[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

Very pertinent points mentioned by you I guess but this sole point I've quoted regarding support network, leaves me with no other choice than Maruti. At the end of the day, all we require is peace of mind which no other company is offering here at my place. Well, if I don't like Brezza after its test drive, I'll go in for S-Cross. My hunt for car has been going on for last 3 years and in these 3 years, I've been closely following the service issues at Hyundai, Mahindra, Ford and Maruti from different sources. Today itself I had gone to Hyundai service center to give my Uncle's Santro for servicing and they're still nowhere close to Maruti. Ford and Mahindra have different issues.

Well it may be true that when you compare dealer in your city or vicinity,Maruti turns out to be better. But that does notmean Maruti offers better service everywhere else. Maruti has a lot wider reach which i agree unconditionally. For many Maruti or may be Hyundai is the only option in their city.

A simple search in the internet and you have a long list of service issues each of the manufacturer including Maruti. I am aware of Maruti charging 13,200 for 20K service of Dzire citing change in brake pads. Only later on checking with local workshop to realize that the older pads were good for another 10-15K.
Coming to cost Maruti is no longer cheaper. When they charge 5-8K for every 5K for a 5 year old Petrol ritz, you know they aren't cheap anymore.

I agree with your point that Maruti have strong support network by having large number of service centres but what I don't agree is- all their service centre offers service better than rest.

[deevee]

Wanted to share my personal experience as I test drove a number of these compact SUVs and crossovers.

1. S-cross 1.3 : interior was not at all maruti like. Beyond my expectations. Decent engine but did not get excited by the car.
2. Ford Ecosport Ecoboost: very nice interiors, best driver seat (scross close by). Loved the sound of the engine and overall driveability but still felt something was missing. Highest on safety is a very big plus point.
3. Ford Ecosport Tdci: Quite powerful and nice gear shifts for the city. Apart from the above comments on ecoboost wrt interiors.
4. Hyundai Creta Petrol: Never seen such a quiet engine. Nice seats and interiors. Rear seats felt claustrophobic. Overpriced.
5. Hyundai Creta 1.6 diesel: Very powerful engine but felt it was not worth the price
6. Reanult Duster 85ps: The entire feeling was average wanted to drive the awd but was not available.
7. S Cross 1.6: the first gear was sad but when the tacho touched 1750 I was grinning. Amazing engine. Poor NVH. Good comfort and all disc brakes. Best car in the Maruti stable.
9. Vitara Brezza: Felt really average. Engine was not exciting at all. Felt claustrophobic in the cabin. Loaded with some good features. Felt that its a typical maruti. I dont think I will go for this car. Overall the package was not solid.
8. Other cars I drove were Vento TSI and Honda City petrol automatic. Vento was a very relaxed experience and City felt weak.


These are only my personal observations as an average person. I am still on the lookout but its the Ecosport and S Cross 1.6 I have on my mind

Regards
DV

[AKTRACK]

Good to see Ford reviving Ecosport with this price cut! Have they added another 2-3 years to this products lifeline? Only time can tell. What I can say is there is a certain appeal in Ecosport which I do not think any other pseudo - SUV MUV can match. It seems more complete in the list of other wannabe's

I still do not see Ecosport doing 5-6 k a month which ideally it should be doing after the price cut.

For safety and build quality alone I would go with Ecosport with eyes closed. There are arguments going around in this forum of the technological brilliance of Ford vis-a-vis a Maruti. In reality India is a Brand driven market rather than technology driven. People are still going to flock Maruti. Wish Ford does not tinker with the feature list atleast.

With the the Figo twins failing to get the numbers Ford desperately needed something to keep earning the bread and butter. They should be happy if they can get reasonable numbers from Ecosport and Ende and revive the Figo twins somehow.

[sasi@8689]

I may form part of minority here, but i feel that such a drastic price reduction was not warranted. Speaking of top variants, a premium of 1 to 1.20 lacs for ecosport over brezza was fine to me considering it has a bigger motor, a bit more power, 6 airbags (vs 2), full leather interiors and (seemingly) better build quality. Instead of reducing prices, ford should have aggressively marketed all its above strengths and should have seen the market response.

