Ford Figo launch confirmed in March; Ford opens 28 new dealerships in a single day

Ford India is getting very aggressive with its strategy. Ford inaugurated 28 new dealerships in 24 cities across India in a single day! That is a record in its own right. The ramp-up is a part of its plans to take the Figo within reach of every customer when in need. Ford understands the point of having less dealers and this move is likely to have a huge effect on the Figo’s sales. Moreover, Ford India has confirmed that the Figo will go on sale from the first half of March 2010. “We are yet to decide on the exact date but the Figo will be launched in the first 10 days of March”, said Sandip Sanyal, Executive Director-Operations, Ford India.

Ford has invested a massive amount to the tune of Rs 1500 crore in addition to its existing facility to set-up a separate line for the Figo. Its current facility makes the Fiesta, Ikon, Endeavour and the soon to be discontinued Fusion. “We will discontinue the Fusion and our focus in the small car segment will be exclusively on Figo in the Indian market,” said Michael Boneham, MD, Ford India. Spread across 40,000 square meters, the plant has a flexible capacity of producing 2,50,000 engines annually (earlier 60,000 engines were manufactured annually). Ford has not announced any sales target for the Figo but expects to adapt to the demand.

The Figo features 85% localisation, a first for Ford whose localisation for the Fiesta and Ikon is 80% only. Ford will also export the Figo to South Africa and other markets. Sanyal has also revealed that the company plans to manufacture engines not only for India, but for the export markets as well. “We will produce the engines not only for the Indian market, but for South Africa, Ford Asia-Pacific, Ford Europe and Ford North America too. We will start with exporting to ASEAN countries and South Africa,” he said.

Ford is anticipating the Figo to be a game changer for the company and so to market its car better; Ford is aggressively entering the Tier-II and Tier- III cities and has ramped up its dealership network to164 facilities, a growth of over 40%. “Growing our dealership base, building strong business fundamentals and getting closer to our customers are areas of high priority as we gear up to launch our new Figo and enter this high volume segment in 2010, ” said Michael Boneham, MD, Ford India.

While the prices have not been revealed yet, going by the size and features, we can safely expect a price range of about 3.5 for the base 1.2 petrol to 5.5 lakh for the top end TDCi diesel. Stay tuned. We will bring you full details from the launch.