[arunphilip]

Dear Ford India,
I understand there are cold economic reasons, and supply/demand equations that have driven you to halt production of the Figo, Classic and Fiesta. I get that.

But, could you please do us petrolheads the courtesy of pulling those models from your website also?

In a cruel twist of irony, EVERY. SINGLE. VISIT. I made to the Ford India website today had me presented with a picture of the Fiesta - a car that several enthusiasts adore and would love to own.

I agree you have to stop these three beloved models. But don't rub it in. Remove them from your website, so we aren't reminded of them. Its like catching sight of a girl we didn't get, and didn't get over. It hurts.

Regards,
A Ford fan.

[aspire]

Hi,
To me the first generation Ford Fiesta is the most beautiful car ever, I have a TDCI Duratorq 2010 model, absolutely love the feel of the engine, Never ever do I miss a chance to appreciate the good looks of the car.

Sad to see the classic getting discontinued.

Regards
Shailesh

[StepUP!]

Isn't the title of this thread misleading?
I mean all of us for sure know next gen Figo is coming. Then why to say RIP Figo

[SKavuri]

Like great people get more attention on their death, cars also seem to bet getting more attention and sighs at their withdrawal from market!
Of course, people who have this car in their radar for buying want to say that - and it looks as though the car had many prospective buyers.
Same feeling with me when they pulled Palio 1.6 off - I wanted to buy that one so bad.

[Swapnil4585]

Discontinuance of the Figo in order to replace it with the all new Figo, and closure of sale of the Classic and the Fiesta, is a very good business decision and tells us of a wiser counsel, prevailing with Ford.

• The erstwhile Figo had the Ford DNA of good build quality, ride and handling characteristics. However it faltered in its pursuit to be a sales hit due to lack of outright highway specific power and, may be, dated exterior design. Personally, I also felt that its ground clearance was lower by a 5mm. I hope that the all new Figo, with its refreshed design, addresses the issues it had faced in its earlier avatar.
• The Classic did well with its 1.4 liter TDCi engine in both, the private as well as taxi market. A couple of cabbies I know, speak good about the Ford maintenance and availability of spare parts, in mofussil areas.
• The Fiesta when originally launched in 2011 in the 1.5 liter petrol and 1.5 liter diesel engines, had two major flaws in it- cramped back seat and high price. I see it in - "cramped rear seat, yet so high price?" - this way. Add to it, the petrol engine was perceived as weak. Hence this Fiesta remained a dud since day 1 and was bound to have been axed. Good to see Ford acknowledge the failure.

Now that Ford has launched the stunning Aspire, it needs to be backed up by an equally stunning Figo. Alternatively, the Figo and Aspire must occupy the B2 and C1 spots. I am however skeptical about the idea of launching the Fiesta hatch and sedan along side the Ecosport. If all the 3 will come with 1.5 liter petrol and diesel, and an additional 1.0 liter ecoboost in the Ecosport, then I don't find a reason to buy the Fiesta hatch or sedan over the Ecosport.

[petrolhead_neel]

A pic of the Ford Classic Titanium's interiors which I found on the Ford India website.


Mods, please delete post if found irrelevant to the thread. I am posting this picture so that the doubts of many BHPians about the Classic Titanium's interior are cleared.

Cheers,
Neel

[pkothak]

I need a suggestion, if any dealer comes with a 1.25 to 1.5 L discount on the new Fiesta can we consider that? I would like to know what are all the disadvantages to buy Fiesta at this time, when the news has already been released to discontinue this model.

[landcruiser123]

Ford simply doesn't match Hyundai/Honda/Suzuki in developing the next generation product in time. (~ 5 Years)

I have a feeling that they'll watch Endeavour's numbers closely and then decide future course of action. Ford hasn't really achieved success even though they've been in India since late 90's.

Also, they're slow to get products like the sub-4m sedan to India.

