A tale of two cars in one city

The inevitable was finally headlined today...10 September 2021

Ford Motors announced the formal closure of their manufacturing facility in Madras aka Chennai, India.

This has all the ingredients of a film script with several interesting twists and turns over the last 25 years.  However, as they say, while Shakespeare covered all possible story themes across multiple genres, we still love every re-tell albeit with different characters. And of course, our own Ramayana and Mahabharata which dwell on human foibles as well.

I must admit upfront that I did not have a ringside view of the spectacle at the time. Yet I was reasonably present in Madras in the mid 90s when the narrative emerged and was in a position to form multiple impressions.

This is really about my impressions...

Hyundai and Ford entered India through Madras with much fanfare in the early 90s.

As the auto ancillary center of the country, it was but appropriate that the two car manufacturers were attracted to Madras. Politically, it was sweet poetic justice given that the country's largest car manufacturer at the time [Maruti] chose to take root elsewhere.

Then the events unfolded.

Land parcels were organised, and the bureaucracy moved swiftly to help with the necessary approvals.

Ford was Ford...the ultimate symbol of America's capitalist dreams taking seed...in a country that sought to shed the socialist limitations of several decades and wanted capitalism to take wing.

And, Hyundai was a wannabe, reflecting the aspirations of a growing Korean presence in the sector.  Much as the Japanese threw off the shackles of mediocrity in quality a few decades before and made defiant strides across the world economy, the Koreans were keen..to prove to themselves that they could...and that, if they tried hard they would usurp Japan's pivotal space in car manufacture.

Ford shipped a beaten down plant from another part of the world, with no major homework of the local manufacturing conditions or the new market. Perhaps they were complacent that the Hollywood films of the 70s and 80s had already given their brand adequate exposure to the prospects....whereas Hyundai built a spanking new facility from scratch.

It was normal  for morning walkers in most parts of the city to see clusters of Koreans gathered in the twilight waiting for the factory bus to pick them up.  Theirs was a commitment underlined by passion and bracketed with enthusiasm to make the best of this golden opportunity.  

Most of them seemed to have their families Korea and shared accommodation in apartments, an increasing shift in real estate trends at the time.  They were workaholics and did not seems to have much of a life outside work.

As for Ford, they wanted to ensure that the ground was prepared adequately.  

An American school was set up, followed by club memberships in the premier clubs.

Given that this was a hardship third world posting, the incumbents wanted value for money especially with respect to accommodation and lifestyle.

The generous rupee equivalent of the dollar eligibility for Ford expats undergoing hardship did wonders for the local real estate.  Out of nowhere the coast line was suddenly dotted with posh beach properties, clinically designed and maintained gardens, swimming pools, etc.  The owners of those properties harvested a windfall and property prices shot up.

Interestingly the Hyundai employees opted to stay in suburbs within reach of their site while the Ford employees had a long commute from the beach houses at the other end of the city.

There was one committed CEO of Ford in the late 90s who decided that he was happy to stay in an apartment in the city as he needed to convey a message about cutting costs ....... and, the resultant whispers were obvious as the lifestyle of the expats sought to be curbed gradually.

However by then it was already too late.

Hyundai had already roped in a credible Bollywood star - Shahrukh Khan as their brand ambassador to kick off the marketing.  

Assiduously they went about the task of building the plant and rolled out their first vehicles with amazing alacrity...Ford was still bumbling around.

The first few Hyundai Santro vehicles were auctioned with a lot of publicity and the proceeds contributed to the Prime Minister's charity.

Hyundai had arrived with aplomb...!

Then they went from strength to strength. Their design of a tall boy entry level car hit the right notes and sales took off instantly.  The rest is history...they achieved their sales target for the first year and never looked back. 

Doesn't this resonate with the filmi stereotype of two children, one born in challenging circumstances becoming a slum-dog billionaire while the other is born rich, and probably remains rich but alas not a billionaire?!