[andydude]

Ford chief financial officer Bob Shanks said that “every thing is on the table” in the review of strategy for India

“Some big decisions will be made,” Shanks said"

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/MZ...r-nations.html

[ishankpatel]

Wow that is some news!!

I have always wondered why Ford's performance in India is so ordinary.

They have some really great products on the global platform! I often get Ford cars (Focus and Mondeo) for business trips from my employer, and having driven a variety of brands, I can say that they are overall good cars for their price!

The new Figo is also a great product, bar some aspects like interior fit and finish. They also made efforts to ensure that the repair and services costs are also at paar with Hyundai/Maruti. But some how they just cannot get the ball rolling!

I wonder why!

[anjan_c2007]

It will be a sad day for India if they decide to quit. They have never been at the grassroots in market research.

To start with, the Escort had an under powered petrol engine. The spares were prohibitively costly.

The Ikon (their Josh machine) did some good sales, but it was a product that could have beaten the competition in the C segment. But they did not take the extra efforts to market it well as well as provide spares at holistic prices.

The Figo and the Fiesta (Generation I in India) too did sell well. The newer Fiesta (Generation II for India) had extremely low sales figures. There are many who may have never seen one on the roads. The Figo and Fiesta were basically good cars. The diesels were noisy no doubt. Again the marketing team failed miserably to research the market and do their job.

The Ecosport took off very well but the sales have stagnated lately. There are no noticeable efforts to prop up the sales with any refreshed model and so on.

The newer Figo and Aspire are again good cars but the team Ford's laid back attitude is quite apparent. These cars are not being bought by the average buyers, who prefer the Marutis, Hyundais and Hondas.

The Endeavour, was never a good seller. There are many reasons which have been discussed elsewhere in many threads.
With their solidly built cars, they need to have focussed on the build quality,safety and reliability to win over those loyal to the Japanese and Korean brands.

We only hope that Ford stays back in India which is destined to be and for a long term remain among the top five markets for cars.
Ford needs to have proper products, a proper marketing team and market spares at the most affordable costs. The sales and service centres need to be more customer centric.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Am I the only one who thinks his words are actually positive rather than negative, and is being taken out of context?

Sure he said this -

“We have a lot of work to do (as) we address issues of how to fix India,” Shanks said. “Everything is on the table.”

But it was followed by these lines too -

Shanks said no decisions have been made and noted that Ford has a larger business in India than GM did. “We are very cognizant that will be the third-largest market in the world,” he said

Why would they exit when the strongly believe this is the third biggest market in the future, and that they have a stronger position than GM?

Looks like me like they are trying to figure out an action plan to revive their Indian arm.

[arvindmanju]

Reading the article, they don't show any vibe of exiting our Indian market. It sounds more like they are going to focus more on Indian market. Its good for us, hope they get Ford Focus and other global models.

[torquing_points]

So unfortunate considering that they have an absolutely phenomenal product portfolio. But the poor management of their scammy dealers and absolute lack of customer centricity amongst the india management team only points one way -- down. As an endeavour owner, this makes me particularly sad. But if this team can't sell a clearly superior car like the endy even at a discount to the fortuner, I doubt that they have any meaningful role to play in the long term as a company.

Ford if you're listening -- you CAN win here. But you'll have to get a lot more customer centric. Your arrogant Skoda-esque management will have to go, or change their attitudes.

I hope they stay. Their cars are really superior to competition. (Alas same can't be said of their team and dealers.)

[androdev]

Originally Posted by torquing_points

... if this team can't sell a clearly superior car like the endy even at a discount to the fortuner ...

This is all they need to discuss in their review meeting. Endy vs Fortuner is the ultimate challenge to Ford to solve in order to survive in India.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Am I the only one who thinks his words are actually positive rather than negative, and is being taken out of context?

Management speak is different if they talk about future operations in an optimistic or game changing way.

When management says "everything is on the table", it definitely has negative connotations.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Management speak is different if they talk about future operations in an optimistic or game changing way.

When management says "everything is on the table", it definitely has negative connotations.

True, in fact they have announced plans to exit the Indonesian and Japanese markets earlier this year. The reason cited "no reasonable path to profitability" in the two countries where it has struggled to gain market share.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fo...-idUSKCN0V3112

Hence, if their profitability is affected they will simply apply the guillotine and exit. It is our apprehension and we only hope it does not turn out to be true.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Am I the only one who thinks his words are actually positive rather than negative, and is being taken out of context?

Am with you buddy
I too read this article and got a positive note rather than negative. Ford has ample opportunity here and with good products indeed they can win. Just that some smart corrective actions they need to take to win the game. Hope they do that in next few years.

-Ravi

[bhpfaninblr]

Originally Posted by andydude

Ford chief financial officer Bob Shanks said that “every thing is on the table” in the review of strategy for India

“Some big decisions will be made,” Shanks said"

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/MZ...r-nations.html

Ford CFO pointed out that the Ford operations in India were many times that of General Motors. The tone clearly says that he is not willing to exit India. Big Decisions could mean more investments as well to win what will be 'the future 3rd largest car market in the world'. They are not giving up on India

[Yieldway17]

Maruti Suzuki has such a tight grip on the industry that it really is hurting competition in the industry to an extent. There is absolutely no wiggle room or margin of error for the competitors to make and if a competing product succeed in any segment, rest assured Maruti Suzuki will swoop in with their own and destroy them at the bud.

Will be sad to see Ford go if they do.

[Shreyans_Jain]

I really doubt Ford will give up on India. They've just made a huge investment in Sanand with a factory as well as an engine plant. It came into production only an year or so back. Don't see them writing it off just like that.

[Dry Ice]

Maybe they should look at Skoda for inspiration. Look at for how long they have been with less than 1% market share, and still not quitting.

Ford is in a much much better spot. Ecosport did great, is doing decent even now. The hatch/cs sedan are suffering as they have to take on Maruti's bestsellers. I think they should bring in Escape/Kuga between Endy and Ecosport. Given our SUV crazed nation, it could help them with some volumes.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

I really doubt Ford will give up on India. They've just made a huge investment in Sanand with a factory as well as an engine plant. It came into production only an year or so back. Don't see them writing it off just like that.

They can always do what GM did - make in India but only for export. But i expect Nissan to go down that path sooner than anyone else.