[glenmz]

Thanks for the pics Neel. Ford seems to have jumped into the "chrome it up" bandwagon. The AC vents, the head light switch, boot all have received the chrome treatment.

Originally Posted by ramzsys

The 'cuteness' quotient* of this car suggests me that there's a lot of single female folks buying this. And that also means, convincing the b(i/e)tter half is easy.

Are you watching this thread Ford? There's one more thing that need to be done and that is giving eye catchy colors(on the outside, i mean. Not unlike the Figo colored dash).

* 'cuteness' quotient-as arrived by chrome, interior beige, boot beige, ultra-shiny console panel, etc.

I did try this with my wifey. Showed her the pics. For some reason she is still prefers the design of the current Fiesta which we own. Maybe the opinion will change when we see the car in flesh. Is this a downgrade from the current Fiesta? Dont think so. Since the Figo is essentially the previous gen Fiesta from Europe . So the Figo Aspire would make it to the list if and when I decide to go for a new ride.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

The interior pic shows device holder instead of the MID. And it still has Auto AC. And if its the same car in the pic, it also has alloy wheels & front fog lamps. Assuming MID will be offered in top variant, looks like even the mid variant would be well loaded, like Fiesta.

I personally miss cruise control, else this probably would have been the PERFECT car for me, after a remap!!

I feel the pic is of the top variant. Its the top variant that usually received the alloys and fog lamps from what I have seen with the previous Fords.
The MID has been moved to the driver console. And the device holder was advertised as a feature early on if I remember it right.

[advaitlele]

Originally Posted by sallubhai

Thanks for the excellent spy pictures. Can anybody inform regarding the backseat width and whether 3 persons will be able to sit there?

It was on a pre-launch display over last weekend in Amanora Mall in Pune.

Here is my take on the car --
1. Offers excellent seating position from drivers seat. The position I am used to driving, was just perfect in that seat. I could not find dead pedal though, or did I miss noticing it.
2. Steering does not offer reach, its only height adjustable.
3. Driver seat is height adjustable - not sure again, if it is only for top end version.
4. Misses out on some of the gizmos and features that Xcent offers like auto-folding mirrors on engine switch off, rear AC, rear seat hand rest does not have bottle / can holder, rear seat doors do not have pockets etc.
5. The display version didn't have start / stop button, but the ford dealer person informed it would be available in top end model of production ready car.
6. Boot space - may be around 400 ltrs - comparable to Xcent.
7. Rear seats -
7.1 -- I had enough leg room when I seated on back seat with my driving position on front seat. So that's good and I am 5'9".
7.2 -- width is good for two adults at the back, or may be two adults and a kid. Three adults would be a squeeze on long journey.
7.3 -- No rear AC, and rear seats get only one bottle holder in the space between two front seats. I think that would be a problem on long highway journeys.
7.4 -- rear bench has height adjustable head rests. Welcome addition compared to Xcent.
7.5 -- rear parcel shelf may not be useful, didn't notice the cavity to hold things, so in all probability, each breaking would result in rear passengers "adjusting" the stuff.
8. Front seats --
8.1 -- though I could not drive, if Ford legacy is anything to go by, and if I can expect something like Fiesta Classic, I can play a blind bet. I can queue up for pre-launch booking.
8.2 -- Driver seat gave me ample space, my legs didn't touch the steering or AC panel.
8.3 -- Front door pockets are designed cleverly for bottles, odd items etc.
8.4 -- "secret compartment" near the front drivers door hinges in the dashboard to keep "valuables" as told by the sales guy Though it is not lockable, I liked the idea of a secret compartment. Gives me khul ja sim sim-ish kick.
8.5 Audio quality seemed pretty good for the OEM. Though I am not an audiophile when it comes to car music, I would be satisfied to listen to music on the drive.
9. I had requested the sales guy to open the bonnet, but was turned down saying this is a media / display only model and they are not allowed as it was not officially launched.
10. SIX airbags - a segment first. If I buy the car, this would be the prime reason for the decision, if the Titanium trim is not priced insanely high.
11. I could see a flap below the front bumper, most likely for avoiding small pebbles / stones or for airflow. Not sure though.
12. GC - found a bit low, and with 14-inch wheels, it may be a problem. But would reserve this comment for actual launch and test drive.
13. Safety features include ABS, EBD, Hill Assist that's carried forward from Ecosport. Not sure if this is only in Titanium version.
14. There was no clarity on trim levels and features available in each Trim.
15. The SA I spoke with and the folks from event management company seemed to have been properly trained and were able to answer the queries.

