,50,000 units annually, and we expect this to double by 2018," an official said.
Shipments to the US are likely to begin from early 2018 and a variety of changes have been made through a facelift in line with the requirements of the market. "It is not the in-thing in the US to have a spare wheel on the rear, and this is rather seen as outdated," a company official said. Loeffler said that as the India unit will begin exports to the US, it will discontinue shipments to western Europe. "The European markets will be serviced by operations in Romania." Eco Sport was launched in 2003 in Brazil, and was primarily targeted at emerging markets. Since its global launch in 2003, the company has sold nearly 1.3 million units across the world. Apart from Chennai, the Eco Sport is also manufactured in Brazil, China, Romania, Russia (through a joint venture) and Venezuela (through completely-knocked down kits).
