[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by HYDRAVI

The bare minimum monthly sales numbers! .

that segment. If they allow drifting for another 3 months they are finished. Let us Hope .

Sorry for a long note. It is heartfelt.

IMO Ford is not looking to make much profits in this year i guess. The goal of any company would be to make money at the end of the year. Whether the money comes thru domestic sales, exports or ransom is the least botheration of the company.

They are happy with the profits they are making through Exports. They are not really bothered about selling in the indian market or making profits here. If Govt next year offers some goodies for the auto industry in form of reduced taxes / IT expemtions for car loan etc then Ford might get a little serious about indian market.

[HYDRAVI]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

IMO Ford is not looking to make much profits in this year i guess. The goal of any company would be to make money at the end of the year. Whether the money comes thru domestic sales, exports or ransom is the least botheration of the company.

They are happy with the profits they are making through Exports. They are not really bothered about selling in the indian market or making profits here. If Govt next year offers some goodies for the auto industry in form of reduced taxes / IT expemtions for car loan etc then Ford might get a little serious about indian market.

You are right. Making money should be the goal. To continue in business and to make money in long term consistent domestic sale numbers should be the first consideration, even from the perception angle. One has to view this in terms of domestic order bookings for eco sport for a year which itself is an achievement of the product developed, and killing the same is not wise. Even for figo diesel unlike Maruti/Hyundai they have not highlighted the VFM car by pushing the sales.

[rajneeesh]

Ford India seems to have lost its way. Ecosport domestic supplies are a shade under 4K units/month even as the bottom has fallen out of the other models. 10 months after Ecosport's launch ( 26 June 2013 if my memory serves me right) Ford has not got its supply side issues sorted out. During this time, Honda have taken an advantage of the freshness of the Amaze and the City and grabbed market share hand over fist. Figo sales have nose dived and the even with sub Rs. 5 lakh pricing, FIesta Classic is not able to attract customers. The Endeavor is selling in 2 digits even as the Fortuner is recording strong numbers.

Mr. Joginder Singh has done the disappearing act even as customers wait for over 6 months for their EcoSports. The amount of goodwill Ford India has lost is unimaginable. A case of a relatively smaller market being given the short end of the stick for the sake of short term benefits. Then even as the bookings for Ecosport are closed they launch a TVC for the Ecosport.

Ford might have decent products but they have totally lost out in terms of customer trust. A walkover conceded to competitors like Honda, Hyundai and Maruti.

[MaserQ]

The EcoSport had no direct competition right now. Just you wait till a compact SUV rolls out from the likes of Suzuki/Hyundai et al. The long wait for the EcoSport will magically disappear, and by then, so will demand!

It is about time they pull the plug on the aging Endy. One also fails to understand why the Fiesta hatch never made it to India. The Figo replacement is in the pipeline. On paper, Ford has another smash hit on their hands, if they play it right.

[chennai-indian]

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Mr. Joginder Singh has done the disappearing act even as customers wait for over 6 months for their EcoSports.

Joginder Singh is no more with Ford India. He has been transferred back to US in less than an year of him becoming the MD of Ford India which is a surprise. Probably his bungling of Ecosport launch (not anticipating the demand, boasting that they would be able to meet any level of demand before the launch etc) would have caused the sudden transfer back to US.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by Equus

I agree - Ford has been a slow mover. They could have done a lot more and gotten towards 10% market share with other models. Cutting the price of Ikon, then Classic was not very smart. It has left a sour taste in many.

Ecosport has a 6 month waiting period in BLR now. Only the 1 lite Ecoboost has 8 months. These were 12 - 18 months in Nov/Dec timeframe.

Ford A** is often mistaken to be pricey. Service costs are more-or-less at par with Hyundai. But its the parts of the spare parts thats are criminally expensive (not sure if they are cheaper now).

Well Escort/Ikon/Intial Endeavors costed a bomb to maintain. The current gen cars are cheaper than Maruti to maintain. By no means i agree that Maruti and Hyundai parts or service are cheap. Just ask a DDiS or CRDi owner! I was taken a back when i heard the service cost of Ritz 1.2 costed nearly 1.5 times the cost of 1.4TDCi for same KM's run. Neither their work can be called good by any standards.
The main advantage of Maruti and Hyundai is network which can easily trump any other manufacturer in India.

