CHENNAI, India -- Ford's integrated manufacturing facility near Chennai, India, is readying for volume production of its soon-to-be-introduced new car after a comprehensive transformation to double its capacity and become a strategic production hub for the automaker.

Attracting an investment of $500 million from Ford Motor Co., the Ford India plant, located in Maraimalai Nagar, was selected as the ideal production source for Ford's new car. It will be produced not only for India but also for export to other international markets.

With cutting-edge automation and high-tech new facilities, the new site reflects the latest Ford manufacturing processes globally and pioneers new technologies for Ford and India. Created with a "best of the best" approach, the Chennai plant has been benchmarked against other competitive facilities globally, as well as the current volume manufacturers in the Indian market, for quality and production efficiency.

"India's long-term significance in our strategy for this region is readily evident with the completion of this new plant," said John Parker, executive vice president, Asia Pacific and Africa, Ford Motor Co. "We've committed in total more than $950 million in recent years to make India one of Ford's strategic production hubs. It's a strategy built on creating great products whose appeal will reach beyond India's borders, and it's fully in line with our business objective to create volume-production centers of excellence in this region."

The expansion marks a major shift for the plant, which has successfully been producing Ford models solely for the India market, including the Ford Ikon, Ford Fiesta, Ford Fusion and Ford Endeavour. With its forthcoming new car, Ford is targeting the heart of the Indian car market and expanding its production capacities accordingly - with output potential of 200,000 vehicles annually.

"This new world-class manufacturing facility is a symbol of Ford's commitment to India and our intention to compete with the best in the market," said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India. "When the first new car rolls off the line, it will be a moment when Ford achieves its potential as a major player in the Indian automotive industry."

When its major transformation is complete -- a new fully integrated, high-volume engine manufacturing facility comes on stream in the near future as the final phase of the Ford investment plan -- Ford will have added hundreds to its local employment base. The transformed Maraimalai Nagar Ford plant is built around an array of new lean manufacturing techniques to make it ultra-efficient and its products cost-competitive even in the hotly contested sub-B segment in India and other growth markets.

But the economic impact of the plant extends well beyond its direct employment with indirect employment benefits for the Chennai region. Ford predicts new jobs in the thousands will be created regionally due to Ford's efforts to expand its supplier base with 30 new suppliers in the Chennai area.

The new plant features an enlarged supplier park, and even more raw materials and components than ever are being sourced locally. According to Ford India, up to 85 percent of parts supplies for the new car will be derived from India.