Ahmedabad, 22 March 2012

Ford Motor Co. says it laid the cornerstone for a new billion dollar factory in Sanand, Gujarat.

The plant will have the capacity to manufacture 240,000 cars and 270,000 engines a year when it’s complete in 2014. The factory will produce cars for domestic consumers and for export.

Ford’s move to expand its India business comes amid slowing car sales in India.

So far during the fiscal year ending in March, car sales have crept up 0.3 percent, against the previous year’s 29.5 percent surge.

“With this new state-of-the-art facility for Sanand, we are committed to significantly increasing our manufacturing output and aggressively expanding our business in India,” said Michael Boneham, Ford India president and managing director.

The company said it has already attracted 19 component manufacturers to set up shop at Sanand.