Ford and Mahindra dissolve collaboration, influenced by devastating economic shifts
Changing market conditions and persistent impact of the pandemic have influenced Ford and Mahindra to go separate ways.
The two companies have determined that a recently proposed automotive joint venture between their respective companies would not be done.
The announcement followed the acceptance by the Ford Motor Corporation of the deadline of 31 December 2020 or the expiry date of the final agreement signed by the organizations in October 2019.
The result was influenced by structural shifts over the past 15 months in global economic and market environments, triggered, in part, by the pandemic. Those developments affected Ford and Mahindra’s separate decisions to reassess their respective goals for capital allocation, Ford Motor said.
Ford further confirmed that its “independent operations in India will continue as is”
The corporation said it is aggressively pushing to transform its automobile industry around, competing like a challenger and optimizing and modernizing all facets of the company.
Ford and Mahindra had an agreement in oct 2019
In October 2019, the company revealed an arrangement under which Mahindra & Mahindra will buy a controlling stake in a Ford Motor Co (FMC) wholly-owned arm that will operate over the US automotive sector in India.
A joint venture, M&M was to buy a 51 percent stake in the US automotive major’s wholly-owned arm—Ardour Automotive Private Ltd, officially a wholly-owned affiliate of Ford Motor Corporation Inc, USA, for approximately 657 cr. The remainder of 49% of Ardour’s assets were to be owned by FMC or any of its subsidiaries.
The automobile company to be obtained includes Ford India’s vehicle production facilities at Chennai and Sanand, but omitted Sanand’s standalone engine and transmission plant, which is essentially used for the foreign markets of FMC, and FIPL’s engine and transmission division was also not part of the transaction.
In an attempt to reach an 8 percent business adjusted EBIT margin and produce “consistently strong” adjusted free cash flow, Ford said that its independent activities in India will remain as they are, as the company is “actively evaluating” its companies around the world.
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