[ampere]

Now have a look at the options!

- Top end premium hatches
- Sub 4m Compacts
- Medium sized people movers and what not!

Feature to feature, one can easily see Ecosport is equally well stocked if not better, compared to Brezza. That 1.5L 100 bhp diesel itself is a good reason. But still going by the brand, Maruti will sell big time.

Within Maruti itself, one a product basis, given the comparison, one should ideally prefer the S-Cross top end 1.3 compared to Brezza for diesel and a Baleno for petrol! But just that the X-over form-factor and shapes will take firm control over one's imagination.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

All those who were aghast at Maruti reducing the price of S-Cross should have a similar reaction now

At least Maruti were offering huge discounts on the models just before the price revision. This one is totally out of the blue by the Blue Oval.

And also shows how much profit they were making on a hatch on stilts model.

It's all based on competition. If you have the monopoly you can milk the customers. The Duster did that initially, then the Ecosport and now it's the Creta.

S-cross prices had to drop only cause of Creta and now Ford has done the same only cause of Brezza, else they wouldn't have bothered. Maximise profits till you can.

The Brezza will still make a significant dent in the Ecosport's sales despite the price cut being a fresher product and because it has a Maruti Suzuki badge.

But the Ford will now be a much stronger contender being priced right next to the Brezza.

If I were choosing between these 2 today, I would probably still opt for the Ecosport. The Brezza did not blow me away, the way the Ecosport did in 2013. I still need to see how the Brezza drives, but the Ecosport dynamics for that type of vehicle were what I actually liked. Then the Titanium + with 6 airbags was a big deciding factor for me.

That said, today I would probably go and get a S-cross 1.6 than look at these compact crossovers.

[samaspire]

This news couldn't come at a better time. I was helping my cousin buy a car and he was in a dilemma about the AT, as his budget was 12 lakh and the AT was 13.2. But this was the only car that met all his safety and comfort criteria (he owns a Passat). I informed him about the price drop and he booked it in the evening

[SDtorque]

This is great news as the competition is really heating up. The TUV might face real trouble if mahindra does not follow ford . The package to price ratio is very low.

Considering the flood of Vitara reviews on YouTube today- it does not seem that bad an option. Yes it might be less exciting to drive, but the added space advantage is good. The looks are also proportional quite a feat inside of 4m. Would not mind paying a few thousands extra for this with the obvious boon of countless places to fox the car. Its a MARUTI SUZUKI right

[arjab]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

It's all based on competition. If you have the monopoly you can milk the customers. The Duster did that initially, then the Ecosport and now it's the Creta.

S-cross prices had to drop only cause of Creta and now Ford has done the same only cause of Brezza, else they wouldn't have bothered. Maximise profits till you can.

Ford's slashing prices made me travel back in time to December 28, 1998 when a jittery Maruti dropped prices of their best selling M-800 just as the Indica was launched.
And Vid has hit the proverbial bull's eye!
The amount of "per unit profitability" some of the OEM's are making on certain ageing models in their lineup, defies belief. Digressing a bit, I know some people in one of the French OEM's operating in India, and when he told me about the bill of material cost of their best selling SUV, my eyes nearly popped out.
Anyway, competition always mean the customer gets a better bargain, and in this case too it's not different.
Expect cut throat deals in the market now. And I'm fairly certain around June-July, the traditional lean months w.r.t. auto retail in India, discounts too would creep in over and above these cuts

[e46]

Its (refer title) a classic example of 'sucking it up' as referred in day to day life. Ford India, wagged its salivating tongue a lil more than what it should have, trying to milk the starved Indian customers.

Am sorry if I used expletives, but I hate to say the truth. let me be flamed. Same goes, for the big german trio. play your price cards judiciously and you are going to reap immense revenue than what you already are. (case in point: e class , special e edition)

e46
~in trance we trust ~

[Axe77]

Its funny!! Just today I was talking to someone saying that Ford is always a one trick pony. Never has more than one fast selling model. So far it was the Ecosport and going forward I expect it to be the class leaded with the Endy.