Launch date is not fixed but I was told it would be in July end.

At the price point of Xcent SX(O) which comes to around 8L OTR Pune, I would be glad to visit Ford showroom instead of Hyundai. I have kept Xcent booking on hold for this.

Big to Ford for the car. Hope they don't botch it up on pricing front like they did a few years back with new Fiesta.

[DCEite]

Looks like in terms of interior quality and premiumness - its taking the fight head on to the segment best - Xcent.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by advaitlele

Here is my take on the car --

Thank you for your observations.

Originally Posted by advaitlele

"secret compartment" near the front drivers door hinges in the dashboard to keep "valuables" as told by the sales guy Though it is not lockable, I liked the idea of a secret compartment.

I'd posted the following picture/post on the new Figo hatchback thread:

Originally Posted by arunphilip

Discreet Storage Compartment
Ford calls this a discreet and safe storage compartment that's only accessible by opening the door. I call it weird. Their photo example of keeping a cell-phone there is also hard to fathom. Maybe someone might want to keep their house keys there? Even so, it is hard to identify a use case for this. Maybe the smarter minds on this forum can think of ways of putting this to use!

Originally Posted by advaitlele

I could see a flap below the front bumper, most likely for avoiding small pebbles / stones or for airflow. Not sure though.

That flap is to manage the airflow around the tires, its an aerodynamic feature.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by glenmz

...The MID has been moved to the driver console. And the device holder was advertised as a feature early on if I remember it right.

The MID can't be moved around just like that. Attaching the centre console & speedo pics.

Image rights - respective owners.

[theredliner]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

The MID can't be moved around just like that.

The center console's display in Aspire does show some MID like information like door open warning. Not sure what else it can show.



Source

[AWD]

Just a small query on the car, whats the launch date & is the diesel variant gonna come with an Auto transmission ? One more, tentative price of Diesel Auto, that is if its launching!

Ive liked the looks, specially the front end & interiors are fresh too.

[Samar117]

I was there when the Aspire was shown for the first time at Cyber Hub Gurgaon a couple of weeks back, and also had the chance to talk to the VP marketing of Ford India. According to him,
The Aspire will continue this roadshow in different cities for the next coming weeks, where the car will be available for display at malls, shopping centres etc. The variants, and the feature distribution across the range has not been decided yet, they are still working on it.
It will have 2 engines, a 1.2L TiVCT which will get the DCT, and the 1.5 TDCi which will only get the MT. The power, mileage figures of both these engines hasn't been revealed yet.
Cheers

[petrolhead_neel]

Originally Posted by AWD

Just a small query on the car, whats the launch date & is the diesel variant gonna come with an Auto transmission ? One more, tentative price of Diesel Auto, that is if its launching!

Ive liked the looks, specially the front end & interiors are fresh too.

The Figo Aspire will be launched by the end of July and the new Figo by October. Note that this is the official news.

[AWD]

Thanks Samar & petrolhead. I was actually banking on this for a first in the segment, a diesel Auto but looks like Ford has other plans. Not keen otherwise as needed something different from the regular chalk & cheese models. Remains to be seen which company cracks the segment with a diesel Auto, again not too ambitious on a VW or a Skoda product.

[ramzsys]

Well this mall display marketing is Ford India's version of 'chai pe charcha'; Wondering how much of these eye-votes will actually transform into bookings!

As for the diesel engine's state of tune, speculation is that ford will give a 75 hp when compared to the 90hp in the ecosport/fiesta and since i see an intercooler in the demo cars there won't be much of a performance degradation from the 90 hp.

