[swiftnfurious]

My guess is the diesel top end might cost you 8L ex showroom which is a good price if we get a 100 bhp engine. Considering other options are around the same price, this has some more features than rest. A typical FTD Ford DNA would be the icing on the cake.

Edit: I am afraid this product will be lost in the most anticipated launches of the year - S Cross & Creta.

[JD1]

Originally Posted by itsashishsharma

For somebody looking for an automatic in this range, IMO, the Aspire makes a hell lot of sense, more than the Jazz.
...
Also, Jazz auto will have the same 1.2L iVtech whereas Aspire will get Fiesta and Ecosport's bigger 1.5L ...

I totally agree with you that anyone waiting for Jazz should also consider Aspire. However, one thing to remember is that the 1.5L engine would fall in higher excise bracket of 24% v/s the 12% of 1.2L so that itself would push the cost by 80k-1L or so. Not sure how Ford will price AT Aspire but it could very well be costlier than Jazz AT (especially if Jazz AT is not offered in highest variant).

[MSC]

Ford India cars have started to look similar in terms of dashboards. First the Fiesta. Then Ecosport. Now the Aspire.
Dashboard is largely dominated by Nokia cellphone inspired keys.
Not sure but I think somewhere in TBHP I read going by past history, Ford India have history of having only one car going boom boom.
If this carries on then either Ecosport or Aspire has to loose. It remains to be seen which one leads and which one looses it out.

[condor]

batterylow : Wistful thinking indeed

Would be nice to have it for atmost 8.5 OTR

Looks more like a 10L tag for the top end. Did you check the IDV in that pic ? That will be 90% of the ex-showroom price of where that particular car was. Now add the rest of the components, and you will get an idea.

[bansal1987]

Indianautosblog reports that the Diesel engine 1.5l for ecosport for Europe now makes 95 PS. Considering ecosport for Europe is exported from India, I guess we might see the updated engine in India too soon.

Does it gives a hint that the Aspire Diesel will produce 90 PS and this will be a differentiator between Eco sport and Aspire where the Eco is supposed to be more premium than the other?

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by condor

Looks more like a 10L tag for the top end. Did you check the IDV in that pic ? That will be 90% of the ex-showroom price of where that particular car was. Now add the rest of the components, and you will get an idea.

Not to be pedantic, but I think its 95%, but that would only make a difference of 35K, so yes, we should be looking at an OTR of about 9.75 to 10L.

[MetalBuff]

'Cause of Jazz's pricing debacle, a lot of eyes(mine are for sure!) would be trained on the Aspire. Ford, your turn now and for Christ's sake, please don't mess up the pricing!

P.S. - Any and by any, I mean any news yet? This is really getting excruciating. How long does Ford want to wait?

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

'Cause of Jazz's pricing debacle, a lot of eyes(mine are for sure!) would be trained on the Aspire. Ford, your turn now and for Christ's sake, please don't mess up the pricing!

P.S. - Any and by any, I mean any news yet? This is really getting excruciating. How long does Ford want to wait?

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

First they were probably waiting for the Jazz to launch

Now probably waiting for the big guns-Hyundai and Maruti to launch the Creta and S Cross and let go of the limelight. Although not in the same segment, the marketing power of Maruti and Hyundai will drown everything else for some time. It is like releasing a small movie along with a Salman Khan movie. How ever good your product is and how much ever different it is, it will still get drowned in the waves of the big movie.

In addition, looking at past history, Ford does not care about putting some extra effort into marketing their products.

[MetalBuff]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

First they were probably waiting for the Jazz to launch

Now probably waiting for the big guns-Hyundai and Maruti to launch the Creta and S Cross and let go of the limelight. Although not in the same segment, the marketing power of Maruti and Hyundai will drown everything else for some time. It is like releasing a small movie along with a Salman Khan movie. How ever good your product is and how much ever different it is, it will still get drowned in the waves of the big movie.

In addition, looking at past history, Ford does not care about putting some extra effort into marketing their products.

Hope they launch the Aspire soon or else they'll have to wait for the Fronx and BR-V too

IMHO, Honda did Ford a favor by pricing the Jazz inappropriately (if that's a strong word, let's just say that the pricing doesn't make the Jazz VFM)

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

IMHO, Honda did Ford a favor by pricing the Jazz inappropriately (if that's a strong word, let's just say that the pricing doesn't make the Jazz VFM)

History repeats and repeats itself again.

