Ford's Shuttered India Factories May Be Reborn In EV Push

Ford In India: Ford invested heavily in two factories near the southern and western coasts of India, manufacturing cars and SUVs for both the domestic market and export.

It's been seven months since Ford decided to shut its factories in India, taking a $2 billion charge for the retreat. The decision was unsurprising: contrary to Ford's expectation in 2012 that the nation's burgeoning middle class would propel it to one of the company's top three markets by 2020, its market share had slumped to less than 1.5% by the time it decided to pull the pin.

In between, Ford invested heavily in two factories near the southern and western coasts of India, manufacturing cars and SUVs for both the domestic market and export. But it racked up losses of more than $2 billion in a decade, unable to crack a price-conscious market dominated by cheap cars and two-wheelers.

Now, there could be a way to recoup at least some of those losses. The provincial government in Tamil Nadu is holding talks with Ford to explore if its factory there can be converted to a plant manufacturing and exporting electric vehicles, the Economic Times newspaperreported last week. Ford also told the newspaper it was "exploring the possibility of using a plant in India as an export base."

That could very well turn out to be a smart move. While it's difficult for U.S. carmaking giants to make any meaningful inroads in India- General Motors ceased sales in India five years ago-  EVs could offer another opportunity to take a shot in the market of 1.4 billion people.