Mahindra has encountered a major blow to its alliance with Ford which was announced last year. The agreement suggests that Mahindra was to acquire Ford’s India operations, while the American brand was to help Mahindra enter several international markets.
Although, in a rather surprising turn of events, the two companies decided to end the joint venture, by the end of 2020, for multiple reasons. In February, more trouble seems to mount for Mahindra, as Ford had decided to put a hold on all its plans with the Indian SUV maker until it mapped out a new strategy for India.
However, the latest reports suggest that Ford has decided to end all ties with the Indian car manufacturing company.
In retrospect, the American multinational automaker was developing three new SUVs for India in partnership with Mahindra. Reportedly, one of them was – ‘Ford C-SUV’, a compact Sport Utility Vehicle that was originally scheduled for 2022 launch. Assembled by Mahindra, the upcoming car was to be underpinned by the new XUV500 platform.
But, according to the recent reports, Ford has decided to part ways and proceed alone with this product. Speculations are, the American brand could use the platform of the Ford Territory SUV sold in China for the new compact SUV.
As for the other two upcoming SUVs, Ford was using Mahindra engines. But reports suggest that even that plan has been dropped and the American brand will most likely rely on its engines for these vehicles.
While Mahindra was supposed to supply a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine (XUV300’s unit) to Ford for the EcoSport, reports suggest that Ford is likely to continue using the existing 1.5-litre powerplant.
A lot goes behind Ford’s decision to end all ties with Mahindra, one of those reasons includes the carmaker’s reassessment of its global plans.
Reports suggest that that the Indian market does not rank high on Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley’s priority list in the company’s bid to strengthen its global position. Apart from that, the financial implication of the Covid-19 pandemic has also compelled Ford to shelve plans with Mahindra.
