[Yieldway17]

It's always sad to see a car logo disappear from the market. I live near their Chennai plant and the neighborhood is anchored by the plant and its various parts suppliers. Hope the plant is sold to another OEM and the ecosystem is retained instead of the investments going down the drain. I also hope the employees of the plant and suppliers all land alternate jobs. It will be sad to see the plant sold as a real estate transaction and yet another soulless office park come in its place.

[qaqa]

As a happy EcoSport user since the last three years, it is quite sad to hear news of Ford shutting down its India operations.

The EcoSport was the only car that ticked all my boxes - excellent seating comfort (very difficult to find for the tall ones like me), an excellent AT and compact size. I would struggle to find an alternative even in today's much more crowded market! I have only good things to say about my Ford experience so far. The product was great, service was good, and Ford management was helpful when warranty issues came up (for the tyres).

While I didn't intend to sell the car any time soon, Ford shutting down does mean that resale values down the line in future will be peanuts. That's a bitter pill to swallow especially when the car was easily commanding 10L+ resale values in Bangalore.

I only hope that the service centers don't start fleecing customers in their desperation to survive.

[Dry Ice]

Sad news.

I had nudged a friend to move from Dzire to Aspire a couple of years back. He used to still thank me whenever the topic came up. I wonder if it would change to curses now

On a serious note, it will be a huge blow to a lot of people and probably the least affected group would be the owners at this point. Think staff at factories, dealerships etc. I suspect many dealerships will switch or just shut shop once the inventories are all sold.

[parathmaniraja]

Ford had all potential in india when they launched EcoSport and first gen figo, but they missed to keep the momentum. It's Figo and Punto which had the best build and handling in the segment. The current portfolio is not so good except EcoSport and endeavour. Big loss to enthusiasts.

[sunikkat]

Such a shame Ford is leaving India. But then no one else to blame than Ford. They had such competent products in their line up and at lower price point and still could not capitalize on them. Lucky to own a Fiesta 1.6 S for 6 years and loved the car to every bit.

[hsingh]

A good product is always worth it, Moreover Ford will continue service operations so the owners should not not be worried about it.

I feel sorry for the Showroom staff and the Employees. Ford's decision seems very sudden.

[ulhas.ahirrao]

Having bought endeavour 6 months back, has it sadden me? For sure yes.

Am I fretting about service? Not really

Does any other car come to my mind when I look at my beast... Absolutely No.

I love driving it and will do so till it keeps on going.

[parrys]

MG & Kia should be a case study for Ford.

I guess Ford has been here longer than Hyundai.

Not cutting them any slack.

Yes, they did give us some competent cars.

So many praises. But where are the sales? Why haven't half the people who speak so highly about Ford cars, bought them?

The truth is, nobody (or very few) wanted them.

Sales don't lie.

[Kiran Joshi]

Hello, This is my first post on this wonderful forum. It's my privilege to be part of team bhp.
I own Ford Figo TDCI which has clocked 42000km and counting. It is wonderful car to drive in city and on highway as well. Such a pleasure every time I drive her.
Its sad to see exit of Ford from India. Ford has competent products and driver oriented cars abroad, but sadly Ford India had apathy to bring these to our shores. When I was searching for upgrading my Figo 2 years ago, I realized that Ford India portfolio is so scarce. So I settled for XUV 300. Similarly 2 months ago, I was looking for automatic car for wife for city commute but there were no signs of Figo automatic which was announced in 2020 itself. I purchased Jazz CVT instead.
So I feel inspite of having DNA of excellent handling in genes of their cars, Ford India could not capture good market share due to their own attitude of not updating their portfolio of cars on timely basis. They themselves are to be blamed for this outcome. But we are at loss also as we all will miss excellent driver's cars which were great value for money.

[officer416]

Originally Posted by Hayek

So Ford’s India foray has cost them USD 5 bn. Just tells you what a terrible regulatory policy framework we have in India. In sector after sector, foreign investors come in and lose their shirt. Autos has been a better sector - with Suzuki and Hyundai having done very well but a much larger list have lost money - Ford, GM, Fiat, Peugeot with Nissan, Renault, VW-Skoda on life support, and several others. Not good for the Indian customer or for the future of India.

