[Chuckster]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Enthusiasts are 1 in a 1000 and so are the sales figures of such cars on sale. Hence it makes no business sense per se to bring in the fiesta hatch etc while they are struggling to sell off the Figo twins which are very well specced and priced.

On the contrary, I believe there is good business sense for ford to stick to its strengths and produce great handling cars at cheap prices. Because going the mass market way they lose their identity among the other players and become just another car manufacturer. They lose their fans and their loyalists and their "street cred". I would say the proof is in the pudding based on what the senior ford official spoke about. People who have bought the figos of the yesteryears have moved on to i20's or punto's or baleno in the absence of the fiesta hatch. A person who loves the old figo will find it hard to love the new figo. And a potential new customer, who drives the new figo may still shy away due to Ford's erstwhile bad service and maintenance image and the lack of an oomph factor. And go on to pick the Grand I10 or the swift.

And if, as you say there is 1 in a 1000 enthusiasts, then there still would be around 1.3 million enthusiasts in this country who would be looking at other brands for their next buy. Jokes asides, the ratio I want to talk about is that of the previous ford customers who are enthusiastic or who at least like how a ford drives over other cars and prefer to drive a ford again. This will be around 2 to 3 in 5, I feel. This is the customer segment that is being lost. Ford stands more to lose in driving away the brand loyalist than staying neutral to the mass market as it did before.

On the Wasan Dealers shutting shop, one could argue that the root cause is the low overall sales of the figo twins and the ecosport sales dipping due to the brezza effect. And the unfair sales policies are a direct result of that.

[KiloAlpha]

So many posts here talk about the fact that Ford has lost its "affordable performance" edge - the ride/handling of the old Fiesta/Figo/Ikon are not present in the new Figo/Aspire.

An equal number of people have said that Ford A.S.S. was probably their worst experience. But you put up, for the sake of the silly grin the car gave you every time you turned the steering wheel or stomped on the A-pedal.

Count me in as one of those that have moved away from the Ford brand. I now own an S-Cross.

The brand transformation campaign really should have been carried out 2 years ago. If Ford were moving away from the "affordable performance" image, then they really should have done so before the new Figo/Aspire were launched. Today, it is a bit too late, and has cost them a whole lot in terms of sales and goodwill.
When it comes to A.S.S., for the last 3 times the Figo was in the workshop, I did notice a distinct uptick in service levels. So much so that patchy service quality was no longer an issue (like they were for the first 3 years of my Figo ownership). Now, if Ford wanted to make this widely known, why not do the campaign 2 years back?

But yes, a brand transformation is certainly happening. Trouble is, the public sussed it out and did not like it very much. They figured it out after the fact, and tons of people felt let down as a result.

So maybe Ford is very much like family. They have made themselves into the slightly weird cousin nobody wants to talk to in family social events!

[vinukm]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

So many posts here talk about the fact that Ford has lost its "affordable performance" edge - the ride/handling of the old Fiesta/Figo/Ikon are not present in the new Figo/Aspire.

An equal number of people have said that Ford A.S.S. was probably their worst experience. But you put up, for the sake of the silly grin the car gave you every time you turned the steering wheel or stomped on the A-pedal.

Count me in as one of those that have moved away from the Ford brand. I now own an S-Cross.

The brand transformation campaign really should have been carried out 2 years ago. If Ford were moving away from the "affordable performance" image, then they really should have done so before the new Figo/Aspire were launched. Today, it is a bit too late, and has cost them a whole lot in terms of sales and goodwill.
When it comes to A.S.S., for the last 3 times the Figo was in the workshop, I did notice a distinct uptick in service levels. So much so that patchy service quality was no longer an issue (like they were for the first 3 years of my Figo ownership). Now, if Ford wanted to make this widely known, why not do the campaign 2 years back?

But yes, a brand transformation is certainly happening. Trouble is, the public sussed it out and did not like it very much. They figured it out after the fact, and tons of people felt let down as a result.

So maybe Ford is very much like family. They have made themselves into the slightly weird cousin nobody wants to talk to in family social events!

In the same boat as you. I was a proud owner of a Ikon Flair and Figo. I was forced to switch to Suzuki. I also explored to remain loyal to Ford and upgrade to EcoSport, Gave it up because of their ASS and attitude towards the existing customers.

[ACM]

Am pasting the below text from my recent post in the EcoSport thread.

Live:

Have come to Satyam Ford service centre at Thane.

Car has Check Engine light on in the display.

I have opted for the 2+2 Extended warranty. Car is less than 3 yrs old.

They are yet to check cause but are insisting that I should pay the scanning charges irrespective of the fault. I have refused.

Also there is no loaner car either.

So this 200 crs advt. Campaign seems to be all show and talk. On ground?

