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Business News/ Industry / What we can expect to see in Ford’s Figo Aspire
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What we can expect to see in Ford’s Figo Aspire

Ford introduced its first sub-4 meter sedan Figo Aspire in India today at a price range of `4.89 lakh-`7.79 lakh

There are two additional safety features in Figo Aspire: MyKey and MyFord Dock—which aim to limit speed on command and integrate a smart phone with the car’s dashboard. Photo: ReutersPremium
There are two additional safety features in Figo Aspire: MyKey and MyFord Dock—which aim to limit speed on command and integrate a smart phone with the car’s dashboard. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: Ford India Pvt. Ltd has never had a first-mover advantage in any of the vehicle segments in India except when it launched the EcoSport. The status did not change on Wednesday when the company introduced its first sub-4 meter sedan Figo Aspire in India at a price range of 4.89 lakh- 7.79 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.

The launch comes seven years after Tata Motors first introduced its Indigo CS to take advantage of the tax incentive for cars shorter than 4m and with petrol engines displacing less than 1,200cc or diesel engines smaller than 1,500cc.

The first mover advantage did not help Tata gain ground in the Indian market, but the tax incentive created in India a new segment dubbed compact sedans which now account for between 25,000 and 30,000 unit sales every month.

The question that Ford will have to ask itself is how much can it extract out of the segment, which may have peaked out and is dominated by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s Dzire, Hyundai Motor India Ltd’s Xcent and Honda Cars India Ltd’s Amaze.

A lot of course will depend on what it has to offer the Indian consumers.

To its credit, the Figo Aspire is a beautifully designed car and it will have two airbags standard across variants—a first in the segment. The top-end is loaded with six airbags. There are two additional safety features: MyKey and MyFord Dock—which aim to limit speed on command and integrate a smart phone with the car’s dashboard.

The MyKey feature will allow owners to programme their car to restricted driving mode, such as limiting the top speed. When a programmed key is inserted into the ignition, the system reads its transponder chip and activates the settings that have been pre-selected. MyFord Dock allows drivers to operate their smartphones in the hands-free mode, letting them mount, charge and integrate the devices with the car’s entertainment system. Of course, safety features such as airbags and ABS, are yet to be seen in the entry-level cars, priced between 2.5 lakh and 4 lakh.

In fact, most of the cool features are in top-end variant. The base variant could have been attractive if the company had also added rear power windows, a driver vanity mirror, body-coloured side mirrors and door handles and driver seat-belt reminder. One can understand that Ford will be taking a lot of pressure on margins by adding two airbags in the base variant but these small, but significant features could have helped give it the edge over rivals, especially since it is making a late entry.

But customers can expect improvements on these fronts when Ford introduces a hatchback—the new Figo on the same platform later this year.

On the price front, Ford has burnt its finger in the past, most recently with the Fiesta. Needless to say, it can’t afford to repeat that mistake again.

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Published: 12 Aug 2015, 10:28 AM IST
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