[TusharK]

Anurag Mehrotra has been appointed as the President & Managing Director of Ford India. He replaces Bala Radhakrishnan, who was the acting president of the company for the last 10 months.



Having taken charge, Mr. Mehrotra will chart out the future roadmap for the company. This will be his second tenure as Managing Director. In FY2019, under his leadership, the company's revenue had grown from Rs. 19,000 crore to Rs. 24,000 crore.

Mr. Radhakrishnan will resume his role of Director, Manufacturing.

In 2020, Ford India's sales volume declined by 38% to 45,799 units. The company market share dropped below 2%.

Last year, Ford and Mahindra called off their plans for a joint venture sighting global economic changes caused by the Covid-19 outbreak.

[Big Smoke]

I really want Mr. Mehrotra to guide Ford India in such a way that they are able to sustain the Indian Market.
Would be a shame for such a potent manufacturer to have to pack it's bags and leave.

I am a current Ford owner, and actually feel claustrophobic at seeing such a potent manufacturer losing out while other manufacturers with lesser pedigree squeeze profits out of the market.

Trust me, with the existing resources, Ford has the capability to achieve it's long lost goal of 10% market share.

There are plenty of stupid decisions on Ford's part. Some of them are -

- Selling the same old Figo twins without any substantial update / facelift. As it is, the car felt dated at launch. Although the engine (diesel) is terrific, ride quality is good; the list of good things end there. What I really don't understand is how difficult can it be to just put all the (extra) features from the Ecosport to the Figo & Aspire? Job Done! And, to keep the product as VFM as possible. You can walk smiling to the bank then! And not to forget the proven bulletproof reliability of the diesel engines.

-No new generation of the Ecosport, even after 7 years of launch (by far the MOST STUPID mistake)! We see how Nissan turned the tables with a brand new + competitively priced sub-4m crossover, and that too without a diesel engine! Heck, even a major facelift (right now!) can make the Ecosport super competitive for the next 2-3 years, by the time Ford comes up with a brand new Ecosport. And also not to forget , that the Ecosport is still the bread and butter model of Ford.

-Annoying feature deletions every 6 months or so. And these feature deletions are not minor ones that you can live without. For example, Ford decided to remove the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) system from the Endeavour for all models manufactured December 2020 onwards. And guess what? It was one of the MAIN USPs of choosing the Endeavour over Fortuner! The super silent ride of the Endeavour is now gone, much like most of it's sales. Prior to this, the Endeavour lost out on the Manual Gearbox, Headlight washers, etc.
The Ecosprt (their bread and butter model) is also not spared of this pathetic practice. Over the years, it has lost out on features such as Height adjustable seatbelts, fully Digital MID from some variants, etc. Also, the variants keep re-shuffling. As of today, the Ecosport has only 1 Petrol + Automatic variant! Such a potent Petrol Engine (most powerful in segment), coupled with a reliable TC autobox, but with a lack of variants in a market which is sharply shifting towards Automatics.

-Killing the base variant of the Aspire Diesel: The Aspire Diesel is only available in the top 2, i.e. Titanium & Titanium+ variants as of date. The lower Trend/Ambiente variants were popular among cabbies, and now with the absence of the Maruti diesels, it would have probably resulted in the best option for cabbies (of which there is a HUGE market), apart from the Hyundai Aura (Amaze was never in this game). But again, Ford lost churning in these huge profits, thanks to their utterly stupid decision. In fact, these base variants as cabs were one of the main reasons why the Aspire was doing better than the Figo, because Figo wasn't usually picked up by cabbies. Now again, Hyundai will rule the roost, while Ford sits and watches from a corner.

-Freestyle needs an update/facelift ASAP (a major one), otherwise it will end up like the Figo twins. It is still doing respectable numbers because of the lack of any competition (no, CelerioX is not a competitor, and WR-V is not available in diesel). The moment Hyundai launches the Bayone (or whatever i20 based crossover), people will forget the existence of this "CSUV".

-Not providing the Twin-Turbo version in the Endeavour. In an age when almost all it's diesel counterparts offer a 200+ bhp engine (except Alturas G4, which will be gone soon), Endeavour produces less power than a Tata Harrier, which costs HALF! Need I say more? The Endeavour became popular due to it's muscular 3.2L engine producing 197 bhp. Today, it has become the least powerful of the lot. Such a shame. I understand that discontinuing the 3.2L was necessary for BS6 norms. But Ford has a solution ready in the form of the Twin-Turbo engine available internationally, which is basically the same engine with an extra turbocharger. Why Ford isn't offering that in India is beyond my understanding.

