[ajmat]

Originally Posted by GTO

Agreed. And equally, the media should report responsibly. Manufacturers say something, but the media intentionally twists the statement to get more clicks. I've seen it firsthand.
.

Apparently, the CFO is reviewing all Ford operations, not just India being singled out

[scwagh]

Since the CFO is reviewing the operations, lets hope he doesn't look only at the grim sales in the past but would also look at the potential of promising and huge Indian automotive market. I don't think that they would opt out of Indian market especially considering the huge investments they have made here.

It is very difficult to beat Maruti and Hyundai as you need to stay relevant and visible in the market. Out of sight, out of mind catches on pretty quickly with Indian customers.

Ford has already started working on busting the myth of high service cost of maintaining a Ford car and advertising 6 Airbags in their cars. They need to be visible in the market and listen to the customers. When the customers associated Ford with good build quality they should have kept it consistent in new Figo and Aspire and not taken the Hyundai and Maruti way.

Not introducing cars like Mondeo, Kuga, Galaxy, B Max and C Max in your third largest market (of future) isn't going to help the case. Mercedes started bringing in the newer cars in India as soon as they were launched in Western countries and it has helped them immensely in cementing their pole position in India.

PS: Also have a look at this ET article which was published after GMs exit was announced. It said that Skoda, VW, Ford, Fiat and Nissan might also take the GM route.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/58978980.cms

[PrideRed]

Cross posting from other thread:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...2011-17-a.html
With Ford making Operating Margins of around 6%(which is still below industry average) ain't that bad. What is good to see is the comparison to previous years, there is a good improvement. Exports helping Ford?
I don't see a reason to quit.

Improvement areas:
1. The showrooms need a big makeover. They are dark small and dingy. Just compare with a Nexa or Toyota showroom, they are airy, bright and classy.
2.Ford needs to bring in more models and faster.

Some good news to Ford fans:
" The big news is that India has been selected as a global production base for the Dragon range and an official announcement from Ford confirming this news is expected in the coming weeks".
http://www.autocarindia.com/car-news...-diwali-405600
New set of engines and an all new car in the pipeline .

[NishantKj]

This has been the strategy of most of the American giant, be it in any sector(Automobile/IT/Power). They find easy to blame the local market for their failure instead of finding the real issue.

GM waled away with their sheer arrogance that India doesn't deserve their cars. Same path Ford is planning to take. Its's failure with their portfolio and sales team. How come Hyundai/Toyota is able to manage the competition here? because they respect the local market and introduce the competent product.

Hope for cheaper second hand Ford cars in future. Last week my friend was looking for a second hand car and he was able to spot a Second hand Chevrolet Beat(1.5 year old 15k KM) in less than 1.25 lac.

[anshumandun]

Originally Posted by Samurai

May be there is a strategy there...

Ford: We are going to make a big announcement...

Media and car forums go crazy!.......................

Ford: <Hmm, of all the ideas from the media and car forums, we like the idea B> OK, here it is... we are doing B.

Haha....that's interesting

Or maybe someone got tired in the meeting and asked if there is something to eat or drink to which Bob Shanks replied "everything is on the table".....and the media went crazy

[rrsteer]

Originally Posted by torquing_points

But if this team can't sell a clearly superior car like the endy even at a discount to the fortuner, I doubt that they have any meaningful role to play in the long term as a company.

Originally Posted by androdev

This is all they need to discuss in their review meeting. Endy vs Fortuner is the ultimate challenge to Ford to solve in order to survive in India.

I so beg to disagree here. Endy is a success. You can't just see the numbers in isolation without context. Toyota - and rightly so - has created a lot of brand stickiness and pull in the time they have been in India. Ford's current product portfolio is up against this. (Picture me. I know Endy is superior. I know their dealers are not bad. But Toyota has won me over with their 3 cars I own. On the margin, each and every time i think of buying a big SUV/MUV, I can't help but falling back on Toyota. Nobody wants a bad bargain, Toyota (like Maruti) makes you feel that you will not enter into a bad bargain with them.)

More than the Ford team and dealers, time is required for things to change and new opinions to be formed. Things will change if Toyota falters (there are signs) or Ford consistently proves their point (there are signs of this too). If the gap between Endy and Fortuner stays, just wait and watch how the market responds to their respective next generation SUVs.

