Tata Motors said its electric mobility unit has sign an agreement to potentially acquire Ford Motor’s Sanand vehicle manufacturing facility in Gujarat.
The US automaker last year stop production in India, where it had a less than 2% share of the passenger vehicle market and had struggle to turn a profit for more than two decades.
Tata Motors Electric Mobility said earlier this month it was seeking options for its two factories in the country while shelving plans to make electric vehicles in India for exports.
The memorandum of understanding between Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd, Ford India Private Ltd and the government of Gujarat includes the land, assets and all eligible employees working at the Sanand facility.
Ford India will operate its powertrain manufacturing facilities by leasing back land and buildings of the powertrain unit from the Tata Motors unit, the company said.
Tata Motors’ chief financial officer said that inflation and a semiconductor shortage are the biggest challenges faced by the company, as the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) owner reported improve demand.
Chinese lockdowns to tackle a surge in coronavirus cases also represent an emerging risk to the carmaker, P B Balaji told reporters after Tata Motors report a fourth quarter loss.
P B Balaji Said :
“The two big worries are inflation and semiconductors. It is going to be a challenging few months,”.
Tata Motors will nevertheless meet its profit and cashflow targets for the year, P B Balaji said, adding that the combination of a chip shortage and strong demand has resulted in pending orders of around 168,000 vehicles at JLR.
Tata across the globe have resort to gradually hiking prices in a bid to deal with steep raw material and shipping costs, which are squeezing profit margins at companies looking to recover from the pandemic.
