Recently, we brought you an article on how we think Ford would benefit by replacing the Ikon with Fiesta. Now it seems the entire population of India agrees with us. In a shocking disclosure, Ford India did not sell any Ikons in January.
Astonishingly, that’s over a billion people unanimously agreeing that don’t want the Ikon anymore (even our politicians cannot do that). Ford Ikon sales figures were on a decline since the past few months but the company was managing 100+ units averagely.
This extreme scenario can be partly attributed to the Figo’s success as well which sold over 8,600 units in the same month. I understand that one is a hatch and other is a sedan. But if one thinks from a point of view of a customer who has just entered a Ford dealership, I cannot think of any good reason why I should buy an Ikon over a Figo.
The Figo is spacious, looks good, performs better, the interior is a much better place, is easy to maintain, has a lot of features and is overall a much better car. On the other hand, the Ikon just has a boot.
Anyone would easily compromise the boot and buy the Figo.
So this message goes to Ford India: Chuck the Ikon Out, Get the Fiesta In!
Kaustubh,
I will have to disagree that the Ikon is past it’s sell by date. Firstly is it cheap, almost the cheapest sedans to be manufactured in the country. Secondly, it still has the same engine that powers the Figo, the 1.4 TDCi. Thirdly, in India the snob value of owning a “booted” pun definitely intended car is far more than merely owning a hatchback. So, the Ford Ikon TDCi can still muster decent sales if Ford decide to convert it to BS4. If it ain’t selling, it is because the Ikon is still BS3 and the number of Fords selling in BS3 cities is way lesser than the BS4 Metros +cities. If Ford can give the Ikon the BS4 tag, I would expect some steady sales as the Ikon in TDCI guise is still a fun car to drive that is highly efficient too. Plus it is one of the cheapest diesel sedans available.
Cheers,
Jay
Although replacing the Ikon with a stripped Fiesta makes sense for Ford India. But, if Ford really wants to see some numbers, a Figo sedan will be a better player to fight it out with the likes of the upcoming DZire, Manza CS.
Fiat managed to sell 20-30 Palios in January 2011, so there is no reason why Ford can’t sell a single Icon. Actually AFAIK Ford’s Icon sales/dispatches to its dealer have been zero in January 2011 (that doesn’t mean nobody bought it in January). This might be a cautious decision on Ford’s part or a supply chain anamoly that will be corrected this month. Remember what happened with Figo last month and with Nano in November.
To share with you an interesting bit – I heard of these stories of Ford’s sales people convincing customer who came for Figo’s test drive to take test drive of Icon as well. And voila customers bought Icon as they found it a product at that price.
Coming back t0 your point of re-badging and re-pricing Fiesta as Icon – that would be a wish come true. Amen!
Ha ha! Good one. Seriously, Ford should consider putting the Ikon in its museums. It has become a thing of the past and with much better cars to go for these days, people would never consider the Ikon. No offence Ford!