Managing Director of Ford India Mr.Michael Boneham in a chat with DNA, said Ford is working on another small car for the Indian market. Boneham believes in having more than one Ford small car in the Indian market. The company classifies China and India as its growth markets.
Managing Director of Ford India Michael Boneham -
As a policy, we do not develop any car for a single market so this is being developed on a global platform. We need to have multiple products in the small car space.
Earlier this week, we wrote about compact Ecoboost engines being developed in another part of the world. We’re also aware of Ford’s heavy investment in its Chennai plant to manufacture engines and we sense both these developments are inter-related. We think Ford would continue to use the B-Platform (underpins the Figo) and one derivative of it would be this small car.
The smallest car in Ford’s existing international portfolio is the Ka which essentially is a re-skinned Fiat 500. It will be a costly affair to manufacture such a model in India and involves a lot of complications.
Deliveries of the Figo are lagging by 4-6 weeks, with 70% of the sales constituted by the two top-end models.
Entry posted on March 9, 2010 by
Anish;
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Ford Figo – Let the game begin
Ford India today announced the prices for Ford Figo variants. The base version for the Petrol is available at Rs. 3.49 lakhs while the Diesel starts at Rs. 4.47 lakhs. Figo, the first small car offering from Ford India, is specifically designed for the Indian market and is expected to be a game changer for the company. The variants and prices (ex-showroom Delhi) below -
Duratec Petrol 1.2 Litre
LXI – Rs. 3,49,900
EXI – Rs. 3,81,900
ZXI – Rs. 3,99,900
Titanium – Rs. 4,42,900
Duratorq Diesel 1.4 Litre
LXI – Rs. 4,47,900
EXI – Rs. 4,72,900
ZXI – Rs. 4,96,900
Titanium – Rs. 5,29,900
Our friends at TAI sent this in – If you don’t know what it is, look closely at the wheel cap. You won’t mistake it for anything else but a Ford.
Ford’s new small car (Splash?) gets ready to be shown to all of us tomorrow morning. Going by rumors, the new small car is based on a older Fiesta platform. Those who have seen the car say the body is adopted from the Fusion and the face is that of the Fiesta.
Frankly, I don’t know what to expect. A variant at an ex-showroom price of 2.5 lakh rupees is also floating around, which will have just A.C and no power steering or other comforts.
We will be coming to you with photos and information from the launch, so tune in to IAB tomorrow.
Ford has confirmed that it is working on two- and three-cylinder petrol engines with displacements of 1.0-litres or less. Ford says these small capacity engines are about three years away from a production line.
Which brings us to this question – Will our small car in the future use it to its benefit?
Ms Barb Samardzich, Vice President of Powertrain Engineering at Ford, US operations -
I think you’ll see all of those things (2 and 3 cylinder engines) roll out. It’s more than experimental.
Although Ms Samardzich did not speak about the cars in the contention, common sense dictates it would be small hatchbacks like the Ford Ka and our very own small car (unveiling scheduled next week) could use them to good effect.
Apart from these engines, Ford is also planning to manufacture turbocharged engines of lesser capacity.
The Tata Nano which went on sale on March 23, uses a 623cc 2-cylinder engine that makes 35bhp.
Ford India’s small car, according to Autocar India, will be unveiled this month in India. Codenamed B517, it will be strapped with both petrol and diesel engines, the later could be the 1.4-liter Duratorq engine used on the Ikon and Fiesta, contradicting the 1.5-liter plans.
The new model will go on sale in March next year competing against cars like the Polo, Micra and new Chevy Spark.
Autocar also says the car will be displayed to the media by the president and CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally, who will fly down to India for this event. As we reported earlier, the new small car will come with a 1.2-litre petrol engine apart from the all-important 1.4-litre diesel engine. The car is based on a phased out Fiesta platform (details yet to be confirmed).
Sources add the event is scheduled next week.
Contradictory to earlier reports of a 1.4-liter 68hp diesel engine, new reports claim Ford’s small car will employ a 1.5-liter diesel engine apart from the 1.2-liter petrol. Another report claims the company casually hinted it will in fact be named Splash in India.
Ford has increased the number of suppliers to 180 from 150, and will source the some components from multiple vendors. Critical components will however be sourced from one vendor.
Ford is also negotiating steel rates with Tata Steel. Earlier it imported cut steel from its Thailand plant.
Ford’s new small car will have high paint quality. It will benefit from the three wet high solid process that Ford is installing for the first time in its plants.
This is a muddy pic and you have to understand that the boot on this car is fake.
Sent in by our reader Naeem Khan, who said it was caught on the highway near the plant, Ford’s new small car will be made public at the Frankfurt Show in September.
The vehicle will come in petrol and diesel variants, the former is a 1.2-liter engine while the latter is a 1.4-liter 68hp engine.
Facts about Ford’s new small car
- Codenamed B517, it is stationed on a phased out Ford Fiesta platform which saved Ford development cost and time. Ford worked for the past 19 months, and test mules have been spotted in Europe, India and Australia.
- Over 300 prototypes have been sent around the world.
- The car will be manufactured in India and will take on the Swift, i20, Indica Vista. There will also be a variant that will take on the Spark and Alto.
- Ford’s new small car will compete against Peugeot 206 and Renault Clio on the European playing field.
- The entry-level car should cost around $7,500 in India.
- The base model will do with A.C and power steering.
- It will share minor components with the Fiesta like door handles and A.C vent.
Autobild India carried a photoshop mock-up last month of the upcoming new small car from Ford for India and similar markets. The new small car as we reported earlier, will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September with a 1.2-liter petrol and 1.4-liter diesel engine.
The new small car from Ford could be named Splash in India. It is certain that the company has used an older generation Ford Fiesta platform to base this car which will begin at around 3 lakh rupees. The new small car shares components with the existing Fiesta, like the A.C vents, door handles among other small items.