[KreativeGeek]

Ford has woken up from a self inflicted slumber way too late and only time would tell how this 200 crore brand transformation drive would work out for them.

It is very difficult to shake the top 3 players in the passenger car market from the current position where Ford after being flanked with tempting new launches from competition. Honda Amaze has got a facelift version, Hyundai Xcent has also brought its special edition to augment the already established VFM proposition. Dzire is standing strong as usual in this segment.

Ford would have to very soon come up with new editions of Figo and Aspire to include features which have become USP for competition, especially with the gadgets and gizmos. I also felt there is literally no intention from the company to provide extensive catalog of accessories for Figo Twins and as rightly pointed out in one of the earlier post to this thread they have a big gap between the Ecosport and Endeavor now.

Ford would also have to address whats plaguing its dealership network because most dealers for Maruti/Hyundai/Honda also run an ongoing series of print adverts regularly which maintains the visibility of the product and increases brand recall value. These ads placed by dealers help to popularize discounts and offers approved by the company which otherwise would go unnoticed.

Renault has pushed forward in capturing market share riding high on Kwid's success and Volkswagen is looking to dent already poor sales figure of Figo/Aspire with Ameo. At least Ford is making an attempt to recover some lost ground and that's the best probably the can do at this moment.

[heydj]

Problem with VW & Ford among many things is that local leadership team does not have autonomy to change things, instead have to take their orders from global team. Moreover most of India leadership is not from here, rather from global teams posted to India for few years.

Lets focus on what we have been hearing about these cars since they first rolled out in India:

1. Service Expensive
2. Spare parts not as easily available as Maruti etc.
3. Reliability Issues.
4. Good products not there.

Point number 4 has been addressed with launch of Ecosport, Aspire, & Figo but still sales not picking up because:

1. Customer perception around reliability, cost of parts, and service not addressed.
2. Parts availability is still an issue.

Ford know about this but still year after year does not do anything to address these. Having a good product means nothing if people perceptions are not addressed. Moreover they can't suddenly wake up spend 200cr and then go back to sleep. A consistent strategy and focus needs to be applied year after year.

[avingodb]

There is certainly a problem with their sales numbers and agencies have stockpiles that are not moving fast enough.

Just today, I went to check out Figo DCT. The agency did not have DCT or diesel models for test drive and he said it that it may take a while before test drive could be arranged, in particular for DCT. On the other hand, he literally kept pushing me towards Aspire saying that it was big and premium with beige colour and instant discount of 1 lakh was available on select models of Aspire!

[samaspire]

Looks the 200 crore campaign is yielding results. June sales have doubled!!

Way to go Ford.



The image shows 19,754, whereas this article says 9,469.

http://www.autocarpro.in/news-nation...une-2016-20836

Guess the ford sales guys are adding the 1, and forwarding it on WhatsApp

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by samaspire

Looks the 200 crore campaign is yielding results. June sales have doubled!!

Way to go Ford.

Attachment 1523143

The image shows 19,754, whereas this article says 9,469.

http://www.autocarpro.in/news-nation...une-2016-20836

Guess the ford sales guys are adding the 1, and forwarding it on WhatsApp

No, this should be 9,469 units sold in India alone.
While 19,754 is including exports as well.
If EcoSport has sold its usual 3,5xx and the Endeavour its usual 5xx units, the remaining 5,xxx units are actually from the Figo twins. This is a serious increase considering they both together did 2,2xx last month.

So Ford India's campaign has really shown some results then And yes, I turned my Fiesta in for the 30K kms service and I must admit that the experience was far better than what I have been having over the last 4 years of ownership - really good move from Ford

[rambo1o1]

Originally Posted by samaspire

Looks the 200 crore campaign is yielding results. June sales have doubled!!

Way to go Ford.

Attachment 1523143

The image shows 19,754, whereas this article says 9,469.

http://www.autocarpro.in/news-nation...une-2016-20836

Guess the ford sales guys are adding the 1, and forwarding it on WhatsApp

I guess ford has dispatched extra vehicles in hope that their 200 crore marketing campaign will work? I would wait and see for a couple of months to really understand if the campaign has paid off.

Nonetheless i have been seeing new figo/aspire on Goan roads but since Goa is a small state i might be seeing the same car over and over again

I have read in another thread that ford will produce figos/aspire with new touch screens info systems from 2018 onwards, i guess that time table should be advanced to somewhere this festive season since the Figo twins needs a good dose of features to win over skeptical new customers, fresh with 7th pay bonanza!

[trave11er]

Originally Posted by TSIched'Out

I personally own a Ford so when anyone asks me about that, my reply is: Product is great in terms of Driving/Safety/Comfort/Features etc. but for one day in a year, you have to feel disappointed with Ford and that day is annual servicing day of your car.