I am eagerly waiting for the ARAI FE number since the 90hp tune in Ecosport can manages 22.x and for fiesta it is 25.x kmpl.

[Samar117]

Attaching a couple of pictures. The car sure is a looker, and what Ford is aggressively marketing is it's safety (6 airbags, a segment first ). We can be assured that only the top variant will get this, I really hope they get in front airbags for even the base variant. That however needs to be seen.

[AkMar]

I had been to the display of Aspire at Infiniti mall, Mumbai yesterday with family and a friend as we are on the lookout for a car in this segment.

The car is a looker from the outside. Paint finishing looked very good, the paint had a nice gloss to it. Now I don't know whether this will be the default for production cars or they had done some detailing on the display car to make it look good!

As per the sales person at the site, all variants will supposedly have airbags. Top variant will have an MID display at the top of dashboard, while lower variants will get the place for docking phone. According to him, the phone connects to the car through a wire, and then the phone's display will act as MID. No idea how true this is.

Another noticeable point, which isn't obvious in any of the photos I have seen so far - the horizontal chrome slats on the grill are slightly inset compared to the rest of the grill. My friend remarked that it looks like a goldfish face from a certain angle (sideways)

We wanted to have a look inside the car, but this is where things went downhill. There were 2 photographers from what seemed like an automobile website (not sure whether rules will allow naming it here) who were busy photographing the car. The representative asked is to wait for 5 minutes. We were fine with that.

5 minutes later - the SP (sales person) says it seems this will take a while Sir, you can have a stroll around the mall and come back later. Our sole purpose of visiting the mall was to have a look at this car. We conveyed this to he SP. He still asked us to wait for the photography to end. So we walked around the car and had a look at it, staying some distance away from the car. After this, we again stood besides the display, waiting for photography to end. Now, another SP comes forward, here is the conversation:

SP: Sir, do you have any questions about the car?
Me: I would like to see the car first.
SP: Sorry sir, you will have to wait for a while.

This attitude was a real turn off. A potential customer is in front of you, and you keep him waiting for some photographers. And it's also not that we wanted the car for ourselves for an hour - we would have taken a maximum of 5 minutes. If the photography was going to take a long time, couldn't they ask them to stop for a few minutes?

After waiting for 15 minutes, we walked away. We didn't have the entire day to spend waiting to have a look at the Aspire. It is out of the contenders for our next car.

Attaching a couple of images I could manage to click.

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by AkMar

5 minutes later - the SP (sales person) says it seems this will take a while Sir, you can have a stroll around the mall and come back later.

SP: Sir, do you have any questions about the car?
Me: I would like to see the car first.
SP: Sorry sir, you will have to wait for a while.

This attitude was a real turn off. A potential customer is in front of you, and you keep him waiting for some photographers. And it's also not that we wanted the car for ourselves for an hour - we would have taken a maximum of 5 minutes. If the photography was going to take a long time, couldn't they ask them to stop for a few minutes?

After waiting for 15 minutes, we walked away. We didn't have the entire day to spend waiting to have a look at the Aspire. It is out of the contenders for our next car.

Are you sure you interacted with Ford SPs? Why I ask this is, mall exhibitions for automobiles are usually handed over to 3rd party event management companies. The people who handle the exhibits might sometimes turn out to be real jerks. Highly unlikely that Ford personnel will be present in the mall all day and night. I could be wrong though!

Discarding a car because the attitude of a certain person put you off and that too in a mall and not a showroom is making a decision in haste IMO. Suggest you to visit a showroom as and when they get a demo car, test drive it and then decide.

[shyampsunder]

Hey guys, Powerdrift has a video on YouTube interviewing a Ford VP about the Aspire, he confirms 3 engine options. 1.2l and 1.5l petrol engines and 1.5l diesel engine. He also rules out bringing in the ecoboost engine to this car.

Note to mod: If this information has already been announced please feel free to delete this past

https://youtu.be/lsSTQxIlOxU