[ampere]

My take is post Ecosport, they may try bring on the Fiesta sedan facelift with the ecoboost engine. But their again the pricing would play spoil sport.

Given the fact that Fiesta won't be taken by folks who need back seat space, Ford should try to price it lower such that urban family segment of 3/4 (max two seating at the back) can at least consider this as an option.

Today even if its priced well, many dont opt simply because of the space constraint.

[CoolBlueBiker]

Fiesta hatchback seems like a possibility in the near future with Ford India investing huge amount of money on the new sanand plant and the plant in Chennai to make India a export hub.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ake-india.html

Even for Hyundai, the I20 production in Chennai was primarily as a export model for Europe. The i20's domestic sales didn't really matter at the time. But the response which it received was overwhelming even at it's price range . Similarly, Ford can position Fiesta hatchback as an export model and release it in domestic market to check the response. I very much think Fiesta hatchback has the potential to replicate the I20 success story

[Marauder]

Originally Posted by linuxmanju

My suggestion is ford should fit that Ecoboost engine on to Fiesta classic and price it around Amaze/Dzire territory. Tell me guys would you not buy it?.

Buddy,developing a car is not about making an engine and a body shell and bolting the two together.The chassis,suspension etc have to be engineered to comply with each other.People were suggesting to put Ecoboost engine in the Figo to make it a great driver's car.Why not put a Veyron engine in the M800 to make it go 400km/h

[linuxmanju]

Originally Posted by Marauder

Buddy,developing a car is not about making an engine and a body shell and bolting the two together.The chassis,suspension etc have to be engineered to comply with each other.People were suggesting to put Ecoboost engine in the Figo to make it a great driver's car.Why not put a Veyron engine in the M800 to make it go 400km/h

Help me understand here mate, are you suggesting that Fiesta's chassis and suspension setup is not good enough to handle the power delivered by Ecoboost ?. why are we forgetting that it's the same chassis setup which held up well against 1.6lt engine, which is still considered as one of the best budget enthusiasts' car.

If at all the light weight engine on front will affect the handling, I am sure Ford engineers are capable of taking care of that.

[MaserQ]

No offense, but any car that sells less than the Linea is a goner in our market. Put the Fiesta sedan to rest. It was overpriced and looked awkward from the rear. The Fiesta hatch on the other hand, is a handsome beast.

Estimating the price of the hatch vis-à-vis the sedan is an exercise in futility. The bottom line is that Ford has to peg the Fiesta hatch against the i20. Nothing more, nothing less. Economies of scale will present itself once the Ecosport is launched and hopefully a success.

[damager21]

I just love the looks, build quality and interiors. This could well be the hottest hatch in India if launched and if priced close to i20, will sell like hot cakes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CrsFUBFWI8

[fuelinmyveins]

I feel that the car should have been launched as hatchback from the start.

maybe they could have shaved a few inches off the car to duck it under 4 meters in length to avail the lower excise duty benefit. The 1 liter ecoboost engine would have helped their cause to price it competitively further down the line and as far as I know they also had a 1.2 liter engine in their European line up which they could have used to begin their line up with in India , at a very competitive price ( comparable to i20). As for enthusiasts 1.6 liter engine from the earlier generation fiesta would have sufficed .

All the more I somehow feel that with the sedan configuration the expectation for space becomes more , after all buying a sedan is thought to be more practical than a hatchback.

Is it possible that Ford ignored all these options just to create a price bracket in which they could sell the fiesta classic , in an effort to milk that platform as long as possible.

Just a bit of fuel for thought .

[blackfire_9]

A premium hatch is most often a gamble when it comes to sales & Ford's current strategy is to generate some volumes so as to increase the market share.

Personally, I feel that the Fiesta hatch (as shown in the pictures on the 1st page of this thread) is not something that would be launched any time soon. What they would instead launch, as per my opinion, is a new Figo (that's being developed in Brazil) with the 1.5 TDCi & launch it as a premium hatch priced above the existing Figo....or, discontinue the existing model, launch the new Figo hatch with the 1.4 TDCi (with maybe some tweaks) & launch the Figo-based sedan with the 1.5 TDCi instead.

