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Ford to restart output at India plant for export

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Type of manufacturing, export market not disclosed

(Adds quotes and details throughout)

By VarunVyas Hebbalalu and Aditi Shah

BENGALURU, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Ford Motor ( F ) said on

Friday it plans to restart manufacturing at its factory in the

southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, two years after it ended

production in India, the world's third-largest car market.

The major U.S. carmaker said it intends to use its shuttered

Chennai plant in Tamil Nadu for manufacturing for export but did

not give details of what it will build. Ford previously built

both cars and engines at the factory.

"The move will see the facility re-purposed to focus on

manufacturing for export to global markets," Ford said in its

statement.

Ford stopped producing cars in India for domestic sale in

2021 after struggling to boost volumes and pulled the plug on

export car production there in 2022, effectively exiting a huge

market dominated by Asian rivals.

The automaker still builds engines in India for export at

its factory in the western state of Gujarat. If it decides to

restart car manufacturing in Chennai, it would mark a re-entry

for the brand's vehicle business.

"This step underscores our ongoing commitment to India as we

intend to leverage the manufacturing expertise available in

Tamil Nadu to serve new global markets," Kay Hart, president,

international markets group at Ford said in a LinkedIn post.

Hart said the company has submitted a letter of intent to

the state government and details about the type of manufacturing

and export markets will be shared later.

Ford's comments come two days after Tamil Nadu's chief

minister said that the two were in talks to restart

manufacturing in the state for exports.

The automobile hub of Chennai is home to several carmakers

such as Hyundai Motor ( HYMTF ), Nissan Motor ( NSANF ) and

Renault. New entrants like Vinfast and Tata

Motors' Jaguar Land Rover plan to build new factories

there to construct electric vehicles.

Ford's return to India will lead to an increase in its

workforce by up to 3,000 people in the next few years from the

12,000 people it currently employs, Hart said.

(Additional reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Sonia

Cheema and Hugh Lawson)