[KarthikK]

Wasn't Force One the 'premium' SUV which lacked even basic (at this price point) safety features like ABS and Airbags??

The Force brand, in my opinion is severely crippled by a commercial vehicle tag, so no white-board customer in his right senses will want to put 10+L of money on something others might ridicule. If they want a significantly lesser brand name to sell, they ought to stuff their cars with tons of features and heavily undercut the competition with price, a bit like how Micromax is doing in the mobile phone industry. Crude analogy I know, but still.

[srishiva]

They should replace the current Force one with this new premium vehicle. The differentiator for a buyer to look at Force would be value for money (lesser)

[noopster]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Wasn't Force One the 'premium' SUV which lacked even basic (at this price point) safety features like ABS and Airbags??

Not really. At launch the price of the highest variant was 13.xx L (OTR Pune) which, though lacking in essential safety features as you mentioned, was still a far cry from the 20.XX+ on the road for most others in the segment.

Force One has recently launched a variant with 4X4 and ABS, though still not airbags. The price is 14.06L OTR Pune.

Compare that with:
Ford Endeavour: 23.90 (for the cheapest 2.5L MT variant)
Chevrolet Captiva: 31.75L (highest variant)
Toyota Fortuner: 25.72L (cheapest 4X2 MT variant)
Ssangyong Rexton: 23.26L (lower RX5 variant)

So there is simply no comparison price-wise. A lot of us here dismiss the Force One outright but for those looking at a butch-looking vehicle with a decent engine, sorted suspension and all-terrain capabilities, it is not at all bad at the price.

Edit: These are indicative prices only, taken from carwale.

[Shiwik]

Originally Posted by Figopian

No hard feelings, but Force motors should first build a brand so that people would buy a premium car manufactured by them. However good the Force one SUV is, people would get away from that car just because it comes from Force Motors. Same could happen with this new premium SUV as well. When people spend money like 18 lakhs on a vehicle, they do care greatly about the brand as well. Maybe launching Force One was the part of this kinda plan, but have they achieved it? I guess not.

Having said that, I believe thy could still do this if they plan some kind of a partnership with leading players for marketing only. Similar to what Fiat did with TATA (No comments on how it ended, but still...). They should rope in some leading players in this SUV sector to get the recognition.

Originally Posted by noopster

Not really. At launch the price of the highest variant was 13.xx L (OTR Pune) which, though lacking in essential safety features as you mentioned, was still a far cry from the 20.XX+ on the road for most others in the segment.

Force One has recently launched a variant with 4X4 and ABS, though still not airbags. The price is 14.06L OTR Pune.

Compare that with:
Ford Endeavour: 23.90 (for the cheapest 2.5L MT variant)
Chevrolet Captiva: 31.75L (highest variant)
Toyota Fortuner: 25.72L (cheapest 4X2 MT variant)
Ssangyong Rexton: 23.26L (lower RX5 variant)

So there is simply no comparison price-wise. A lot of us here dismiss the Force One outright but for those looking at a butch-looking vehicle with a decent engine, sorted suspension and all-terrain capabilities, it is not at all bad at the price.

Edit: These are indicative prices only, taken from carwale.

Agree on the price perspective above. However the F1 was not in comparison with the ones quoted above. It inadvertently got compared with the XUV5OO from a price stand point and seemed skinny from a feature comparison stand point. Being the first commercial vehicle from their stable, i wish they had gotten a product organically developed rather than picking up an outdated one (a Chinese one at that). Important safety features were missed and they cannot be excused for these omissions. A.S.S was even worse. For most of the users, seeing is believing. While they could continue to brag about the engine and the entire drive train, everything else seemed to have been put together in a hurry. Spending over a million on this product which has not lived up to expectations has definitely moved many who may have considered this product.

Force motors don't seem to learn from their mistakes and they probably are not reading these posts either. Vito is another venture that would see a similar fate as the F1. On a lighter vein, AB should stop endorsing motor vehicles - Versa and now the F1!!!

[novice29]

If Force Motors are having this much extra money with them, why dont they go for a price cut for their existing vehicles and better their numbers on the sales charts?
It may better their brand image. I think that would be the first strategy they should apply. Also think about widening the dealership network.
If I get a lesser priced Force One (not the cheaper variant ofcourse), I am ready to put my money on it. After all I can have the drive train they are boasting about!

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Shiwik

Agree on the price perspective above. However the F1 was not in comparison with the ones quoted above. It inadvertently got compared with the XUV5OO from a price stand point and seemed skinny from a feature comparison stand point.

XUV5OO is a category-killer at the price point/with the feature list it has been launched at. I agree, if that is the comparison, it is a no-contest. But even the sales advisors at Force tend to compare it with the Endy and other "true" SUVs.

Being the first commercial vehicle from their stable...

Non-commercial, you mean?

... i wish they had gotten a product organically developed rather than picking up an outdated one (a Chinese one at that).

Big deal. If you haven't noticed, 95% of products we use these days are of Chinese origin. They have equipped it with a Mercedes engine and a Lotus-tuned suspension after all. The build quality is not Euro thunky-solid but certainly not too bad for the price.

Important safety features were missed and they cannot be excused for these omissions. A.S.S was even worse. For most of the users, seeing is believing. While they could continue to brag about the engine and the entire drive train, everything else seemed to have been put together in a hurry. Spending over a million on this product which has not lived up to expectations has definitely moved many who may have considered this product.

Agree on safety features but the latest variant at least has ABS. Is A.S.S. an issue? I have only seen Archish's review and I don't think he's mentioned anything.
By the way, you will pay about the same for the higher end variant C+ sedans.
I believe whatever demand this vehicle has is mostly from rural/semi-rural areas where the street presence and bad-roading capabilities come to the fore. For the sophisticated urban consumer, there is little appeal.

[Shiwik]

Originally Posted by noopster

Non-commercial, you mean?

My Bad, I meant first passenger car

Originally Posted by noopster

Big deal. If you haven't noticed, 95% of products we use these days are of Chinese origin. They have equipped it with a Mercedes engine and a Lotus-tuned suspension after all. The build quality is not Euro thunky-solid but certainly not too bad for the price.

Most Chinese don't anyways sell especially when it comes for a hefty price (my personal opinion). What i meant was the mind set of the Indian buyer has evolved over time given that there are more options to choose from. Value for money is the first thing that comes to ones mind. Status symbol, future of the car in terms of support and re-sale are additional things that comes to our mind and that is where the F1 is losing out. I test drove this a few months back and i was quite impressed with the engine, space and the suspension. The rest of the car did not quite impress me. Interiors were a little too dirty, AC was not cooling and the usual response that the car needs to be serviced. It had only about 1500 on the ODO. This really put me off. One other thing that sales adviser mentioned was they tied up with Stanley boutique for customizing the interior for a subsidized price. Now that is what is being recommend to make the interior prettier is definitely no acceptable when you are buying a new car. I am attaching a few pictures that was shared with me. I must admit it looks fairly good after the change. I would definitely want to own one if the sales chart shows progress and the ASS improves.

Originally Posted by noopster

Agree on safety features but the latest variant at least has ABS. Is A.S.S. an issue?

Face book is full of these issues from folks who have bought this product. Here is the link https://www.facebook.com/SUVForceOne