CM inaugurates Ford’s new tech and innovation hub to design EVs

“The Technology and Innovation Centre will help in designing electric vehicles and in designing their spare parts and testing them using Augmented Reality (AR) techniques. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will the main technology used in the innovation centre,” said officials form Industries Department.

The officials also said that after Ford signed MoU with the state government in 1996 for setting up the plant in Maraimalainagar, two extra MoUs were signed by the company, one in 2009 worth Rs 1,500 crore and another one in 2015 at Rs 1,300 crore to setup state-of-the-arttrade centre.

Chief Minister inaugurated the trade centre during the second edition of Global Investors Meet (GIM) in January, last year and the centre has provided skilled job for more than 8,000 persons. The innovation centre inaugurated on Thursday has the potential to create2,000 skilled jobs.

Later, Michael Brielmaier, Managing Director, Ford Motor (India) said that Ford is shifting its focus more on public transport. “We are working in various cities in Tamil Nadu and other states to improve the infrastructure by integrating various components of transport to ease traffic flow and to ease navigation with the help of technology. We call it city solutions,” said Brielmaier.

He also said that the state government is highly supportive and all the approvals are expedited. “The state is very business friendly and it is the most important thing for a government,”said Brielmaier.

He further said that the company is witnessing continuous growth in the last decade and the growth would continue in the years to come.