In that context, I was also saying that with the coming of models like Brezza and everyone else jumping into (and near about + / -) this segment, the days of Ecosport being a hot seller are going to be behind.

Sure enough, Ford has had to respond with this aggressive move.

I'm also wondering whether this would directly or indirectly put more pressure on the Creta since it makes the price to value equation seem even more stark now compared to the Ecosports / Brezzas on the one hand and bigger vehicles like the XUV 5OO on the other hand.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

It's all based on competition. If you have the monopoly you can milk the customers. The Duster did that initially, then the Ecosport and now it's the Creta.

While I completely agree that the Duster & EcoSport were the first to create their respective segments (let's ignore the Rio) or sub-segments (if one prefers it this way) and enjoy a run without competition, I don't understand clubbing the Creta's situation with the other two.

Milking the customers may be what Hyundai has been doing, but Creta having a monopoly?

Doesn't the Creta have not one, but three direct rivals in the form of the Duster, Terrano and S-Cross (4m+, 5-seater monocoques) priced in the 9 ~ 17 lac rupee range (on-road)?

Even if one doesn't consider the long list of indirect competitors, I don't believe Creta's case is one of monopoly.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by RSR

While I completely agree that the Duster & EcoSport were the first to create their respective segments (let's ignore the Rio) or sub-segments (if one prefers it this way), I don't understand the part in bold.

I think he means more by sales. Just look at the sales. Duster has just waned over the last year or two. And Creta is lapping it up. Even being 17L+ OTR Bangalore for the top end Diesel (before the Price hike), it still has commanding volumes. And to such an extent, Hyundai increased it past 18L OTR Bangalore!

In my opinion those sales will easily continue for a long time till some nice premium X-over does not show-up in the 18-25L range. That seems quite unlikely though. Because past this every thing else is 30+.

[mail4ajo]

Massive knee jerk reaction. Did they assign any reason for the drop? Resale of the ecosport will plummet now. Best time to pick up one new and used. We know what the car is compared to the Breeza.

[Karthik Chandra]

Good move from Ford or rather Ford had no choice but to revise price. But didn't expect them to react so swiftly.

I'm sure the meeting started @ about 4.40 PM on 8th when the VB prices were announced and they did a feasibility study for a couple of days before announcing the new prices

I hope they haven't skimped on features like removing the side and curtain airbags to accomodate the price revision

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Would like to see the same thing for the Creta but unfortunately Hyundai might not do it.
God bless the competition .

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Next in line will be Creta. Let's wait and see what Hyundai has on offer - greed, or common sense?

Why would Hyundai reduce price of Creta when the combined sales of all of its direct competitors are less than half of what it sells in a month???

Originally Posted by M^3

It also means that Ford was fleecing customers all this while. I wonder whether they are planning to cut down some features to accommodate the price drops !

Fleecing??? The existence of a company is to maximise shareholder value and profits and thats what Ford did with Ecosport. It didn't have any competition and I don't see anything wrong in commanding a higher price when the market is ready to pay for.

They struck the iron when it was hot. It boils down to bottomline

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

Whoa, now that's war and I see the hatchbacks as biggest losers followed by mid sized sedans. TUV, KUV and Duster must be feeling a lot of heat now.

I thought S Cross was better option after looking at LDI Brezza today but this reduction has changed the perspective drastically. Now the winner will be announced after a couple of months when the dust settles.

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

Looks like most of you missed another important angle. What about second Ecosport Prices? Expect some fabulous deals in the used market now.

Yup, will impact the used car market price of Ecosport. So this move not only annoys the recent buyers but also the ones who were waiting to get it replaced, the prices will tumble.

Originally Posted by e46

Its (refer title) a classic example of 'sucking it up' as referred in day to day life. Ford India, wagged its salivating tongue a lil more than what it should have, trying to milk the starved Indian customers.

Starved Indian customers the indian consumer was ready to pay what Ford had demanded when it launched the Ecosport and even after the price hike.