Maruti has stellar brand recall across the country and if it comes up with a good product at sensible price in a happening segment like compact SUV, competitors would certainly feel heat, but i am not sure if this kind of major price drop would result in matching increase in sales volume for Ford.

But, am i complaining - hell, no

[Lij]

Originally Posted by sasi@8689

I may form part of minority here, but i feel that such a drastic price reduction was not warranted. Speaking of top variants, a premium of 1 to 1.20 lacs for ecosport over brezza was fine to me considering it has a bigger motor, a bit more power, 6 airbags (vs 2), full leather interiors and (seemingly) better build quality. Instead of reducing prices, ford should have aggressively marketed all its above strengths and should have seen the market response.

Maruti has stellar brand recall across the country and if it comes up with a good product at sensible price in a happening segment like compact SUV, competitors would certainly feel heat, but i am not sure if this kind of major price drop would result in matching increase in sales volume for Ford.

But, am i complaining - hell, no

If Ford has gone ahead and reduced the price then it means that the product was overpriced and now we see a price correction due to competition. Ford won't be selling Ecosport at a loss just that the profit margin will be reduced.
On the other hand then Brezza is overpriced (maybe by 1 to 1.2 lacs as per quoted calculations).

This, as per me, won't affect the sales of Brezza because markets react with a very different logic. But it could have helped with some sales of Ecosport where people sitting on the fence, maybe due to budget constraints, could now go ahead and buy it.

[jpcoolguy]

Originally Posted by AKTRACK

Good to see Ford reviving Ecosport with this price cut! Have they added another 2-3 years to this products lifeline? Only time can tell. What I can say is there is a certain appeal in Ecosport which I do not think any other pseudo - SUV MUV can match. It seems more complete in the list of other wannabe's

I still do not see Ecosport doing 5-6 k a month which ideally it should be doing after the price cut.

Ecosport with its urban styling and features will still attract the young buyers who look for a compact SUV, which no other SUVs can match.

They were least bothered during TUV300 launch, since they know that even though it is a Compact SUV, both the vehicles caters to a different audience and TUV300 cannot match Ecosport it terms of handling, performance and dynamics. But with the launch of Vitara Brezza, Maruti has hit a nail on the head of Ford and Ford reacted instantaneously - which was really a surprise to me. But then they have to do it, since this has been their bread winner in India with both the Figo twins ended as a sales dud.

With this price cut, Brezza doesn't make sense except for those dual color tone options in the ZDI+ variants, but the Titanium+ variant of Ecosport is a no-brainer. Also, Ford might be offering the customization options in Ecosport in the latter half of 2016 which they have hinted during the Auto Expo during Feb '16 and with that they might be able to plug a gap, if there are any.

[sasi@8689]

Originally Posted by Lij

If Ford has gone ahead and reduced the price then it means that the product was overpriced and now we see a price correction due to competition. Ford won't be selling Ecosport at a loss just that the profit margin will be reduced.

I never meant to say that ford would incur losses post the price revision. As we all are aware selling price is not just cost plus a fixed amount of profit but is equally dependent on what the market would be willing to pay based on multiple factors that are dynamic by nature. Going by the same, i dont agree with this concept of 'over pricing' which we often come across be it ecosport or creta or innova etc. When a good number of customers are consistently picking up such products, they are not overpriced in the general market perspective. Now with brezza, there has been a change in the market dynamics and ford reacted by slashing prices upto a lakh. Its that reaction which i felt was not warranted as i feel that the premium over brezza was justified for what it offers. Even if they wanted to reduce, i feel that they could have kept atleast 50k premium for titanium + just for the bigger engine and better safety features alone

Originally Posted by Lij

But it could have helped with some sales of Ecosport where people sitting on the fence, maybe due to budget constraints, could now go ahead and buy it.

This is what i was exactly referring to about the incremental sales for ford. I believe, majority of such buyers would jump into maruti ground than ford's because of the brand / novelty / popular opinion etc leaving only marginal gains for ford. With a reduction of one lakh per unit whether the incremental numbers be justifiable for ford as far as total profits are concerned, is my doubt. Lets see.

