Tata Motors in race to take over Ford plant in Chennai

• Follow

After Tata Group’s two rounds of high-level talks with Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin within a span of two weeks, speculation has been doing rounds about the automotive giant’s possible takeover of Ford India unit at Chennai, according to a Business Standard report. Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran met Stalin and state industries minister Thangam Thennarasu on Wednesday. However, the publication reported that the chairman’s meeting with the chief minister was a courtesy call and there is nothing officially confirmed as of now.

Decision by CM only

Ford India had also conducted several rounds of discussion with players like Ola and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M). Earlier, companies like MG Motor had showed interests in Ford’s assets at Chennai and Sanand.

According to industry experts, the Tamil Nadu unit may do wonders with the ambitious electric vehicle plans of Tata Motors. During the company’s annual general meeting this year, the chairman said that electric vehicles may contribute around 25% of the company’s total passenger vehicles fleet, up from 2%, in the medium to long term.

In the July to September quarter, the company had sold 2,704 electric passenger vehicle units, posting a 193% growth as compared to the same time period in the previous year. The Ford India unit has an annual production capacity of around 2,00,000 units and 3,40,000 engines.

Last week the publication reported that talks on Ford India unit were spearheaded by the chief minister M K Stalin and decision is likely to come from him only. But if an industry heavyweight shows interest in taking over the unit, as the state is likely to witness a fresh investment rolling out all possible sops.