[sansvk]

Well for almost 2 years we were discussing about this new car that's comings to our market. Then there was this wait and discussions about the launch and its features, then it was the stunner pricing, then the wait and discussions about the delivery period and now the price revision.
Surely at the end of the year this car would win an award for the " Most Discussed Car of the Year", even by the year end not many would have owned this one.
Coming to the price rise, at some point of time the rupee would gain. Will we see Ford cutting its prices at that point of time?

[ankan_g]

Although I wanted to vote, I do not agree with question being asked in the poll.

I do not have a problem with the price hike as this is happening across industries with various brands. The main culprit here are the people planning and controlling our economy. However, that is a topic to be discussed else where.

The main issue over here is why should the customers who booked the cars months back (when the economy was stable) should pay for the current circumstances. These are people who showed their faith in a brand and the booked a brand new car (untested in the market) well in time.

If ford could not deliver the cars on time then that should be their problem. They are taking a good amount of interest free money for booking of the cars and not delivering these cars for months.

If they want charge the extra penny from customers who booked well before the price hike then they should also give them the choice to cancel their booking without paying any cancellation fee. If this choice is given to the customers, then I feel it would be fine in asking them to pay the extra charge.

[arjab]

For customers who has already booked the Ecosport and still not got delivery, they definitely have a reason to get disappointed.

Ford should have at least given a price guarantee to first "xxxx" number of buyers that the vehicle will be available to them at the price quoted at the time of their booking. (What Tatas did at the time of Nano - when even if Nano bookings were taken forward to the next year, the person's who had booked initially could get it at the old prices).

Price revisions do not happen overnight. It is a well planned procedure by OEM's and they are well aware of it. Had Ford given a price guarantee, the credibility of Ford would have skyrocketed and possibly they would have increased Ecosport sales even more.
Just my thoughts.

[Sommos]

There is a saying "Make merry while the sun shines" and Ford India is doing exactly the same. They are using this opportunity of the rupee devaluation to earn more profits for themselves.

Firstly they are exporting more volumes than budgeted, thus earning more money against the dollar. The GOI must also be happy with this for the inflow of dollar into the country.

Secondly they have used this as an excuse to increase the domestic price also. I think they should have given price protection to all the customers who have shown faith on their product and have booked their car. This is a violation of an contract with your customer.

Lastly, I feel this sort of booking for a car (or any other product) should be interest bearing. Even when the GOI pays interest on your IT refunds etc. why should'nt a private company be paying interest (at market rate) on such long standing booking amounts.

[rajneeesh]

My objective when I started the thread was not to protest against Ford's right to revise the prices. My point is different and is as follows:

1) Ford generated a lot of buzz by the attractive launch pricing of the Ecosport.

2) While Ford can revise the pricing any time it wants, especially when the INR is depreciating, the people who had booked the cars in the initial days of the launch, should be provided price protection. As things stand, even people who had booked prior to the launch ( accepting pre bookings before price finalization is something which will not pass muster were the competition commision institute a probe, but that is an all together different question) have to pay the revised price.

3) The deliveries were also effected due to the recall and on account of the glo plug issue which affected production for some time.

4) Is it ethical to accept bookings even when the manufacturer knows that it will not be able to deliver for next 6 months?

Here it seems that the initial pricing is more like a gimmick to garner interest free booking deposits. Renault too revised its pricing for the Duster. However, the people who had made the bookings in the initial stages were offered price protection.

Corts have taken a tough view of one sided practices indulged by real estate companies when they drew up the sales contracts . The customers had signed these as well but the ruling was that it was anti customer and one sided.

There are legalities and then there are ethics. I would like to draw attention to Ratan Tata who extended the ex showroom prrice of Rs 1 lakh to the initial Nano bookings, even though the costs would have gone haywire due to the plant having to shift from Singur to Gujarat and as also the delays caused due to the shifting.

[F150]

Price revision is OK, but if FORD were an ethical company, they would have temporarily waived the cancellation fees.