[r0nit7]

Ecosport has always divided opinions in terms of looks/styling. Personally, I wasn't too keen on it in the beginning. However, after Brezza's launch (which is the least SUV'ish in terms of character compared to the completion IMO), I'd started to respect the ecosport more, keeping in mind how ahead they were of anybody else in the market in spite of not being a big brand in India.
In recent days, the ecosport had grown on me & the current price revision only adds to the overall appeal. And given the Govt.'s obvious affinity towards petrol and the narrowing price difference between petrol n diesel in India, imo ecosport petrol ecoboost titanium+ is the best petrol car under 12L in India.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by ampere

I think he means more by sales. Just look at the sales. Duster has just waned over the last year or two. And Creta is lapping it up. Even being 17L+ OTR Bangalore for the top end Diesel (before the Price hike), it still has commanding volumes. And to such an extent, Hyundai increased it past 18L OTR Bangalore!

In my opinion those sales will easily continue for a long time till some nice premium X-over does not show-up in the 18-25L range.

From a sales point of view, I agree with both of you. Hyundai have hit the sweet spot and are taking full advantage of it.

Ironically, Creta's higher variants appear more value-for-money than the lower ones, especially after the hikes. For the price Hyundai is asking for the Base & S variants now, it's shocking that they don't get even a single airbag.

I don't think Hyundai will be able to reap the additional benefits for too long, though. Unless they add more features to make it better value-for-money and introduce additional variants, sales will eventually stabilise. Another direct rival in the form of SsangYong's Tivoli will enter this segment sooner than later.

The Creta's existing direct rivals are by no means pushovers, either. S-Cross received a price cut to increase sales. If Renault didn't make a mess of the Duster's much-awaited facelift, they could have clawed their way back to reasonable numbers as well.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by RSR

Ironically, Creta's higher variants appear more value-for-money than the lower ones, especially after the hikes. For the price Hyundai is asking for the Base & S variants now, it's shocking that they don't even get a single airbag.

+1. Its only for this aspect, I was mentioning the point, that some nice 18-25L premium segment only can give a fight. But surely by pushing it beyond 18, Hydundai is trying to kill the goose that is giving them the golden egg. But this is Vid's point. They know, a premium segment is not coming any soon. So any one wanting a top specc'ed 5 seater diesel compact X-over will not bother looking at anything else but Creta. Hence would be ready to pay any amount. And that is the point they are exploiting.

Unless they add more features to make it better value-for-money and introduce additional variants, sales will eventually stabilise.

Agreed. They need to boost the 1.4L Sales if they can.

Another direct rival in the form of SsangYong's Tivoli will join the segment sooner than later.

I have my doubts on that. Even though premium, they are pretty poor on branding. A relatively unknown premium player (even though from the house of Mahindra) will not make it that easy.

The Creta's existing direct rivals are by no means pushovers, either. S-Cross received a price cut to increase sales. If Renault did not make a mess of the Duster's much-awaited facelift, they could have clawed their way back to reasonable numbers as well.

S-Cross and Duster: I think both are effected by dated looks. S-Cross as "an" SUV (or X-over) does not stand out in the crowd. Thats one reason, many are not going for it. Duster is already more than a generation old. A facelift in my opinion wont solve the problem for Renault. A face-lifted S-Cross however can add value, if they make it look a but more aggressive from the front. However even that will have a limited impact. The form-factor still reminds one of a hatch and not an SUV.

But all said and done, coming back to the moot point: Brezza will sell, come what may. Maruti just knows how to market it (In spite of the fact S-Cross may be a better product).

[swiftnfurious]

Wow!! The market & customers have evolved so much!! There was a time when we didnt have space dor a premium hatch; neither was a price cut beard of, to boost sales.

Today, both happens! Am way too happy that manufacturers don't shy away from a price cut to bring more value for the product. And now, the fact is Ford has done a double whammy - not only they made their product VFM, they have also ensured Maruti can't increase the prices based on the demand. If they do it, Ford will have a stronger case.