Ford India to export Fiesta to South Africa

Chennai, Sep 13: Ford India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader, has achieved an important milestone as it launched its exports of Ford Fiesta to South Africa, from the Chennai plant.

The company, which had been exporting vehicle assembly kits to South Africa, clinched the deal to export its first Completely Built Up (CBU) vehicles.

Talking to newspersons here, Ford India President Arvind Mathew said the company would plan to initially export around 5,000 units in the next six to eight months.

He said the company was exporting about 25,000 unit of assembly kits and the move to export CBU vehicles was an important step, as it recognised the quality achievements and market acceptance of Ford India's products and operations.

''Ford India team is proud that the world class products we are producing, which are tremendously successful here in India, are now generating demand internationally,'' Mr Mathew said.

Ford of Southern Africa would market the vehicle, under the already well-established Ikon brand name, through its 131 dealer network beginning in October, he said.

Ford of Southern Africa President Hal Feder said Ford India's market success was attributed to the quality of products. ''We are excited to be adding another world-class vehicle to our line up,'' he added.

UNI