Ford and Mahindra to team up in developing markets
Ford Motor Company and the Mahindra Group have announced a strategic alliance to explore various mobility solutions in emerging markets, namely India.
The partnership agreement will last “up to three years”, with the alliance leveraging Ford’s global reach and Mahindra’s scale in India to cooperate in areas such as connected vehicle projects, electrification, product development, distribution within India (for Ford) and global emerging markets (Mahindra’s reach outside of India).
“Our two companies have a long history of cooperation and mutual respect. The memorandum of understanding we have signed today with Mahindra will allow us to work together to take advantage of the changes coming in the auto industry,” said Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president and president of global markets.
“The enormous growth potential in the utility market and the growing importance of mobility and affordable battery electric vehicles are all aligned with our strategic priorities.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Pawan Goenka, managing director for Mahindra, said: “The changes facing the automotive industry globally are triggered by the accelerated rise of new technologies, sustainability policies and new models of urban shared mobility”.
“Given these changes we see the need to anticipate new market trends, explore alternatives and look for ways to collaborate even as we compete and build powerful synergies that will allow rapid exploitation of the exciting new opportunities.”
“Today’s announcement builds on the foundation laid through our past partnership with Ford and will open opportunities for both of us,” Pawan added.
Teams from both manufacturers will collaborate and work together for the allocated “up to” three-year period, with any further strategic cooperation between the two firms to be decided once the three years is up.
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