CHENNAI: Ford's Chennai plant rolled out its last unit of sports utility vehicle EcoSport on Wednesday ahead of winding up its operations by July 31. The carmaker, however, said it would continue to retain ownership of the land and machinery.
A Ford spokesperson said with the last vehicle having rolled out, the Chennai plant completed its export commitments. Ford, in September 2021, announced its decision to shut down of the plant. "As part of the business restructuring announced last September, we stopped sales or manufacturing for the domestic market," the spokesman said.
The company manufactured 40,000 EcoSport vehicles in the Chennai plant (from October to July 20) for exports before winding down the operations. "The rest of the work, related to after-sales parts and sub-assemblies, continues at the Chennai plant. As earlier communicated, the company will continue production till the end of July 2022," the spokesperson said.
Most workers of the plant are still in talks with the company on the severance package. A Ford spokesperson said the company remains committed to achieving a fair and balanced outcome on the severance package and has been in continuous discussions with employees' union.
"The company had increased the equivalent average days in the severance package to (average) 121 days. The cumulative amounts for severance components remain subject to a minimum amount of Rs 30 Lakh and a maximum cap of Rs 80 Lakh (sic)," Ford said in a statement.
But a Ford worker said discussions were on and no settlement had been reached. It was an emotional moment for workers to see the final vehicle rolling out of the facility. Workers were seen taking selfies with the last vehicle.
They are now faced with the challenge of find another employment. A worker said: "If they continue to own the land, why are they asking us to leave?" He hopes the company may have larger plans in the future. Control over the parcel of land once the automobile major ceases its operations in Chennai has been an issue plaguing both Ford management and the State government.
"The company has not found an alternative for the facility and will continue to retain the ownership of the land and machinery," Ford replied to a query from The New Indian Express. The 350 acres was offered to Ford at a cheaper rate by the State government and a sale deed was provided to the automobile major by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.
"There is a clause in the agreement of sale deed that the land has to be returned if it is being put to use for other purposes other than what it was assigned for," official sources said. According to sources, CMDA was in talks with Sipcot to obtain the entire land. It is also learnt that Ford India lost the CMDA sale deed of 1999 in 2018.
Apart from the sale deed, it also lost the TN Housing Board Sale Deed (1997), the Deed of Exchange (1998), the Government Order (1999), and the Transfer through Letter of 1998 of Mahindra Ford India Limited.
Ford Motor Company established a joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to assemble and distribute vehicles but the firm was rechristened Ford India in 1999, following a change in equity holding, with Ford buying out a majority stake.