[wadewilson]

This is such good news to me. My first car of choice was the New Figo Diesel before my dad and me found out that the Trend version cost about 7.1 Lakh OTR (IIRC). This put a stop in our plans and we bought the Kwid instead since it was going to be my first car. Dad suggested that Airbags and strong body isn't much of a requirement as I would not be racing the car.

But an honest question: Dear BHPians, I've put accessories and alloys plus new tires on the KWID and have spent over 5.5 Lakh on the car. Should I sell it (the KWID) and go for the New Figo instead? The car is about 5 months old and body noise from loose body panels are irritating me to no end. I'm willing to settle for even the base model of the New Figo.

[anjan_c2007]

Daewoo started the slashing of car prices with cuts of upto Rs 30 K on the Daewoo Cielo during the turn of the last century. I do not remember any manufacturer announcing price cuts earlier to that, though this phenomenon of price correction is prevalent in the developed markets of developed countries since ages.

The customers who bought these Fords maybe a few days, weeks or months ago have been left in the lurch. I had accompanied my friend to buy a Figo Aspire Petrol, soon after its launch earlier this year. The on road price at Nagpur was nearly Rs 8 L on road (incl road tax and insurance). I test drove the car and found it extremely well built with a very good powertrain and quite user friendly egronomics too. I was quite sure that this car with a petrol powertrain could be a game changer for Ford like its EcoSport. But after the launch, the sales have been nothing to write home about.

Can only hope that the price cuts will attract more buyers.











(pictures from a recent Auto Expo at Nagpur)

[wilful]

I think, with a good advertisement campaign, highlighting the positive features (safety etc) and the reduction in prices (I'm sure the dream merchants can give a positive spin on it) sales would definitely pick up. Whether it would be a sustained rally is anybody's guess but being such competent cars, there is no reason why they shouldn't carry the momentum for a fair while.

[deetjohn]

I cannot call the long term impact, but in short term this move should definitely bring some very good numbers.

The following graph show number of EcoSports pushed by Ford in the past 10 months.



What happened in March? Well, they reduced the price by a whopping 1.12 lakhs and the factory geared up for the increase in demand.

Its not sure whether EcoSport can sustain these numbers. Ideally, its a capable machine to bring 5k+ units each month. Else, Ford is not putting their sales machinery to good use. Anyways, that's topic for another thread. What helps EcoSport is the fact that its in the super-hot compact UV segment and the market cannot get enough of the mighty Brezza.

And that's not the case here. So, we need to wait and see how price cut is going to impact Figo and Aspire. And its not so easy to call. For starters, no one had a complaint about the price tag of these cars to begin with. And the market is awash with options in the B+ and C segment. So, it will be very interesting to follow the numbers from now on.

[kiku007]

Poor Ford India. They did two blunders,

1. Trying to go mass market (ignoring the rational enthusiast for the fixated Dzire buyer). Nothing signifies this more than the shift to "Feels like family" from "Go Fida", "Go further" or "Lets make every day exciting". It literally resonates with me when comparing the Aspire to the Fiesta.

2. Not enough marketing that the mass market is used to.

This whole Compact Sedan is a sink hole that car manufacturers other than Maruti dragged themselves into. Lets face it. The Dzire buyer is not interested in buying a Aspire, Xcent, Amaze, Ameo, Zest etc. even if its 10 times better in every aspect except for the residual value after 5 years.

Poor sales plus heavy discounting = disastrous resale.

At least I was able to sell my 2009 Fiesta 1.6 for a good price since it was an enthusiasts car. Our 2016 Aspire 1.5 AT will neither appeal to the enthusiast nor the average joe after 4 years. Its not a bad car at all. But try explaining that to the 19000 people buying Dzires.

This price drop must be desperate effort to keep the assembly line running in Sanand.

[drmohitg]

It is not right to compare the response to price cut of Ecosport with that of the Figo twins. To begin with Ecosport was a good selling model for Ford and had only one true competitor i.e the Brezza. The Figo twins on the other hand are not really doing great in their segments and have a long list of vehicles that they need to compete with.

[Blow Horn Ok]

I seriously hope that this shot in the arm helps the figo twins to retain and sustain respectable sales which they deserve. As of now the price cuts have made (especially the top variants) even more value for money. Leaving aside the heavy build, one gets seriously fast diesel, decent petrol motor, and best looks in the segment at amazing price. Apart from advertising campaigns, price corrections, ford should strengthen and expand its sales and service network to grab a decent market share.

[St. Anger]

As people have rightly said in the thread, the DZire buyer would never consider an Aspire & Ford, in straying from their core USP's, have alienated the enthusiast buyer too. (No offence to existing buyers of the 'Twins'). The new-Figo & the Aspire are both nice cars, but they're missing that essential character that made them a Ford. Having spent time in both of these cars, i couldn't help but feel that Ford had tried to do a 'Maruti'.

Which is why, this current price-cut, is a risky move. It could, rekindle sales on account of being a VFM purchase & for Ford's sake, I pray this happens. But, i suspect that most of their loyal, enthusiast buyers, would not be swapping out their old Figo/Fiesta's for the new-Figo/Aspire twins.

[avingodb]

Keeping Figo AT prices above Aspire's Titanium + manual is not done. Its like you are punishing those seeking a competent AT hatchback

If they could reduce prices of other variants so much, why then not reduce anything in case of AT models?

Figo AT Titanium (only variant in AT) is Rs. 1.6 lakh more expensive than manual Titanium!

[vvijay]

Can someone now provide a latest full-on price comparison of all compact-sedan and hatchback competitors (before and after) to understand if the Aspire and Figo have undercut few of its players price-wise?

That should throw some light on how far this price cut is going to change the game of these segments, albeit on a smaller scale.

[kippu]

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[libranof1987]

This is such a sad waste of brand equity. First, they spoilt the Figo brand by bringing out an inferior "update" to the original Figo. Now, cut prices drastically hoping that'll get people to buy the product.

They can use this opportunity to get rid of the Figo branding altogether and get the Fiesta sedan and hatch (Figo for India essentially) for a fresh start.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

...
First, they spoilt the Figo brand by bringing out an inferior "update" to the original Figo. ...

Can you please elaborate the 'inferior update' part?
I believe the new Figo looks way better than the first-gen, has more features and is more powerful as well. What am I missing ?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by SDP

Can you please elaborate the 'inferior update' part?
I believe the new Figo looks way better than the first-gen, has more features and is more powerful as well. What am I missing ?

Build quality. The one and possibly only sore point, as has been pointed out in several TD impressions.

[hybridpetrol]

Titanium variant on the Ford Aspire is priced a full 1 lakh OTR price (rough estimate) below the Swift Dzire Vxi / Vdi variants, after this price cut!
This is terrific pricing IMO.
Swift Dzire Vxi / Vdi variants are comparable to Ford Aspire Titanium in terms of feature list & safety features - but if one is shopping on a budget, Ford Aspire Titanium is the best money can buy - either it is Diesel or Petrol.
On the other hand, Titanium+ variants are now roughly around 25K less than Swift Lxi/Ldi variants. This is even better actually - because you get 6 airbags, and better infotainment system.
Those who are shopping for a Compact Sedan must now think whether they really need to pump that extra 1 lakh to buy a similar variant of that Swift Dzire! (or Xcent/Amaze/Zest)
What Ford has done is bold and commendable in my opinion - in trying to push the top variants at lower prices to customer at mouth-watering prices.