Ford Motor Co said it's laying off 700 workers at a Michigan assembly plant because of slow sales of the small cars and hybrids it makes.

The Michigan Assembly Plant, in the Detroit suburb of Wayne, will move from three shifts to two starting June 22, spokeswoman Kristina Adamski said yesterday. The plant, which makes the Ford Focus and C-Max hybrid, has been operating on three shifts since 2012.

Ford India today reported 2.63% increase in total sales at 12,576 units in February.

It had sold 12,253 units in February 2014, Ford India said in a statement.

Korean automaker Hyundai's new sports utility vehicle will be bigger than Ford Ecosport, which is the bestseller in the sub-four meter segment.

Slated for launch in the second half of this calendar year, the all-new SUV from Hyundai will be pitted against the Ford SUV but will be "roomier, more powerfull and have the characteristics of a true SUV," said a top Hyundai India official.

Ford India on Tuesday said that it has initiated a voluntary recall of 20,752 of its popular compact sports utility vehicle EcoSport over concerns of fuel and vapour line corrosion in the long term.

Ford India will inspect EcoSport variants, made at the company’s Chennai plant between January 2013 and September 2014, for concerns of fuel and vapour line corrosion and will also check the vehicles for reorienting wiring harness related to the correct deployment of side airbags, a company statement said.

US automobile major Ford has decided to recall 3,072 Ford Fiesta cars in India. These were manufactured at it’s factory in Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai.

“The safety and comfort of our customers are always top priorities. For their peace of mind and convenience, we have initiated a Field Service Action to correct a product concern on 3,072 Ford Fiesta TDCi vehicles,” it said. The company is writing to customers and asking them to contact their local Ford dealer so that a new design, a waterproof Glow Plug Control Module, can be installed free of charge. The Ford Fiesta in question here, built at the plant from October 14, 2010, to December 16, 2011.

Washington: A recall of Ford Motor Co. Ranger pickup trucks in the US was expanded to include more vehicles and more flawed Takata Corp. air bags after a fatal accident in Malaysia exposed a defect in the safety device that wasn’t previously known.

Ford will replace driver’s-side and passenger air bags in certain 2004 and 2005 model year Rangers, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statement on Friday.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has rejected various petitions pertaining to bancassurance, as well as the automobile, real estate and electricity sectors.

In an order, CCI rejected a petition that the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda)’s manner of granting corporate agency licences to banks for selling insurance products was anti-competitive.

Ford India, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, expects its plant at Sanand in Gujarat to start output by next year.

“The facility is coming up well. We expect to see the prototype by 2014-end and production by next year,” said Nigel Harris, president. He was speaking on the sidelines of Ford’s corporate social responsibility initiative Happy School here.

As Ford India works on readying its Sanand manufacturing plant, Nigel Harris, the newly appointed president of the company met the Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel today during his visit to the state.

A company spokesperson informed that it was a courtesy visit where Harris took the opportunity to meet the new chief minister of the state.

Ever since the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) announced a voluntary recall policy in 2012, carmakers have resolved defects in more than half a million vehicles.

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