Honda has just done this again with the Jazz pricing:



BUt, honestly, what is Ford smoking?
They should have already launched the product and it should have been in its 3rd month now.

The hype is already through and the expectation and the anticipation already on the wane.
The activity in this thread alone can very easily explain the sentiments.
From one of the most active threads, this lies dormant.

Aspire, when launched, if launched quickly, is another good product in the fail.
Why, Ford Why? What are you waiting for?

[sandygordon]

Waiting for Diwali, perhaps. The dealership says the pricing of the aspire will be the most VFM in the segment. They have no idea about the specs or the power plants.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

When is the launch? Don't know whats happening, car is everywhere but not yet launched.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

But what is Ford doing? No info on the launch/media drives and no attempt to create any more buzz around it.

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

Any and by any, I mean any news yet? This is really getting excruciating. How long does Ford want to wait?

Originally Posted by arnabchak

Why, Ford Why? What are you waiting for?

The wait will be longer, I am afraid, if we go by what Mr. Umashankar PK, Vice-President, Customer Service Operations, Ford India told The Hindu BusinessLine.

The company is looking at next phase of growth as it introduces new models and also delights its customers with quality ownership experience.

The Gujarat plant, which has annual capacity of 2,40,000 vehicles per annum was set up with an investment of over $1 billion and along with the Tamil Nadu plant, the company has a combined manufacturing capacity of 4,40,000 vehicles per annum, which would enable the company to launch many more models, he said.

During his visit to Hyderabad, Umashankar said Figo Aspire is likely to be introduced during the festival season.

He said the new car is pegged in a market of compact sub-four metre sedans, which accounts for sales of 1.1 million and projected to grow to about 1.6 million by 2018.

“We expect Figo Aspire to generate a lot more interest than what we had achieved with the introduction of Figo hatch and Ford Ecosport our compact SUV. And as we come out with new models in segments where we have not been present earlier, the volumes are likely to increase,” he explained.

Referring to a number of initiatives the company has taken to make customers happy, he said the cost of ownership has come down and one can have a car serviced for as low as ₹2,199, he said.

Sorry, guys. Doesn't look like the Figo Aspire will be hitting showrooms before Dusshera.


The Hindu Business Line

[arnabchak]

Dear Raven

Too little and too late. Doesnt help Aspires case at all!!

Then why this fanfare so early on? People who were serious contenders and thronged the malls to check out the car would have already gone ahead/decided on their purchase by then.

Also, people who plan to keep the car for short durations(<3 years) dont normally make purchases in the Festive season and avail the depreciation benefit by waiting for a couple of more months and buying the "new" year model.

Very wrong move strategically that could kill the product instantly.

[vivekz]

I think the only saving grace for Ford can be the case where in they launch both Aspire and new Figo together. Two products together can potentially create more excitement.

I feel the sub-4 metre category itself may be losing excitement to crossovers. The pimary reason for its existence was the pride of a sedan ownership. Space wise i20 and Jazz provide more practical solutions at the same price.

But coming back to pride of ownership, a SUV/ Crossover trumps a sedan on status stakes. And with Creta and SCross, the segment's well poised for growth and it is going to pull some customers from sub-4 meter for sure.

So while DZires and Amazes will continue to sell, they won't generate excitement and hence Ford has its work cut out. They may have to rue the fact that they did not pay enough marketing attention to EcoSport and with the car about to lose its rear-mounted-wheel-macho appeal, I am not sure how much demand it will continue commanding.

Yes there will be die-hard fans of driving dynamics who will go with Ford but those won't be enough as always for a solid market share in the segment.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

The wait will be longer, I am afraid, if we go by what Mr. Umashankar PK, Vice-President, Customer Service Operations, Ford India told The Hindu BusinessLine.

Sorry, guys. Doesn't look like the Figo Aspire will be hitting showrooms before Dusshera.

Thinking a little more, guess that makes sense now. The cars like Aspire would be targeted primarily at the small family type customers. Typically months of June/July/August are kind of slow months with things like school stuff, inauspicious month of aadi/ashada/karkidakam/ramzan (depending on which part you are from) where lot of people will not venture into anything new or celebratory.

By August/September, the festival season starts, people are in a celebratory mood and all the hype about the Jazz, Creta and the S Cross would have died down. Good time to launch a car like Aspire.