Ford selling 400 odd 30 lac SUVs monthly after offering what they did in the last 10 years is a hit in my opinion and Ford's management can't be criticized for this performance.

[torquing_points]

Originally Posted by rrsteer

I so beg to disagree here. Endy is a success. You can't just see the numbers in isolation without context.

(Picture me. I know Endy is superior. I know their dealers are not bad. But Toyota has won me over with their 3 cars I own. On the margin, each and every time i think of buying a big SUV/MUV, I can't help but falling back on Toyota.

Ford selling 400 odd 30 lac SUVs monthly after offering what they did in the last 10 years is a hit in my opinion and Ford's management can't be criticized for this performance.

To each his own. I believe that if you have a superior product (endy competes one class higher than fortuner overseas) and are at a discount (endy costs more than fortuner overseas and sure as hell costs more to make), and still undersell competition by an order of magnitude, your marketing team and dealers need to be changed immediately.

As an endeavour customer, I can attest to the fact that the the ford india team and their dealers did all they could in their power to have me buy a fortuner instead through broken commitments, lying and complete apathy to the customer. Say what you will about Toyotas 'attitude', the company tightly controls the positive customer experience and actively intervenes to protect it, whether in sales or In service. You can't be wrong buying a Toyota (or a maruti). That's why you have 3 toyotas and i will never have a ford again -- Even though the endy is better car AND its cheaper.

If I was the CEO of a company with a distinctly superior car selling at a 15+% discount to a competitor and still selling a modest fraction of the competitor, I'd fire my sales & strategy team. But that's a matter of opinion.

[spyder_p8]

Guys, i believe we are just doing rumor mongering here. I believe they are reviewing the operations and they should. But shutting operations in a huge country like India is not a calk walk.

Having said that, none of the companies who are actually struggling in India are putting in real effort when it comes to launching india specific product. The last known good effort by Ford was EcoSport. The same is true for some other like VAG . They are literally selling 10 year old platforms in our markets with shoddy service and then expect Indian customers to dump Maruti and Hyundai and come to them. But i just hope that Ford decides to go all out In the Indian Market.

[Ketan T]

Originally Posted by spyder_p8

Guys, i believe we are just doing rumor mongering here. I believe they are reviewing the operations and they should. But shutting operations in a huge country like India is not a calk walk.

I agree completely with you. We should refrain from commenting on something that we are not sure of. This will just lead to more confusion. People reading this thread who are planning to buy a Ford vehicle may reconsider their decision based on what they read here. So we have to be careful when we speculate.

[Sebring]

Ford appoints a new dealer - JSP Ford for Bengaluru. (This is in JP Nagar) Maybe sensing the laid-back attitude of existing dealers. So, in my mind they're renewing their focus on India.

[deehunk]

Yes, one Ford dealer did show his laid back attitude from my own experience when I went to buy a second Ford vehicle within 4 months of buying my first Ford car. Think of first-time buyers. I have seen this attitude with all dealers owned by one person.

[andydude]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Ford appoints a new dealer - JSP Ford for Bengaluru. (This is in JP Nagar) Maybe sensing the laid-back attitude of existing dealers. So, in my mind they're renewing their focus on India.

This JPS Ford has come up at same location as Lathangi Ford. Are you sure it's a new dealership and not new name of Lathangi Ford?

[itwasntme]

Well, I visited a BLR dealer on Sunday and was surprised to see the lack of hunger among the sales staff. I was there at 1015 and walked around the Endy for a good 10 minutes before some management types took pity and came to speak to me. He then called one of the sales guys and he came with a price-list.

I don't understand! They had only a 2.2 top end on show (I think) and were trying to extoll the virtues of the 3.2 sunroof etc. :-)

Came out not wanting to waste my time. Overall not impressed. The Tiguan felt much better even if a semi-SUV.

[Contrapunto]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Everything on the table - hope it includes the head of the idiot who decided not to bring their Focus, Escape and other good cars around the world to India.

Their product portfolio is truncated in the mid-segment......

- I wonder whether their executives interact with the public/ customers at all, or just depend on "market research" agencies for all their insight.

Ford clearly needs to play to their strength in the upper mid-segment (which is expanding furiously) - and refresh their product line with Escape (definitely!), C-Max (why not?) .

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by andydude

This JPS Ford has come up at same location as Lathangi Ford. Are you sure it's a new dealership and not new name of Lathangi Ford?

Same dealership, name change. It's the same location too.


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