[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Ford has really upped the game and will definitely keep greedy Toyota in check, we need some more manufacturers who can give a quality competition. Hyundai could have gone for CKD variants of Santa Fe or even introduced some vans but looks they are happy with Creta and smaller cars.

This is a very difficult thing to do and next to impossible. It remains to be seen if Ford can keep up the numbers.The new Fortuner should get Toyota back in the game. The funny thing is that Ford has a really strong product line up though.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[sunishsamuel]

Originally Posted by shibujp

This is a very difficult thing to do and next to impossible. It remains to be seen if Ford can keep up the numbers.The new Fortuner should get Toyota back in the game. The funny thing is that Ford has a really strong product line up though.

Drive on,
Shibu.

I agree with that. The Ford Line up is strong and given the fascination for mid size SUV's in India i expected much better response to the Endeavour.

The dealer is now using existing customer references to convince future customers. The dealer contact told me that customers are not believing them when they tell about comparable/low service costs against the Fortuner. People believe that Japanese cars are easy to maintain and cheap to service while the American cars are expensive in the long run.

Its good that we have now two competitive products in the price range. Endeavour and Fortuner. It will be a good challenge for the Ford guys to come up with right and innovative methods to maintain the lead or at least give tough competition to the Toyota.

[RavenAvi]

Local Ford dealer confirms that the (previous) entry level Endeavour variant, the Trend 2.2 4×2 MT, has been silently discontinued due to lack of sales/interest among buyers.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Not sure if global but yes, in North America. AT variants of any given car are cheaper in US/Canada. Not just cheaper but readily available. I've just not seen any MT there. They are extremely fewer and farther in between.

I, being an AT lover, would love to see this trend happen here. What next? Ecosport AT costing less than MT? Bring it on, Ford.

Are you sure AT variants are cheaper in North America? Have you recently checked the data? I recently checked out some cars in US and MT if available was always the cheapest option: I checked : Honda Accord, VW Golf GTI, BMW M2, Jeep Wrangler.

[krcustoms]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Are you sure AT variants are cheaper in North America? Have you recently checked the data? I recently checked out some cars in US and MT if available was always the cheapest option: I checked : Honda Accord, VW Golf GTI, BMW M2, Jeep Wrangler.

Its funny that in america where you have long stretches of road with minimal gear shifts people prefer MT whereas in India where you have chalk-a-block traffic people prefer Manual. It really should be the other way round but then at the end of the day it boils down to "kitna deti hai"!!

MT could be cheaper in USA but 95% of the people prefer AT. I lived over there for 15 odd years never drove MT expect on one instance when a friend of mine was trying to buy a used stick shift!!

same thing with diesel vs petrol debate. most cars run on petrol over there and only large trucks (i.e 18 wheeler) are on diesel so go figure. I think diesel is lot more popular in Europe.