BENGALURU (Reuters) -Ford Motor plans to restart a manufacturing plant for exports in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the company said on Friday, potentially re-entering a market it exited three years ago.

Ford said it has submitted a letter of intent to the state’s government, two days after Tamil Nadu’s chief minister said that the two were in talks to restart manufacturing in the state for exports.

Ford stopped producing cars in India for domestic sale in 2021 after struggling to boost volumes and pulled the plug on exports in 2022, effectively exiting the world’s third-largest car market, which is dominated by Asian rivals.

“The move will see the facility re-purposed to focus on manufacturing for export to global markets,” Ford said in a statement.

The cars that Ford plans to make at the facility and other details will be announced later, the company said.

Prior to its exit, it built cars and engines at its plant in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

(Reporting by Varun Hebbalalu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)