[IshaanIan]

While I would LOVE to own a Fiesta hatchback, it would certainly be very expensive and our market needs a little more time to mature to that extent. If I were making decisions, I would have the rear bumper and taillamps redesigned (the former to be less bulky looking and the latter to be a little larger :P) , offer some really nice looking alloys (since for a car that is slightly flawed in terms of proportion, this would go a long way) and finally throw in an ecoboost engine. Added with a refreshed marketing strategy to remind the public of its existence and also notify them of the improvements, This should get it to sell pretty well on our shores

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

They already have EcoSport to cover wide range from premium hatch backs to small sedans. And there is Figo and vintage classic. Where will they fit this Fiesta hatch ?

But how do the EcoSport and Fiesta hatch compare? I think Ford is going to position the EcoSport, and rightly so, as a SUV while the Fiesta range will remain just that - a sedan+hatch option. Even if there is a price overlap and there will be. I think the key is to educate people about how the segments are different.

Its a totally different topic of discussion as to how currently the indian market is lapping up small SUVs but there is sufficient room for all kinds of segments.

So if the Fiesta hatch is launched right after the Ecosport, it may not really garner much interest. But 6-8 months down the line, am sure it will work if its positioned competitively against similar hatches!

And i agree, it better be the new Fiesta and not the current gen. We need Ford to continue launching global products like the EcoSport over hand me downs.

[Flying Djinn]

It would be very nice if Ford can place a much fresher hatch in the range (a little lower perhaps. A la Ritz and Swift) Classic is currently placed in. Both Figo and Classic are very similar and there is no alternative for someone who's looking for a nice handling premium hatch from the Ford stable at the 9L range. But i'd understand Ford's hesitation, not sure if people are ready to buy a Ford hatch at that price.

[arjun18]

The fiesta sedan is one of the ugliest cars on the road today. It's my opinion and I don't intend to argue over this, but i'm sure most would agree. It was shocking to see ford misjudging the tastes of the indian market by such a large margin and serving up such a sad little car. My guess would be that the fiesta classic still sold a lot more than the new fiesta irrespective of the price.
Seeing as the ratio of young drivers in the country is rapidly increasing they should probably skip the boot and get the hatch ASAP. That's a pretty cool looking thing and would at the least perform better than the sedan (No boot weight).

[Arch-Angel]

As much as i admire the fiesta hatchback, i would really love it if ford releases the focus in India. Its one of those rare cars i fell in love with. Again if they price it over the 15L mark the market won't receive it well. To add to the woes we have such high duties on imports. God save the Indian car lover.

Notice the similarity with the fiesta hatch and the focus in this video :

Credits to original uploader/reviewer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=049Q0AMka2k

Dear Mods: There seems to be some issue with the post' video being embedded in the post.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by Arch-Angel

Notice the similarity with the fiesta hatch and the focus in this video :

You would probably absolutely love the Focus ST hatchback. It has the same dimensions as a regular focus hatch and has a screaming 2.0 turbo engine with 250 bhp.

Ford technically does not have a sedan in the 12 - 16 lakh segment (or even the segment higher - where Mondeo will fit in) . But there is a reason why they don't - people buying in that price range are overwhelmingly buying SUVs. The numbers that sedans sell in that segment are already low enough - a hatchback will barely move single digits. Volumes will be so low that Ford cannot justify manufacturing in India - unless they use it as an export hub.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

You would probably absolutely love the Focus ST hatchback. It has the same dimensions as a regular focus hatch and has a screaming 2.0 turbo engine with 250 bhp.

Forget Focus ST, they should atleast think of getting the regular Focus hatchback. It will be nice to see some manufacturer give a go at this segment of large hatchbacks.

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

Ford technically does not have a sedan in the 12 - 16 lakh segment (or even the segment higher - where Mondeo will fit in)

The Focus sedan should be the candidate for the said segment. In India, the Mondeo competitors are currently in the 20-25 lakhs segment (e.g.; VW Passat)