[noopster]

Very interesting move by Ford. I think they realize that Maruti has the capacity to flood the market with Brezzas to the point that the Ecosport is completed washed away. Am only wondering if Ford can keep up with the additional demand that will be generated thanks to this price cut.
Noticed that the variants have all moved to the sub-10L segment now. That will make the on-road much more affordable as well. Like several here have already said, God bless competition!

[tharian]

Competition is good for health!

I missed this thread until I read today's paper regarding the price cut.
Although I feel bad for companies who have a product in direct competition with one of MSIL, since everytime they bring out a product and we go all gaga about it, there comes MSIL with a pin to pop the balloon.

But at the end, it's us as customers who benefit and that's always good.

In the paper also was an ad about benefits on Aspire which includes interest rate @8.99 + exchange bonus of 18k + loyalty bonus .
Now with the Ecosport price cut, I am adding that to my list as well.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Well, there goes my resale value. My car is nearing the 3 year mark, and I had targetted to sell it at 4 years. Guess I'd hold on for a year or two more.

It is a brave move, I think. Reducing by a lakh shows them in poor light, but they only stand to gain.

Resale may not take a big hit. It wasn't great with Ford to begin with. Secondly, this price cut has happened within 2 weeks of a price hike. The budget resulted in the Ecosport prices rising up and post budget this has come down so the net price cut is not that big.

The Brezza announcement was right after the budget so they already accounted for the additional taxes.

Originally Posted by babu.sundaram

I tend to disagree a bit.

Now, think of the mood of customers who took EcoSport delivery, say last month!

That said, Indian market doesnt really perceive price cuts as good ones (Jazz earlier?), in long term. Let us wait and see if Ford manages to break the myth.

Yeah they won't be too happy about it. There were discounts running but never to the tune of 1 lakh. Anyone who bought an Ecosport recently will not be a very happy person right now.

Originally Posted by RSR

Ford India seem to be finally waking up from their deep slumber! Their reaction and reaction time has really taken me by surprise. I was expecting a price "revision" along with feature updates for all variants together with a minor facelift soon (say, in < 2 months time).

Actually, the prices were revised with feature updates less than 4-5 months ago so another update was not needed. The Trend+ model was introduced at the time and the Titanium and Titanium+ got some extra features. The Titanium got the start/stop button and the Titanium+ got LED parking lights + DRL's in fog lamp+auto dimming mirror, rain sensing wipers and auto headlights. The interiors saw some more chrome and changed the colour of the dashboard inserts from silver to a metallic chrome finish.

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) and enjoy a run without competition, I don't understand clubbing the Creta's situation with the other two.

I think Ampere pointed out exactly what I was trying to say. The Creta does have competition with the likes of the S-cross and Duster but the sales number clearly show the huge difference between the S-cross + Duster with the Creta. The Creta outsells the Duster and S-cross put together.

Both the Duster and S-cross are competent products but have major drawbacks that is holding them back. The S-cross styling being the biggest negative and the Duster now getting old + the very poor quality interiors. In comparison the Creta does not have any big negative. There is nothing a buyer can complain of. Styling of a SUV, interior quality of a premium C2 segment sedan and competent engines with sorted dynamics.

Hyundai know this very well and are extracting every rupee possible from the customer till something like the Creta comes along.

Right now the on road price of the Diesel SX(O) and the bare SX+ diesel AT is well above 18 lakhs!! And they sold more than 8K Creta's last month.

[BoneCollector]

Ecosport might be better in many ways compared to Brezza but at the end of the day, what one needs is peace of mind. And one of the most important factors is after sales service. It might be good at many places but in my location, when you compare Ford's to Maruti's after sales service, Maruti wins hands down. Ford is a recent player here, and simply cant stand infront of Maruti. For this single reason of service related issues, I've looked away from Creta also. Traveling 70KMS to Patna every time is not practical. Not going for Mahindra is a different story altogether. I just hope that Brezza offers peace of mind like other Maruti's.

[Arjun Reddy]

Super news that I read this morning. Ford had to do it as the Ecosport is their only hope after we have seen dwindling numbers for the Figo and Aspire. Sadly I think Ford may not be able pull this off.

Maruti will continue to garner market share in the segment, inspite of Ford reducing the prices, because of a stronger tier 2 and tier 3 city presence and the sure might of their ASS network.