Something tells me that they'll focus on selling premium models (with fat margins) from now onwards. (Exception will be the Aspire/ next gen Figo)

[ciddharth]

As a kid in the 90s I was in awe of the Ford Escort with its wooden finished interiors and smart exteriors. This was followed by the staid and Germanic looking Mondeo launched in the early 2000s.

I was much impressed to see the original Fiesta that had some of those Mondeo - ish looks to it - specially the then Mercedes C class' looking tail lights , even the interiors when it was launched in 2005. IMO most cars launched during that era still wouldn't look grossly dated today.

The Fiesta Classic still looks way better than the Toyota Etios, Dzire and even the Aspire. Couldn't it be retained with a stripped down version similar to the Dzire Tour?
I don't find the Aspire to be the correct successor to the old Fiesta classic.

The Fusion is another forgotten car. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the poorly selling Fords of that time would become a rare collectible items decades later.

It does pain me to see decent Ikons and Mondeos lying abandoned to rot.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by pkothak

I need a suggestion, if any dealer comes with a 1.25 to 1.5 L discount on the new Fiesta can we consider that? I would like to know what are all the disadvantages to buy Fiesta at this time, when the news has already been released to discontinue this model.

I think this is the best time to drive some hard discounts on the fiesta. You will not face any issues of the spares. I would have purchased the fiesta now. But unfortunately do not have enough Gandhis even with the discounted price .

[itsashishsharma]

Originally Posted by pkothak

I need a suggestion, if any dealer comes with a 1.25 to 1.5 L discount on the new Fiesta can we consider that? I would like to know what are all the disadvantages to buy Fiesta at this time, when the news has already been released to discontinue this model.

2 months back I got mine with 50k discounts, so hell yeah!

[Mpower]

The 1st gen Figo and the Fiesta have been replaced by the Aspire, so its not a big surprise.

Sad however to see that Ford pulled the plug on the Fiesta. What they should've tried is more modern engines like the Ecoboost 1.0 with DCT trans.

Polo 1.2 GTtsi is doing really well and commanding premium prices. I can easily see the Fiesta hatch 1.0 DCT going against this (125 bhp)

[swiftnfurious]

If Ford has to penetrate the market deeper, then they need 'customer trust' much more than 'products'. They really need to come up with 5 year warranty / 5 year maintenance plan / buy back price assurance etc which will tweak the old impression of unreliable & expensive maintenance products with low resale value. These will definitely make people give a second round of thoughts on their line of products.

Going with mass market products may not suffice them, they neither will manage to sell too many volumes, they will lose out on their fan base as well.

[thatsdileep]

I believe their decision to discontinue these cars is very much justified. They might as well use these manufacturing lines for the better selling current and for upcoming ones. Has anyone heard about any upcoming 4+ meter sedan from Ford, at least I haven't heard of one. So discontinuing a segment offering without any immediate plans to replace it was quite weird.
I remember those days when Ford Ikon was released and it was such a simple yet eye catching design which won many hearts. That's where ford took off in India. Later came the famous Fiesta which was an instant hit which was going head on head with Hyundai Accent. For enthusiasts Ford always appealed better than Hyundai. The design of the old Ikon was turned into classic. Since Ford realized that they were missing out on Hatch back market, in came the Figo. Although the looks were not to the liking of all (very subjective thing) as it had some sharp edges compared to other manufacturers' offerings in the segment which were curvy, the build and ride quality made up for it. The newer models of Fiesta were priced quite steeply to start with and never took off.

It's sad to see these cars go. But I guess the Figo is being replaced by good latest alternative (upcoming new Figo). The fate of other 2 is unknown at this stage. Probably a person considering Ford Classic may settle down with Aspire although space wise he might have to compromise. The 4+ meter sedan replacement is still a mystery and we need to wait and see what Ford has up their sleeves.

[SRK72]

I drive an 1.6S and its been one wonderful journey for about 80K kms so far. Its simply a brilliant machine, and Im sure finding a replacement would be difficult when the time comes. I wish Ford launches a car capable of bettering the 1.6S.

Just sharing a memory from Mudumalai