[carwatcher]

I think Ford had no option left but for a price-cut, reason, they couldn't add more features in already the fully loaded car and addition of more features wouldn't have been noticed by the customers.
The Indian Automobile market is becoming cut-throat and unforgiving. S-Cross had massive price-cut within few months of its launch, Hyundai Verna is long forgotten, Honda City was at No.2 in sales charts vis-a-vis Ciaz this month, Renault Duster is struggling very hard for its survival and so is EcoSport, the point to be noted that all these cars are very very good and competent and once ruled the market (except for S-Cross).

[MDED]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Well it may be true that when you compare dealer in your city or vicinity,Maruti turns out to be better. But that does notmean Maruti offers better service everywhere else.

I completely agree with PrideRed. I had been an owner of Maruti Alto Lxi and everytime it has gone to Maruti Service Masters the bill for general service with minor consumables, wheel alignment, etc has been close to Rs 3500 and its nowhere economical in terms of pricing. Nevertheless, their service network is huge, but the cost of ownership in Maruti has also jacked up by few notches.

Ford reducing price at the launch of Brezza augurs well for the new buyers as on any given day Ecosport's diesel engine is far more better and power friendly than the DDis engine. The boot space in Brezza has been a complete disappointment.

[karthik008]

We recently got the Figo Aspire DCT and I was at the showroom to collect some papers last weekend. On enquiring about the price cut on the Ecosport... The SA told me that the company has taken benefit of a "Make in India" benefit offered by the govt for its factory in Madras and Ford has passed on the entire benefit to the dealers and consumers. If true, this is a well timed strategy to counter the Brezza.

[nikhil_d1106]

Ford should look at providing the DCT option on the Diesel variant for Ecosport. It could be a USP for Ford in the segment.

[drchernish]

I also second that-providing a diesel at ecosport could give it a sale boost due to absence of any competition albeit in the fully loaded titanium variant!I would immediately exchange my cruze mt ltz for this.Hope ford is listening!!

[King_pin09]

Originally Posted by sasi@8689

I may form part of minority here, but i feel that such a drastic price reduction was not warranted. Speaking of top variants, a premium of 1 to 1.20 lacs for ecosport over brezza was fine to me considering it has a bigger motor, a bit more power, 6 airbags (vs 2), full leather interiors and (seemingly) better build quality. Instead of reducing prices, ford should have aggressively marketed all its above strengths and should have seen the market response.

Maruti has stellar brand recall across the country and if it comes up with a good product at sensible price in a happening segment like compact SUV, competitors would certainly feel heat, but i am not sure if this kind of major price drop would result in matching increase in sales volume for Ford.

But, am i complaining - hell, no

Well said mate.
However, one cannot rule out the average Indian buyer who thinks going the Maruti way is the only way to “play it safe”. Besides it is a fact that most buyers are not concerned about, power, airbags, body shell strength et-al, instead they stick to the readymade question “Kitna deti hai”. Most seem to believe blindly that fuel efficiency is brand dependent, whilst often ignoring the fact that “jaise chalaoge waise hi milega”.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by karthik008

We recently got the Figo Aspire DCT and I was at the showroom to collect some papers last weekend. On enquiring about the price cut on the Ecosport... The SA told me that the company has taken benefit of a "Make in India" benefit offered by the govt for its factory in Madras and Ford has passed on the entire benefit to the dealers and consumers. If true, this is a well timed strategy to counter the Brezza.

Don't be fooled by all these nonsensical reasons cited by SAs. There is no benefit offered for make in India. Ecosport was outpriced by brezza. No other reason. Slap the SA verbally with a 'shut up this nonsense'.

But as it is an 'advantage-customer' situation, we can happily opt for it, whatever reason is cited by Ford.

[amolathalye]

Hi ,

Great discussion going on. I feel the Maruti Vitara Brezza has got advantage of larger cabin. In the videos available on the net the rear bench looks better and seems to have better leg room / head room and can accommodate three passengers well. This could be the biggest advantage over cramped rear bench of Ford Ecosport.

Regards
Amol