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Well Escort/Ikon/Intial Endeavors costed a bomb to maintain. The current gen cars are cheaper than Maruti to maintain. By no means i agree that Maruti and Hyundai parts or service are cheap. Just ask a DDiS or CRDi owner! I was taken a back when i heard the service cost of Ritz 1.2 costed nearly 1.5 times the cost of 1.4TDCi for same KM's run. Neither their work can be called good by any standards.
The main advantage of Maruti and Hyundai is network which can easily trump any other manufacturer in India.

Obviously maruti spare are a lot cheaper compared to ford.
Well its not the service cost that causes the problem but the service advisers who add unnecessary garbage to the service which inflates the service bills.

Popular scams by Maruti service ->
Throttle body cleaning
AC Cleaning
AC Disinfection
Engine Flush
Engine Treatment liquid
Radiator Flush
Gear box oil saver

Yes Ford also has its flaws in the service ->
I was advised to change the rotors on my car that's done just 35,000 KM ?
My friend who was not aware of this went ahead with rotors and pad change at 20,000KM! Cost -> 6,000 + something.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Requested a callback from a dealer using Ford India website. No response even after 3 days. I wonder how Ford became so arrogant with the success of the Ecosport!

[fuelinmyveins]

@crazydriver : Sir I would request you not to get disheartened. Many times such things happen in the case of other car companies also. I had a similar experience with Hyundai for Verna. You can call the dealers in your area directly and I'm sure you will get a favorable response.


I have read many post on this thread with people complaining that the dealers are not accepting the bookings. I would humbly like to disagree with it because:-

1. My cousin had booked Ford Ecosport 1.5 TDCi trend on 4TH April 2014 at Ridhi Ford Muthura Road , New Delhi and he has been promised a max waiting period of 2.5 months. In fact the waiting period was hand written on his booking form.

2. I booked my Ford Ecosport 1.5 Powershift automatic at Harpreet Ford Prashant Vihar , New Delhi on 21ST April 2014 and I was promised a waiting period of 4 months. I would also like to stress upon the fact that 1.0 Ecoboost and 1.5 powershift variants carry the maximum waiting periods. Even in my case the waiting period was hand written on the booking form itself.

3. Popular variants of cars like Maruti Suzuki Celerio AMT also carry a waiting period of 8 months. I'm in no way justifying the mismanagement on Ford's part but I feel that Ford can't be singled out. I think the capacity constraints will ease out when their new plant becomes operational.

Note: If any one in Delhi is facing any problems in booking their Ecosport , they can PM me and I will message the details of sales representative who booked my car and m sure he will help you out.

[nik hill]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/34372534.cms

a link to the ET article about launch of new Endeavour.

[fuelinmyveins]

Its is exactly the same Endeavor , only the front bumper is new. this new bumper looks hideous in my opinion. The alloy wheels which they are claiming to be new are exactly the same as 2013 model.

[anachronix]

This could very well be the answer to why we have this thread open for Ford and their declining sales in India. Just a poor pathetic job on the front bumper of a 2Million worth SUV and call it 2014 Endeavour in the hope of selling some. Who are they trying to fool!?

Originally Posted by nik hill

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/34372534.cms

a link to the ET article about launch of new Endeavour.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by fuelinmyveins

@crazydriver : Sir I would request you not to get disheartened. Many times such things happen in the case of other car companies also. I had a similar experience with Hyundai for Verna. You can call the dealers in your area directly and I'm sure you will get a favorable response. I have read many post on this thread with people complaining that the dealers are not accepting the bookings.

I did try to contact the dealership. After the initial hello-hi, we mentioned our requirement- Ecosport AT, and the person on the other end just uttered no bookings, 6 months waiting period and disconnected the call. I thought I would get a better response if I direct the call through the company portal- but that's even worse. No callback from the dealer, and no follow up from the company.

