The much awaited Ford Figo was launched in Mumbai today. We had reported about the Delhi launch yesterday but today Ford announced the prices of its car in Mumbai. At Rs 3,66,886 the entry level Figo (1.2litre LXI) would surely make the difference in the B-segment category.
Pricing for the EXI model will start at Rs 4,00,439 for petrol and Rs 4,95,857 for diesel variant. The ZXI models are priced at Rs 4,19,313 for petrol and Rs 5,21,022 for diesel and the top-of-the-line Titanium at Rs 4,64,401 for petrol and Rs 5,55,624 for the diesel version. The standard engine for all models is the 1.2litre Duratec petrol engine and for diesel the 1.4litre Duratec engine. All prices are ex-showroom Mumbai.
Speaking during the launch, Joe Hinrichs, president – Ford Asia Pacific and Africa said, “Figo is completely made in India for India. The fact that we have been able to price the car so competitively is because we have 85% localisation on the product, so we have been able to cut costs drastically. Figo is an important product for us as it is our first entry into the B-segment category and its success will give road to other products lined up for the Indian market.â€
‘Figo’ which means ‘cool’ in Italian has a 5-speed transmission and is said to have very low cost of ownership. “The cost of ownership is an important factor and we have worked very hard towards it and Figo will deliver to the expectations of the Indian audience,†Hinrichs added.
Ford has been on a global restructuring offlate and the company has plans to export the Figo to South Africa first and then to other countries.
Hinrichs said that since the sedans (Fiesta and Ikon) are doing good sales, Ford will now concentrate on tapping the growing hatchback category, which according to him ‘is where all the action is’. Apart from India, other Asian countries are also on the growth radar of the company.
On the learning from Fusion, he said, “We understood a lot of factors from the Fusion that – pricing, packaging, quality and cost of ownership are all important factors to survive in the Indian market. We have worked on all the four aspects and that is where Figo comes from. With Figo (minimal cost of ownership) we are set to change the image of Ford in Indian mindsets.â€
“To tackle the issue of after sales service too, we are opening up around 200 dealerships in India by the end of this year,†informed Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India.
Ford is planning to have at least one product launch in every 12 to 18 months.
