[shankar.balan]

are you thinking of bespoke motors, custom built to my taste? man thats what the erstwhile aristocracy would have liked!

while I may have some pretensions to champagne taste my friend, I also suffer unfortunately from a "beer budget" in some of these matters!

I guess it depends on what sort of premium you're looking at and then maybe one day...

as of this moment, I am frankly simply looking for a daily driver and all purpose mule from amongst any that these international manufacturers sell internationally - in other words their european spec but at a fair and rationalized price point. I see no reason to buy one of these standard road vehicles by paying 120% duty simply because the manufacturers are not yet ready to do local production here.
hence my thoughts in the direction of used SUV's etc.

Originally Posted by SedatedDrive

Shankar, would you buy such a car at a premium? I am asking because building custom cars from scratch is something I would like to do sometime in the future.

[gears2go]

I won't say the pricing is bad but I feel the SUV looks pretty outdated already! However, things maybe different once you see them in real life. I think Ford Figo is a decent looking car though it's basic design is taken from a generation old car. In modern day hatches, only Punto and Polo scores higher in the looks department.

[SedatedDrive]

I would like to test drive this before I can say if I will recommend it / buy it. As for the looks, its got a mishmash of retro and modern styling. It definitely looks better than an Innova.

If it doesn't behave like a boat, then maybe its not a bad buy. Since in the SUV market, SIZE does matter.

[himanshugoswami]

just read the OD review of the Force one- in the pics, this beast looks quite impressive, esp in that red shade! I have a sneaking feeling this will do better than expected

[R_R]

Force One appears to be based on or a copy of Guangdong Foday Explorer 3. The Foday Explorer's are basically copies of Ford Explorer, according to auto press reports. See this story in TopGear (Phillipines):

Will you buy a Foday Explorer? - Feature Articles | TopGear.com.ph

On the other hand, if you buy it, you are getting a Ford Explorer for roughly half its price!! So maybe it ain't such a bad deal!?!
R_R

[Ksingh544]

Hi Guys,

Heres an update , I just spoke with Mr Rohit Yadav of the Dealer Management Team at Force Motors office in Akurdi, Pune.

The first display vehicles will reach New Delhi by the 15-16th of September and the test drive vehicles will only come by September end.
He claims that in Delhi they have 120 bookings already for Delhi-NCR (little farfetched I feel) and these vehicles will only be delivered to the customers by January 2012.

Off topic I know but I also called skoda to check on the new Laura RS and its sad but neither of these companies have got display vehicles, price lists or test drive vehicles.

What is the point of announcing a launch of a flag ship vehicle when you wont have the actual vehicle to try out

We are supposed to be a service economy but unfortunately are lacking behind badly.

cheers

Ksingh

[noopster]

Spotted one on Senapati Bapat Road over the weekend. Looked brand new with red temp plates, so must have been a delivery vehicle. Looked FANTASTIC! My friend and I craned our necks wondering if it was a Landcruiser or Ford Explorer and then saw the badge. Funny thing is I was just telling him some time earlier that it is a 11 lac SUV with a Mercedes engine. If they nail their pre- and after-sales service, we may have a Force to reckon with on our hands!

[xingamazon]

I did not know this, my friend told me that it was Amithab Bachan who launched the vehicle in India.
Here are the pics:Amitabh Bachchan at Force One car launch - Bollywood World

So by all probability it would be the superstar appearing in the advertisements for the car, which translates to a big marketing push for the product.

[Latheesh]

Spotted this test mule few days back in Bangalore
What is going on here!!!? :-))

[amtak]

Whoa! Look at the sheer size of this beast! amazing road presence. Looks good and should be an interesting thing to watch out for...

[madhkris]

Bhpians,
The ForceOne (Force One - Be The Force) website is also up and is looking good
Lets hope they come out with a 4WD version soon!!

[C300]

Originally Posted by madhkris

Bhpians,
The ForceOne (Force One - Be The Force) website is also up and is looking good
Lets hope they come out with a 4WD version soon!!

Yes. Website is in good shape now. The beast looks great in Black colour.

[condor]

Spotted the F-One on friday on Bannerghatta road, sporting test plates. Looked like an Endy clone, with a badly designed front end.

[mannubhai]

They still seem clueless on the arrival date of a test drive vehicle in Blore.

Any news in other cities ?

[Skyline GT-R]

The TD vehicles are being dispatched today & tomorrow. South Zone dealers should get the TD vehicles in 5-6 days.

1 chassis + drivetrain (without body/seats/electricals) will be displayed in the showrooms for the customers/prospects to see the engineering bits on Force One. All dealer staff has been trained to explain them as well.