I have been maintaining that the Brezza is likely to have its effect not only on its competitors but will also blow away quite a few of its own stable siblings. I am expecting quite a lot of discounts on B+ hatches, 4 meter sedans and the C segment sedans. Let's wait and watch.

Now the price gap between the top trims of the compact SUVs and the top spec Creta
will be a whopping 6 lakhs OTR Bangalore. Space for another segment?

For the consumer- Happy Days Are Here Again.

[romeomidhun]

Either by a rule or with a kind heart, manufacturers have to refund the reduced price difference to the customers who bought the car in one month prior to the price cut. They will be the most disappointed and angry lot.

Originally Posted by batterylow

It is a tricky thing, because the person who bought the car a few days earlier to the hypothetical one month refund period will be disappointed and if he were to be reimbursed, its an endless chain.

Agree, but there should be a limit. There is a huge difference between people who just bought the car and who completed first service.

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Either by a rule or with a kind heart, manufacturers have to refund the reduced price difference to the customers who bought the car in one month prior to the price cut. They will be the most disappointed and angry lot.

It is a tricky thing, because the person who bought the car a few days earlier to the hypothetical one month refund period will be disappointed and if he were to be reimbursed, its an endless chain.

[nkghai]

Wow. The Ecoboost Titanium+ at 9.45 Lakhs ex showroom makes a compelling buy now.

How i wish they make their sales department also more responsive. I have visited their showrooms four times in the last year and they have never been able to offer a test drive of the Ecoboost version.

Once they offered me an owned vehicle, which had come for its first servicing. I declined the offer as i thought it would not be in good taste for the owner to have his vehicle being driven by a stranger.

[TD_GHY]

Originally Posted by nkghai

Once they offered me an owned vehicle, which had come for its first servicing. I declined the offer as i thought it would not be in good taste for the owner to have his vehicle being driven by a stranger.

This is certainly a condemnable thing. Atrocious i should say. How can they offer someone else's car for a test drive? We trust dealerships and hence give our cars for servicing without most times spending the whole day there inspecting all works.

Is this a one off case or are there more instances of such things happening across other manufacturers' dealerships?

[chittybang]

Ecosport had to realign. It's their sole breadwinner.
I do not think creta is a direct competitor for the Brezza on a price point, Infact the I20 diesel will be impacted. Whether hyundai will ride the tide due to their enviable sales or proactively do course correction will be interesting.

[King_pin09]

A very crisp move by Ford.

I may sound a bit awkward, yet I always got to feel that Ecosport was overpriced by some 1.5 lakhs on Top variant whilst the base was by some 80k. Given the present reduction by 1.12 lakhs on top variant, I believe there is still room for negotiations on further discounts of say up to 40k on on-road price.

[carwatcher]

As much I was surprised at the comparison of Ertiga with Brezza on the Brezza discussion thread where Ertiga was compared with Brezza many pages long, I must say I am again surprised at Ertiga missing in discussion here and rightly so.
I think few months down the line we shall be having EcoSport, i20 AT (if launched), Brezza and Duster Diesel AT holding the fort.
Mahindra will be distant far as they lack the brand pull as much as these, case in point XUV5OO vis-a-vis Creta/Endeavour.

[Switch]

With this price drop I have decided to hold my advance which I was going to give for the Breeza. Will see and TD both the vehicles now once Breeza is on display. Ford was never a choice cause of the price(always thought W4XUV over this) but with the price cut it surely is one.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by TD_GHY

Is this a one off case or are there more instances of such things happening across other manufacturers' dealerships?

A little OT here: This happens across most dealers and manufacturers, and it's more prevalent for niche cars and variants for which a dealer does not find it viable to maintain a full time TD car. Also, the TD car is almost always the top end. Could happen when a customer wants to TD or experience a lower variant.

Forget cars that have come for service, I was talking to a acquaintance who was offered a 500 mtr drive in a new car that was ready to be delivered to a customer.

nkghai was aware and decent enough to decline such a TD. But the vast majority do not care.

[hiren959]

What a fantastic move by Ford!!

Brezza will be the game changer for all auto manufacture in India, as at this price point who will buy the Compact Sedan now?

I am here to exchange my Figo with Aspire few day back, but now thank God to the competition.
Now it is extremely difficult to take the right decision which one to choose from??
Brezza looks nice and fresh, has got more space compare to EcoSport while the engine is superior in Ford. What about the ride and handling?