Ford - A TNC

Some basic facts:

  • The world's second largest car manufacturer
  • Employs over 300,000 people
  • Its headquarters are in Detroit which is known as the rusty city as a lot of car manufacturer headquarters are located there

By the late 1990s, Ford was:

  • manufacturing or assembling, cars worldwide
  • locating new factories in LEDCs
  • making different parts, for different models in different countries
  • facing competition from other manufacturers 

Ford India

In 1995 Ford moved into India. They opened an integrated high-tech manufacturing plant. Tghe site was huge and covers 140 hectares and can make 100,000 vechicles a day.

  • employs about 1800 people
  • has 94 Indian suppliers
  • has 33 dealerships in India

Why did Ford chose India?

  • It has a huge population - over 1.3 billion people so there is a big market for cars
  • it maybe an LEDC but it has a high-earning middle class
  • labour costs are much cheaper than in MEDCs