NEW DELHI: Ford Motor’s India head Anurag Mehrotra is leaving the company to pursue other career opportunities. According to Reuters, September 30 will be Mehrotra’s last day. His exit from Ford comes days after the US carmaker had announced it would stop manufacturing cars in India.
At present, Ford is facing heat from its workers and dealers. Majority of 4,000 Ford workers who are expected to lose their livelihood are staging protests to save their jobs. Additionally, Ford accounts for 40,000 employment loss across dealer showrooms and its 170 dealers are expected to lose Rs 2,000 crore investment, estimated FADA.
Ford informed that Balasundaram Radhakrishnan, currently director, Manufacturing, has been appointed to the role of transformation officer, FIPL (Ford India Pvt Ltd). Radhakrishnan will oversee and drive the transformation efforts in India.
Mehrotra has been associated with Ford for over a decade. In May 2017, he was elevated from the past of Executive Director, Marketing, Sales & Service to Managing Director for Ford’s Indian subsidiary. He was again reappointed as the head of Ford India in February this year, weeks after the proposed joint venture between Ford and Mahindra & Mahindra was called off.
On September 9, Ford had said it will stop manufacturing vehicles in India due to accumulating losses, pegged at $2 billion. With this, Ford becomes the second American carmaker, after General Motors, to exit Indian market in recent years. Ford said it took these restructuring actions after investigating several options including partnerships and contract manufacturing.
Flex-fuel engines in 3-4 months
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday that he would issue an order in the next 3-4 months making it mandatory for the carmakers to introduce flex-fuel engines in vehicles. “I would like to stop the petrol and diesel use in the country in my lifetime and our farmers can give the alternative to this in the form of ethanol,” he said.