[zulfi hansi]

Reasons apart [ethical or not] legally you cannot stop them from increasing the price unless they have committed on paper to you at the time of taking the booking / deposit. But you can sue them under restrictive trade practices in consumer forum for cancellation fee for sure even though you had agreed to their terms.

[prakasse]

Ford just needed the attention of the people by pricing the Ecosport from 5.5 lk onwards...But tell honestly how many base variant of Petrol got delivered to the customers? Did they cater to the demand? The pricing was just a eye wash to bring people to showrooms. It's like make hay while the sun shines. With the current sales chart Ford is a one car wonder. I feel they should correct themselves before the market corrects them. It doesn't took too long for the sales of Duster to fell from 6k to 3 k units. The same can happen to Ford too.

I would blame people too. I also suggest we should act to create a buyers market. If Ford is non transparent in allocating vehicles and left the customers at dealers mercy, then why make the booking without clarity? I would anyday walk away from the showroom if the customers norms are not met. I am not purchasing a FMCG porduct, i am purchasing a car by paying a hefty amount and i need proper customer treatment and transparency at all levels.

Thanks,
Prakash.

[vb-saan]

With the current scenario, I am not surprised with the price increase, but Ford should have made it clean and simple by announcing that the increase is applicable for the bookings made after so and so date. Either its a case of greed, or they are extremely confident of their product.

[Mad Max]

Interesting read - WSJ article in the below link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...104207048.html

So, in my view, a company produces cars here, takes money from the local folk, gives a portion of the produced cars for export, then charges the local folk more money to complete its order booking.

Not sure any arguments about dollar appreciation / depreciation really help here. When Ford signed up the parts suppliers, the initial volume for production would've been still procured at the prevailing rate at that time, not at the rate we saw 4 days ago.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Interesting read - WSJ article in the below link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...104207048.html

So, in my view, a company produces cars here, takes money from the local folk, gives a portion of the produced cars for export, then charges the local folk more money to complete its order booking.

Not sure any arguments about dollar appreciation / depreciation really help here. When Ford signed up the parts suppliers, the initial volume for production would've been still procured at the prevailing rate at that time, not at the rate we saw 4 days ago.

Almost all manufacturers have smart 'rate contracts' spanning at least one year before the rates come up for revision. The rates are honoured assiduously by the contractors except of course, in circumstances of dire exigency.
In situations such as these, while the dollar is indeed busy playing snakes and ladders, Ford should have been able to hold on to its pricing for at least a while longer instead of suddenly raising them. However, this is the essence of Capitalism, make hay while the sun shines, even if the cattle (consumer of the said hay) are dying all around one, owing to severe drought conditions...

[4x4addict]

Renault's prayers have been answered... Ford, please keep increasing the prices so that you end up with another "One Trick Pony"..

[trtraj]

I would say this as an unfair practice anyday,

When more than 70 % of localization if ford cannot keep up their prices for even a year its really a pure profit making based on demand

None of the suppliers are going to get benefited by this, My dad supplying auto parts for a well known company from the day one of design,

The per component price which was 124 rupees in 1999 is now 108 wherein the raw material (mild steel / forged steel) went like rocket from 16 rupees per kg to 55 rupees per kg.

The parent companies call this as a continuous effort on price reduction

And eventually this is made for profit of parent company to spike up their share values !!

End of the day, a Tax payer is the sufferer

[i74js]

Ford cannot last long with such practices. Only a few months of wait might give several options of urban SUVs to buyers, well before the present delivery time of existing bookings.

We should look at other options in this segment before making cancellation as the present investment is just 50 K which is parked as booking amount. The interest on those 50 K is not the real profit for Ford (as it stays with the dealers), the profit from sales actually will.

Let the money stay put and pulling the plug should happen when buyers get similar product from other manufacturs. I hope that will put Ford in trouble and they will bring their house in order.

Too bad Ford !

[Bazinga]

1. Why charge customers for lesser manufacturing capability?
2. If dollar's price comes down, will they reverse the price hike?
3. Has anyone challenged them (or the others indulging in this) in consumer court?
4. @10.75L OTR for Diesel Titanium, this ride is too small to be VFM.