Ford India says supply chain constraints hit sales in Sept

Ford India has blamed constraints in the supply chain for a 27% drop in combined domestic sales and exports in September even as it has upped the ante in the country with a tie-up with Mahindra & Mahindra.

The company recorded wholesale of 16,525 vehicles in September this year as against 22,590 units sold in the same month last year.

“New model launch planning along with ongoing constraints in supply chain continued to impact our wholesale in September,” said Anurag Mehrotra, president & managing director, Ford India. “We believe these should be addressed by fourth quarter helping us move back into the growth trajectory.” he said.

Ford India had reported 40.39% decline in total sales at 15,740 units in August this year in comparison to the sales of 26,408 units in the same month last year.

The low growth comes despite the increased demand during the ongoing festive season – most of the automobile companies have seen double-digit growth in September.

According to the industry reports, Ford India has been working on building a better supply chain relationship in the country since past couple of years. In some cases, instead of asking its global suppliers to duplicate its global technology for India, the company has been looking for local suppliers in India. Such local suppliers may take few years to develop same capability or specifications.

M&M and Ford had announced re-entering a strategic alliance to explore synergies in development of connected and electric cars among other things.

The three-year agreement is set to intensify the battle in the world’s third largest automobile market where Maruti-Suzuki and Hyundai rule the roost.

The two companies were earlier into an equal partnership in 1990s with the company named as Mahindra Ford India Ltd. The company had parted ways in 2005. The latest development of M&M-Ford tie up comes in view after reports about Ford management reviewing their India operations and planning to share platform of other car makers to make inroads into the domestic market.

Ford India Limited