According to Tata Motors’ head of passenger vehicle business, the company plans to start operations at the Gujarat-based manufacturing plant it purchased from Ford within the next 12-18 months in order to increase production capacity. The automaker completed the acquisition of Ford India’s manufacturing plant in Sanand via a subsidiary earlier this month. In August of last year, the company announced that its subsidiary Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (TPEML) would pay Rs 726 crore for Ford India Pvt Ltd’s (FIPL) Sanand plant in Gujarat.
Tata Motors previously stated that, with its manufacturing capacity nearing saturation, the acquisition is both timely and beneficial to all stakeholders. The Sanand plant has a capacity of 3 lakh units per year, which can be increased to 4.2 lakh units per year. TPEML is making the necessary investments to reconfigure the plant to accommodate the Mumbai-based automaker’s current and future vehicle platforms. The unit is located next to Tata Motors’ existing manufacturing facility in Sanand.
“We expect to have the Ford plant operational in 12 to 18 months,” he said when asked about the company’s production capacity. Chandra stated that the company’s current production capacity is around 50,000 units per month.