These are just my views as a customer who has been seeing the way this company functions for quite some time.
Of course, Ford still has many USPs, such as the affordable + good service network, reliable engines, good handling and good quality cars in general with no major flaws in manufacturing or build quality. Sadly, these traits are just not enough to survive in the burning hot nature of the Indian market.

IMHO, instead of focusing on planning to launch a few CBUs, Ford shouldn't miss out on the bigger picture. They should instead focus on improving their existing portfolio, which I believe would be much more beneficial.

I am sure the learned people such as Mr. Mehrotra, who are heading the company would ensure that the company sees better days in India.

[arindambasu13]

I was impressed with Mr. Mehrotra's vision and confidence when I heard his interviews a couple of years back. He seems to have the right kind of attitude to turn around the brand's fortunes in India. I love Ford vehicles and personally own the Ecosport - by far one of the best offerings in the small SUV market even after becoming long in the tooth. Similarly, the Endeavour and the Figo twins have good potential, as does the Freestyle. They need to liven up their portfolio and introduce relevant products. I would really love to see this guy do some good work for the brand by introducing solid and newer products. Forget the JV with Mahindra, I say.

I wish him and Ford all the best.

[gkveda]

Congratulations Mr Anurag Mehrotra for being appointed President and MD for ford.

I am wondering if he is same Anurag Mehrotra who was heading SAP and CRM practice in Wipro during 2001 to 2005. Even his photo indicates that, I seem to be correct. But not sure.

If yes, I was working in his team and have worked with him for 4-5 years. Very nice gentle man with vision.

Congratulations again, Anurag. All the very best for your future endeavours in Ford.

[motorpsycho]

Ford desperately needs a leader with a vision, they have no new line up to speak of, they have been beating the same horse for quite sometime now.

1. I want to see the Bi-Turbo endeavor launched
2. Also would like to see the relaunch of the Mondeo/Fusion, I am sure it will do well now.

As a Ford owner, I really want to see them do well.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by motorpsycho

Ford desperately needs a leader with a vision, they have no new line up to speak of, they have been beating the same horse for quite sometime now.

1. I want to see the Bi-Turbo endeavor launched
2. Also would like to see the relaunch of the Mondeo/Fusion, I am sure it will do well now.

As a Ford owner, I really want to see them do well.

Just who bought the All New Fiesta when it was launched except a few enthusiasts? And how many profits do you think Ford is going to get if they bring cars to enthusiast tastes and solid build but don’t appeal to the bling chrome and kitna deti hai crowd?

[spr1ngleo]

His hiring for the top job indicates Ford is here to stay for a couple of more years?

[ABHI_1512]

I think this is certainly a good move by Ford India to have appointed a man who is well-versed with all the functioning of the brand in India. Moreover, it also soothes a few nerves(albeit momentarily) regarding the rumor-mills going berserk ever since the joint venture with Mahindra broke off.

Ford India would do well to focus with a renewed energy and come up with products adhering to the Ford legacy and along the expectations of the country. Bringing models like Focus and Raptor might create buzz but the real test will still be retaining and trying to gain back the market share through some innovative products.

I really hope and want Ford to do well for otherwise, we would again be left with limited manufacturers and back to the primitive age again !!

Originally Posted by hserus

Just who bought the All New Fiesta when it was launched except a few enthusiasts? And how many profits do you think Ford is going to get if they bring cars to enthusiast tastes and solid build but don’t appeal to the bling chrome and kitna deti hai crowd?

Fully agree, Ford did bring the global Fiesta here and it was such a looker and an enthusiasts dream for the way it handled with that hoot of an engine. But I think, they erred in not bringing the Fiesta Hatch more.

Besides, Ford also couldn't localise the parts much like what they did with the Figo. The negative publicity of higher price of parts and the rear seat space crunch killed a special product and in turn made Ford weary of bringing their other best sellers across the world.

I remember, Ford brought the global Fiesta with much fan fare amidst the "One World, One Ford" program but it was a disaster. Now, coming to think of it, I suppose, that development was a big setback as far as India was concerned

[ashis89]

Ford needs to launch few more global models from their portfolio, which are relevant for Indian market.

And launch a new Ecosport. Present one is too old, even though a brilliant piece of machine.

