It
has appealed to the Central Government to look into the plight of its dealers
who have been displaced as a result of American car maker Ford deciding to shut
down its car manufacturing operations in India.
In
a letter to Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Heavy Industries, the
FADA President Vinkesh Gulati pointed out that auto dealers have been suffering
in the recent past because of several auto companies shutting down their
operations here in the country.
Giving the examples of General Motors, MAN Trucks, Harley-Davidson
and UM-Lohia, the FADA president mentioned that now with Ford India also throwing
in the towel, a total of 464 dealerships will be affected with around 64000
people losing their jobs and a total investment of Rs 2485 crore investment
made by the dealers going down the drain. The investment made by Ford India
dealers alone stands at Rs 2000 crore.
|
NAME OF
OEMs
|
No. of
DEALERS
|
EMPLOYMENT
LOSS
|
DEALER
INVESTMENT
(Rs Crore)
|
|
FORD
INDIA
|
170
|
40000
|
2000
|
|
GENERAL
MOTORS
|
142
|
15000
|
65
|
|
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
|
34
|
2000
|
70
|
|
MAN
TRUCKS
|
38
|
4500
|
200
|
|
UM
& LOHIA
|
80
|
2500
|
150
|
|
TOTAL
|
464
|
64000
|
2485
|
Non-Disclosure
Agreement: Gulati also alleged that Ford India is forcing its
dealers to first sign Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) latest by September 14,
2021 before any compensation package is worked out. Many Ford dealers have
directly or indirectly requested FADA to take up the matter for amicable
resolution.
“On
reading the NDA, we found that the definition of Confidential Information is
extremely broad and does not explicitly mention the scope of the discussions
that Ford intends to undertake with the Dealers,” the letter cautioned.
Because
of this NDA, Gulati pointed out that it is not clear whether discussions
relating to a lot of issues pertaining to damages towards various costs, loss
of opportunites and damages owing to loss of reputation etc, would be
undertaken between Ford India and its dealers.
He
said FADA had written to Ford India President & MD Anurag Mehrotra requesting
him to share the broad contours of the compensation package which they would
have already decided upon. In light of this situation, FADA is now requesting
the intervention of the Heavy Industry Ministry to resolve the matter.
After
General Motors (in 2017), Man Trucks (in 2018), UM Lohia (in 2019), Harley
Davidson (in 2020) and multiple
fly by night Electric Vehicle Players, Ford India is the 5th biggest exit from
Indian markets since 2017.
While Ford maintains that this is not an exit, the modalities of the so-called
restructuring of Indian operations
suggest otherwise, pointed out FADA.