I'm in Bangalore, and the car is for my parents at Trivandrum. Hence visiting the dealership personally is not an option, for now. And I don't want to ask parents to go to the other end of the city just for getting a quote. Ford has lost one customer, but I don't think they care anyways.

PS- No 'sir' usage in Teambhp please.

[fuelinmyveins]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I did try to contact the dealership. After the initial hello-hi, we mentioned our requirement- Ecosport AT, and the person on the other end just uttered no bookings, 6 months waiting period and disconnected the call. I thought I would get a better response if I direct the call through the company portal- but that's even worse. No callback from the dealer, and no follow up from the company.

I'm in Bangalore, and the car is for my parents at Trivandrum. Hence visiting the dealership personally is not an option, for now. And I don't want to ask parents to go to the other end of the city just for getting a quote. Ford has lost one customer, but I don't think they care anyways.

Well thats a very bad behavior on the part of sales representative. Buying a new car is always a exciting step but such a behavior on the part of dealership leaves bad taste in the mouth.

I think there is more to this problem. As far as I know these sales representatives get a fixed commission on every car they sell that is apart from their salary. Now the commissions for quick selling models are always very less as compared to the slower moving ones. Maybe record breaking bookings of Ford Ecosports has lead to very meager commissions for the sales rep. which may result in loss of interest.

I distinctly remember how eager the sales rep was when I casually inquired about Fiesta classic , he was ready to bring the car home immediately . During the booking of Ecosport the showroom guys were courteous but the enthusiasm was no where near to the experience I had earlier.

Most ford showrooms look empty as they have nothing much to sell :-

1. low sales of Ford Figo especially after that girlie face-lift which converted a chunky hatchback into powerpuff girl's car.

2. Deacade old Endeavour which turns uglier with every face-lift.

3. Decade old Ford Fiesta classic.

4. Over priced new Ford Fiesta which is out of stock since december last year and Ford is taking ages to launch the face-lifted version.

5. Chart burster Ford Ecosport which they can't deliver quickly enough.

Positive side of things to come in future:-

1. Operationalization of new factory to ease production constraints.

2. All new smashing Ford Figo by early next year.

3. All new 4m sedan based on Ford Figo by early next year.

4. All new aggressive yet sophisticated Ford Endeavour towards the end of next year.

5. Launch of Ford Fusion/Mondeo in 2016

So all-in-all the present conditions for Ford India might be bleak but the future certainly seems bright.

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by fuelinmyveins

@crazydriver : Sir I would request you not to get disheartened. Many times such things happen in the case of other car companies also. I had a similar experience with Hyundai for Verna. You can call the dealers in your area directly and I'm sure you will get a favorable response.


I have read many post on this thread with people complaining that the dealers are not accepting the bookings. I would humbly like to disagree with it because:-

1. My cousin had booked Ford Ecosport 1.5 TDCi trend on 4TH April 2014 at Ridhi Ford Muthura Road , New Delhi and he has been promised a max waiting period of 2.5 months. In fact the waiting period was hand written on his booking form.

2. I booked my Ford Ecosport 1.5 Powershift automatic at Harpreet Ford Prashant Vihar , New Delhi on 21ST April 2014 and I was promised a waiting period of 4 months. I would also like to stress upon the fact that 1.0 Ecoboost and 1.5 powershift variants carry the maximum waiting periods. Even in my case the waiting period was hand written on the booking form itself.

3. Popular variants of cars like Maruti Suzuki Celerio AMT also carry a waiting period of 8 months. I'm in no way justifying the mismanagement on Ford's part but I feel that Ford can't be singled out. I think the capacity constraints will ease out when their new plant becomes operational.

Note: If any one in Delhi is facing any problems in booking their Ecosport , they can PM me and I will message the details of sales representative who booked my car and m sure he will help you out.

Fuelinmyveins, You have been given a handwritten assurance which was given to most of us as well. However, the committed date came and went and even a few months after the committed date there was no firm commitment as to how much longer Ford will take to deliver the car.

I hope that you do get the car as committed. However, if you do not, it will be sheer waste of your time not to mention tying up of your funds for the waiting period.