Where it all began: How Ford drove into Madras

As the American auto major exits, we revisit its dramatic entry into the city and how it created the framework for a thriving automobile industry

There was an air of excitement around the automobile industry in the early nineties. The country had opened up, and India was a huge untapped market stuck with the now vintage car models such as Ambassadors and Premier Padminis which were a joke in the rest of the world back then. Suzuki, a Japanese company, had set up a joint venture with the government and introduced the Maruti 800, a small car in 1983, which became a super hit ‘affordable, family automobile’ in a car starved country. Nothing more happened in the next ten years.

In the early 90s, American auto major Ford announced its decision to come to India when the government started allowing joint ventures in the auto sector. Ford tied up with Maharashtra’s Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and a joint venture Ford Mahindra was set up. The international manufacturer announced its decision to put up a plant to manufacture locally, and that’s when the fun began. Business journalists began to learn how difficult it was to deal with a large American multinational which followed strict procedures and processes regarding media relations. Its communication policy was rigid. Nobody spoke unless the company allowed them to. Information came in trickles.

Given the tie-up, it was assumed that Ford would put up their factory in Maharashtra, but the company didn’t work like that. After researching for months and sending team after team to India, the company shortlisted three probable locations: Pune, Gurgaon and Madras. Madras was the last choice as the American company felt the market was in the North and West.