A top Ford Motor Co. executiveformally apologized Wednesday while the auto maker's Indian advertisingagency unit fired an undisclosed number of workers following a series of controversial proposed advertisements to promote Ford's Figo subcompact car.

'It was totally inappropriate, it is not acceptable and swift action has been taken,' Ford global marketing chief Jim Farley said at the start of his keynote speech at the New York International Auto Show. He apologized for the ads and said the company is updating its review process.

Mr. Farley's apology come amid the growing controversy in India over proposed ads that depicted scantily clad and gagged women in the back end of the Figo.

The ads were created by the Indian unit of advertising firm JWT, which handles the global advertisingaccount for Ford. JWT is a subsidiary of British multinational advertising and public relations company WPP PLC. WPPGY -0.74%

JWT India on Wednesday didn't disclose the number of employees who were fired.

The ads hadn't been intended for publication, but were circulated widely after they were uploaded on an industry website by JWT employees over the weekend. The website, Ads of the World, gives monthly awards to ads submitted by users.

This had been done without JWT or Ford's authorization.

The flap comes at a particularly sensitive time for India. The country's parliament last week approved a bill that aims to strengthensexualassault legislation, which came in response to the horrific gang rape and death of a young Indian woman in late December.

The most controversial of the three ads featured a caricature of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose political career has been rocked by sex scandals. It showed Mr. Berlusconi grinning from the driver's seat, flashing a victory sign, with three scantily clad women bound and gagged in the car's trunk.

The Figo is known for its luggagecapacity and the adds all featured Ford's tagline for the car: 'Leave your worries behind with Figo's extra-large boot.'

'After a thoroughinternal review, we have taken appropriate disciplinary action with those involved, which included the exit of employees at JWT,' the agency said Wednesday.

'These were necessary steps owing to the direct accountability of the concerned individuals as we work to ensure that both the right oversight and processes are strictly enforced so that this never happens again.'

Reiterating its apology for the 'distasteful' ads, JWT said they 'were never intended for paid publication, were never requested by our Ford client and should never have been created, let alone uploaded to the Internet.'

The ads have since been removed from the website and were never officiallybroadcast on any media platform.

The Economic Times reported earlier Wednesday that Bobby Pawar, the chief creative officer and managing partner of JWT India, as well as Vijay Simha Vellanki, the creativedirector at Blue Hive, a WPP unit dedicated to handling the Ford account, have been asked to resign. Both couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Ford's Indian unit said in a statement Wednesday that JWT took 'appropriate disciplinary action' after an internal review. It added that it is reviewing 'approval and oversight processes' to prevent the occurrence of such incidents in the future.

Mr. Farley didn't say whether he was considering any action about its partnership with JWT.