BackFord bets big on Figo, to export the car to 48 countries
Ford bets big on Figo, to export the car to 48 countries
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Mumbai: Having scripted a remarkable success story by selling 58,000 Figos in just eight months in the domestic market, Ford India now plans to export its hatchback to 48 countries in the near future. The company will be exporting 7,000 Figos to South Africa by this year-end.
“Figo has received a very good response in the Indian market. We now plan to take it globally. We will export 7,000 Figos to South Africa by this year-end and plan to export this hatchback to 48 countries going forward," Ford India’s President and Managing Director, Michael Boneham, told PTI.
The company has already started exporting to Nepal since October this year, Boneham said, adding the small car is helping to drive the company’s sales growth.
The company has sold 58,000 units of Ford Figo till November in India, since its launch in March this year and its success is reflected in the fact that the company has been able to double and even triple its sales every month.
The company plans to launch a slew of models in the Indian market in the next five to six years. “We will continue to launch vehicles to strengthen our presence in India. We plan to launch eight new vehicle models by the middle of this decade," he said, adding, “going forward, the positive growth trends in the automobile sector will keep our products attractive as well as competitive."
The company has at least two weeks waiting period for the Figo (delivery time) and has started a second shift at its Chennai facility to meet the increasing demand.
“Though the waiting period owing to demand is inevitable, we are constantly working towards reducing the delivery time. With the start of the second shift in July, we have improved our delivery time-line to about two weeks," Boneham said.
Presently, the company is manufacturing 80,000 units at its Chennai plant, which has a production capacity of two lakh units. Its workforce at the manufacturing facility has doubled from 2,100 to close to 4,000 over the past year.
“We will continue to ramp-up capacity on the back of a rising demand," he said.
When asked about the Figo’s prospects in an already cluttered domestic small-car market, Boneham said, “Figo has found a great resonance among consumers in India and will continue to play a significant role in our core product portfolio."
The company plans to ramp-up its dealership network to 200 from present 170 by end-this.
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