Figo launch in March, Fusion out

    Figo to be launched by early March, Fusion to be phased out.

    Published On Feb 16, 2010 08:00:00 AM

    2,549 Views

    Ford India has charted out aggressive plans to improve its dealership and service network in the country, before it launches the much awaited Figo. The company has thus gone ahead and added 28 new facilities in 24 cities across India in a single day.

    Ford has affirmed that Figo will be launched in 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.

    To ramp up production capacity to accommodate Figo, the company has invested additional Rs 1,500 crore to its existing plant where the company currently produces the Fiesta, Ikon and Endeavour. 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). There are no goals set by Ford as far as production volumes of the Figo are concerned and the company will take a decision looking at its demand in the market.

    Over the years, Ford has been working on heavy localisation of its products. Baring the Endeavour, Ford is currently working with 80% localisation for its Fiesta and Ikon models. And this number has further gone up to 85% for the Figo.

    Following its domestic launch in March this year, Figo will also be shipped to foreign markets in few months’ time. Ford will export the Figo starting with South Africa, and in due course moving out to Asia-Pacific countries.

    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.

    The launch of Figo will also see the Fusion being phased out of the Indian market. "We will discontinue the Fusion and our focus in the small car segment will be exclusively on Figo in the Indian market,” Boneham added.

    Figo prices are yet to be revealed, but according to Sanyal, it will be priced competitively so as to battle it out with other entry level cars.

    Copyright (c) Autocar India. All rights reserved.

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