Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited (TPEML), a subsidiary of Tata Motors Limited, has signed a Definitive Agreement for the acquisition of Ford India’s Sanand plant. The deal for the plant, which is located in Sanand, Gujarat, includes the entire land and buildings, the vehicle manufacturing plant and all the machinery and equipment that’s currently there.
Tata Motors plan to expand electric vehicle (EV) production at the new site. The new site for Tata will unlock a state-of-the-art manufacturing capacity of 300,000 units per annum which is scalable to 420,000 units per annum. This is great news for Tata and India, and is yet another step towards accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation.
Earlier this year Tata Motors announced it had signed an agreement to deliver 10,000 XPRES T electric vehicles to BluSmart Electric Mobility. This order of 10,000 zero-emissions cars made it the biggest ever fleet order in India, so this latest acquisition expands the company’s capacity to deal with the increased demand for its electric cars.
TPEML will make the necessary investments to reconfigure the plant to adapt to Tata Motors’ existing and future vehicle platforms. The unit is adjacent to the existing manufacturing facility of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited at Sanand, which should help with a smooth transition.
Shailesh Chandra, TPEML and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited managing director, said: “The agreement with Ford India Private Limited signed today reflects Tata Motors’ strong aspiration to further strengthen its market position in the passenger vehicles segment and to continue to build on its leadership position in the electric vehicle segment.
“It will accelerate the growth and development of the Indian auto industry by taking a progressive step forward towards building a future-ready Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
Ford will continue to operate its powertrain manufacturing facility by leasing back the land and buildings of the powertrain manufacturing plant. Both TPEML and Ford India will work together over the next few months to satisfy all the condition precedents.
Steve Armstrong, Ford Motor Company transformation officer, said: “Today’s announcement marks an important step forward in Ford’s ongoing business restructuring in India, which is part of our Ford+ plan for strategic transformation.
“With the transfer of employment for eligible vehicle manufacturing employees included in the agreement, this milestone also highlights our best effort in caring for those impacted by the restructuring.”
“The shared values of trust, ethics and putting people first were the driving force behind our agreement with Tata Motors. We are confident that both the state-of-the-art manufacturing set-up as well as the world-class talent will continue to prosper under the new leadership and help Tata Motors to scale new heights.”