I have given my car for service few times and always came back disappointed due to pathetic service experience. Service engineers do the bare minimum and lots of ticks on the vehicle health card are made without even checking the parameters. There is also mis-selling of Dealer customized service which service advisor pushes by stating that I will get extra things serviced which are necessary but Ford hasn't covered those in their regular service package (I wonder why?).

And in the end, all I get is a customer care call from a Gurgaon Number who promises to "look into the issues" once I fill their online feedback form. This coupled with the fact that there isn't a single service station in the South Mumbai.

Ford should invest in some quality service stations which may be owned directly by Ford wherein quality engineers should be servicing Ford Cars with complete transparency on service charges and spares. They should set the bar high so that their dealers also strive to meet the improved service quality levels.

+1
I completely agree with the painful experience of getting a ford serviced.
As mentioned, yes the customer care associates do ask "Sir, will you recommend Ford to your friends/relatives?". My answer is: Yes if we look only at the product and its performance . But, then the answer has the disclaimer - if at all Ford can do something to improve the no. of dealers and overall service experience - which is answered as "Yes sir we will look into it - thanks for the good feedback - like they completely missed the disclaimer.

[sansvk]

Having owned two fords in the last 5 year, I completely agree with the above posts. Great products, low service costs but sub par buying and unsatisfactory service experience. You never feel like a customer at a Ford service center, instead you feel like one of employees. The moment you reach the service center you are made to wait even after having fixed an appointment. Collecting the car is even more painful, you need to hunt for the SA, then there is the bad interior car wash with grease stains all over. I really dread going to the service center, I haven't been there despite the voluntary recall issued a month back.

[RavenAvi]

Ford's new "Rakhi" TVC, featuring Kalki Koechlin and the EcoSport.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJzE96tk7nM

Ford has taken this opportunity to announce that dual front airbags is now standard across the entire EcoSport range. This completes the whole Ford portfolio in India as equipped with standard airbags.

The company also announced that over 10% of all Ford buyers are women today, and this trend will only go upwards in the future.

"The new EcoSport commercial salutes today's progressive, spirited women who are confident in the choices they make. Set against the pious context of Raksha Bandhan, the commercial gives a new definition to the theme of safety and shows how the women of today are demonstrating their focus on this important aspect through their purchase decisions," said Rahul Gautam, Vice President, Marketing, Ford India.

"Women, for far too long, have been portrayed as those seeking safety. With the new commercial, we wanted to break this stereotype and show how empowered today's woman are," said, Sujatha Chakraborty, Sr Creative Director, Global Team Blue India.

ET

[Czarcarsm]

Originally Posted by sansvk

Having owned two fords in the last 5 year, I completely agree with the above posts. Great products, low service costs but sub par buying and unsatisfactory service experience. You never feel like a customer at a Ford service center, instead you feel like one of employees. The moment you reach the service center you are made to wait even after having fixed an appointment. Collecting the car is even more painful, you need to hunt for the SA, then there is the bad interior car wash with grease stains all over. I really dread going to the service center, I haven't been there despite the voluntary recall issued a month back.

Oh boy! You are bang on target. Even for a minor service, the car will be at the dealership for the whole day, even though you had the 1st appointment of the day. Service is pathetic.
This is my biggest concern pulling me from booking an Endeavour.
General public perception apart from above.
- not as durable or reliable as Maruti or Hyundai. I think this is a wrong perception. Having owned 2 Fords in the last decade or so, I can vouch for its quality. After 74,000 Kms, the car is as good as new.
- spares and services more expensive than the above 2 cars. I think it was the case many years ago. But except for the new Endeavour, rest of Fords have spares priced about similar.
Whatever Ford does, they have to address these 3 perceptions. Else they are going to lose some loyal customers along with some would be ones.

[parambyte]

Well, I recently went to a Ford dealership in Mumbai to check out the new Mustang. And I did have a great experience.

For starters, the Mustang is an 87 lakhs (on road Mumbai) car and standing next to it was the Endeavour, a 37 lakhs on road, Mumbai, car. But the showroom looked like a state bank showroom. Wasn't premium at all, considering how expensive the cars are. These are Audi prices in an SBI showroom!

Immediately one wonders about the quality.

The Mustang hardly had a boot. It's supposed to be a GT (Grand Tourer) for long trips, but no boot to speak of. What little boot is there, is completely occupied by a full size spare tyre. I feel the best place to drive this car is Mumbai Bangalore kind of highway, but without being able to carry your little luggage :(
The window glass seems to be plastic, correct me if I am wrong.

Then I checked the Endeavour. The car is nice, but I couldn't get a proper demo, neither could they open the boot, because the car had run out of battery! Made me wonder what's happens when one buys the car?