'Make in India' push: Ford likely to export SUV EcoSport to US

Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's 'Make in India' programme is likely to get a boost from US automobile major Ford Motor Company as it looks to export India-manufactured SUV EcoSport to the US markets.

The popular SUV is likely to be exported back to the Ford's home market around October 2017, a report in the Economic Times said. This will be the first time any US car maker will be exporting India-made automobiles back to its home market.

Ford has already kicked in the process of getting approvals to export 90,000 units of EcoSport to US, which is more than the numbers it sells in India.

India, however, may face a threat from Thailand as the latter too is competing to get Ford's SUV orders for the US and Canadian markets.

Once the approval comes through it is likely to give a push to the car exports from India. Ford Motor already exports India-manufactured compact vehicles to the European markets. In the fiscal year 2014-15, Ford has exported 78,814 out of a total of 1.53 lakh vehicles manufactured in India to the European markets. The EcoSport accounted for as much as 70 per cent of the exports.

Royal Enfield and KTM motorcycles and Mahindra's tractors are already being exported to the US markets. Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha exports India-manufactured R15 150cc sports bike to its home market.

Ford Motor entered Indian markets two decades ago and has so far invested Rs 12,800 crore here in the auto segment but has not been able to turn the business profitable yet. With the export of EcoSport, the company will be looking at turning around its accumulated losses of Rs 1,000 crore.

Other automobile MNCs like Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki have been investing in car manufacturing facilities in India over the years.