Team-BHP - ET says Ford puts Gujarat on hold. EDIT : Ford says GJ Plant is going as per schedule

I think ET might have gone too "sensational" with that article. If you ask me, I think Ford India is currently on a roll with the Figo giving them fantastic volumes (7500 Figos were shipped out last month!). Plus, the compact SUV segment has huge potential, and the Eco-Sport was quite well received in its preview last month.

Sure, they made a mistake with the Fiesta's pricing, but it's easy to correct with a price cut (price cuts aren't new to Ford). The product per se isn't bad (though it isn't perfect either).

Ford might have deferred their Gujarat plans, but to say that "Ford slams the brakes in India" is stretching things a bit too far. Sensational journalism, I guess.

Also, ET should correct the article title. It's brakes, not breaks. I'm intrigued by this bit from the ET article:

Quote:

According to ET Now, the car maker is unlikely to aggressively go ahead with setting up of its Sanand plant unless it sees the sales of its passenger vehicles touching the 4 million mark.

Umm, the Indian auto market is not 4 million in size, so how can Ford India be waiting for its sales to cross the 4 million mark? If they meant North America sales, well, the writer should clearly specify that. The article appears to have been written in a tearing hurry and is lacking a logical flow to itself.

As a loyal Economic Times reader, I am disappointed with the quality of this article (in language, thought and logic).

Since the production of the EcoSport isn't hampered, I see no reason to worry. Definitely this is an outcome of the poor sales figures, that the new Fiesta has been exhibiting. A few days ago, ET Now had reported that Ford is looking at the possibilities of a price-slash for the new Fiesta. Once that happens, I am sure it won't be tough Ford to get back with its future projects. :)

If you remember, Ford had done the same with the Fusion. They had got rid of a few electronics such as the Digital Meters etc, and had launched a stripped off version of the Fusion with a smaller price tag. If they follow the same trick with the Fiesta, I am sure the base variant's will be stripped of with Airbags and ABS, as its opponents don't get it either. ;)

I dont think ford will simply stop the building of the plant.They still have to launch their 7 other models for India before 2015. I dont think the Chennai plant has the capacity to produce 7 more models!!
What has the fiesta sales have to do with halting of the plant?? Ford always expected low sales of the fiesta,well not the number that is currently its doing.But if Ford does a price correction on the fiesta and if the Ecosport is a VFM product like the figo, Ford may have to open another plant because of the demand!:D

ET taking down the article means they possibly have realized the sensational journalism part as GTO mentioned. Ford might have delayed the plans a bit as the extra capacity the new plant is going to bring in needs to have sufficient takers in terms of volumes, locally and internationally as well.

At the moment i do not think India is Ford's manufacturing hub for any of the international lineup.

Sensational Journalism aspect of TOI is well known. But did not realize ET would
start going the same path. My only point was, how much does Gujrat hold in Ford's
plan. If productions of coming Ecosport is not to be hampered, then they can defer it a bit.

EDIT: Since Ecosport is slated for production in many countries, Gujrat may not be that critical in Ford's plan.
They may manage Indian sales with Ecoboost engines manufactured in Chennai itself.

Also it needs to be seen, what is the split in sales on Petrol versus Diesel.

Agree with vinod332002. The title shocked me even more since I'm a Figo owner. I was like "Ford is suddenly leaving India?".

Now that ET has taken down the article, please change the title. Or, this thread could be deleted as well since this thread doesn't serve any purpose at all and can only give a jolt to readers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Got a call from Ford. They have confirmed that the ET report is baseless, and their GJ plans are going as per schedule.

I reiterate that the article was poor in terms of thought & language. Don't they have any proof-readers in there?

I used to rate ET as one of the best newspapers in India, but not any more. I think we can delete this thread since there is nothing worthwhile to discuss here.

Automobile companies need to be secretive about their plans for business reasons. That's why many automotive news articles are "source based" - and that explains the inaccuracies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by .anshuman (Post 2682873)

Last time they almost launched the Diesel Brio.

:uncontrol

Quote:

Originally Posted by nkg77 (Post 2682430)

I used to rate ET as one of the best newspapers in India, but not any more. I think we can delete this thread since there is nothing worthwhile to discuss here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by .anshuman (Post 2682873)

Off late most of the auto news in ET are turning out to mere guesses. This kind of activity is better suited to some small time masala automotive blog, not to Economic Times. Last time they almost launched the Diesel Brio.

:OT
+1. TOI group is slowly transforming itself into a Page 3 Tabloid.
That new ad from 'The Hindu' aptly depicts the quality of journalism in TOI.

If the article is baseless then this thread should be removed IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 2682420)

Though it's :OT quality of the websites of both TOI and ET has nosedived drastically. The Zigwheels section is close to atrocious. Many a time I have seen they have published articles of new car launches with completely different pictures of a car of a different model or even a different manufacturer. Sometimes the entire article is missing.

About TOI, the less said the better, I once found a news article on an incident where the article suddenly changed after 2/3 paragraphs to report news about a completely different incident :D. In fact the transition was so abrupt, it was actually bizarre.