And refresh the Figo, Aspire and Freestyle trio. They look and feel too plain Jane in today's bling happy market.

And launch automatics across the range, petrol and diesel, in lower trims as well. Market is moving fast towards automatics.

They should have most of the technology in their arsenal. They just to manufacture and sell here at reasonable prices.

In the past, Ford India has worked on their service and improved it significantly. Now it has to work on its product line-up.

Originally Posted by TusharK

In FY2019, under his leadership, the company's revenue had grown from Rs. 19,000 crore to Rs. 24,000 crore.

Mr. Radhakrishnan will resume his role of Director, Manufacturing.

In 2020, Ford India's sales volume declined by 38% to 45,799 units. The company market share dropped below 2%.

Off topic:
How come selling 74000 units (before a decline of 38%) in year will give revenue of Rs. 24,000 crores? Each car should have an ex-factory price of 32L to achieve such numbers!

Am I missing something? Export numbers maybe?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by ashis89

How come selling 74000 units (before a decline of 38%) in year will give revenue of Rs. 24,000 crores? Each car should have an ex-factory price of 32L to achieve such numbers!

Am I missing something? Export numbers maybe?

That is exactly what you are missing. For example global production of the Ecosport is done from India.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by hserus

Just who bought the All New Fiesta when it was launched except a few enthusiasts? And how many profits do you think Ford is going to get if they bring cars to enthusiast tastes and solid build but don’t appeal to the bling chrome and kitna deti hai crowd?

Fair enough. But how does one justify the paltry 2 lit single turbo engine in the Endeavour, which is a lovely product otherwise? Why couldn't they have offered it at least as an option in the 4x4 variants? Isn't this a half-hearted approach towards the Indian market?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by spr1ngleo

His hiring for the top job indicates Ford is here to stay for a couple of more years?

He had been the Ford india GM for a long time before he moved to head up the Ford Mahindra JV. Now the JV is wound up he's back with Ford. Not exactly "hired for the top job", he's just returning to it.

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Fair enough. But how does one justify the paltry 2 lit single turbo engine in the Endeavour, which is a lovely product otherwise? Why couldn't they have offered it at least as an option in the 4x4 variants? Isn't this a half-hearted approach towards the Indian market?

170 ps and 420 Nm engine where the old Duratorq 3.2 was 160 ps and 385 Nm and there's no shortage of threads calling that old engine a beast. And now there are complaints that this new engine is paltry just because it is powered less than the international bi turbo version? Putting that in a 2 ton vehicle on our typical Indian roads would be .. let us just say that an experienced driver would be needed, not the average bullbar, aux horns and politician flag type.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by hserus

170 ps and 420 Nm engine where the old Duratorq 3.2 was 160 ps and 385 Nm and there's no shortage of threads calling that old engine a beast. And now there are complaints that this new engine is paltry just because it is powered less than the international bi turbo version? Putting that in a 2 ton vehicle on our typical Indian roads would be .. let us just say that an experienced driver would be needed, not the average bullbar, aux horns and politician flag type.

I'm afraid you need to get your facts right, mate The figures quoted by you are for the 2.2 lit Duratorq engine. The 3.2 made 197 bhp and 470 NM.

While the power/torque figures of the 2 lit single turbo engine are impressive in isolation, it is certainly not a worthy powerhouse for a super heavy SUV that the Endeavour is! After spending 40+ lac on a so called premium SUV, I'd want more than average/adequate performance for sure. Ford shied away from getting the bi-turbo engine to India whereas it is available in all other markets. Why? Even Ford authorized dealers admit that it is a blunder on Ford India's part.

As if this was not enough, Ford deleted key features like ANC, rear heater, etc. Now who does this on their flagship product?

I love Ford's products but somewhere their strategy is going grossly wrong.

[Sebring]

I sincerely wish Ford achieves what Nissan India did under its new MD (Magnite being the first step). Overseas, ford has a fantastic line-up of products, with an enviable R&D. They just need to put their heads together and come up with a plan. Wishing the new MD much success!

[hserus]

My mistake on the 2.2 vs 3.2 figures. Still - the progressive feature deletion is the sad tale of every good car that lands on the Indian market.

The first Gen i20 had all 4 disc brakes, sunroof, abs and all the rest. After progressive deletion over the years Hyundai finally restored most of these features

Let’s hope Ford does this too sooner rather than later