It's not a regulatory framework issue when you as a company have no strategy to counter the competition. Ford quit Japan and Indonesia, GM quit Australia and New Zealand, what happened there? Has Japan as a country or the consumers there suffered? Not at all. They left in 2016 and there is nothing to say that Auto industry there have gone downhill. By that logic after the collapse of Kingfisher and Jet Airways Indian travellers must be out options to fly.
We have got new entrants and more will follow, Ford left, but we got Jeep, MG, Kia, Citroen, Tesla is on its way in.
Companies are accountable for their own problems, can't go on blaming the environment for everything when others are doing just fine while you are going through life crisis.

[Manuuj]

I owned a 1999 GM Opel Astra 1.7 tdi till about 2003 (when it was replaced with a Toyota Qualis)
The Astra was a horrible vehicle. Really expensive to maintain and its engine seized due to the timing belt breaking on 3 different occasions. Yes THREE TIMES!!
That car was sent to a junkyard a few months after the Qualis had arrived in my driveway.

I was blown away by Toyota. Amazing service, cheap maintenance, rock solid reliability.

I swore to myself that i would never buy anything but Toyotas and especially never any American brand again.

In 2009 i upgraded to a Toyota Fortuner which some of you may know as Obelix and drove it for 9.5 amazing, pleasurable, rewarding years and well over 2.1 lac kms.
Had to sell it due to the 10 year rule in NCR.

When it came time to replace Obelix i did so with Apache, my 2019 model Ford Endeavour 3.2 liter 4x4 Automatic.

There were some niggling doubts before i took the plunge ofcourse.

I was giving up on my own promise to never buy an American brand again. How could I leave Toyota after being with them for 16 years?

Will i be able to trust any other manufacturer? What about the superb Toyota aftersales? Will anyone match up..specially an American brand?

A couple of test drives and all my doubts were gone with the wind blowing in through the panoramic sunroof.
The powerful 3.2 liter engine and hush quiet, well appointed cabin transported my doubts and misgivings far far away.

This car felt far superior to my 2009 model Fortuner. The Endeavour felt refined and smooth. The interiors were beautiful and quiet, the steering precise and light.
The Sync3 system was superb and very very convenient to use with Android Auto and Apple Car Play ( the 2019 models of Fortuner did not have even this basic thing on offer).

Thus i took the plunge on 12th June 2019. The first of many roadtrips was on 16th June 2019 and i fell in love with it.

So much so that by September we were on our fourth roadtrip in it and this one was to Spiti where the roads are much worse than Ladakh. It was an amazing trip with the familiar rough roads and water crossings.

The Endeavour handled it all superbly and by the end of that trip i was fully converted to Ford.

The car gave me confidence to do these kind of trips. All my doubts were now gone.

As i write this today it has done just a shade over 40,000 kms and i am truly delighted with it.

Todays news on Fords exit is a sad one.

The products are amazing. It is the Management and Marketing that has led Ford down.

Am i worried? Was it a mistake to go for Ford over the ever reliable Toyota brand? Am i regretting my decision??

The answer to that is a resounding NO.

I now happen to own a Facelifted, 2019 model, 3.2 liter engine, 4x4 Endeavour that is going to be a very rare thing.

Parts and service will be available for 10 years atleast. Do not have any doubts on that front.

..and resale? What resale? In 10 years i have to scrap it anyway.

So I am going to enjoy this beast to the fullest over the next 8 years.

And if you own a Ford..you should too

[nickatnite]

Sad to see a major American marque leave the indian market. Ford has an excellent product portfolio in Europe and their UK rhd cars could have been homologated here and they could have succeeded.

[hashbro]

This is very sad at a personal level.

I got my first taste of a fun-to-drive car in India via a 1st gen Ford Figo from ZoomCar. She was so stable on the highway, felt confident, the driving dynamics, power of the 1.5L diesel, safe built. I almost bought a Freestyle.

My friend was so impressed that he bought one pre-worshiped 1st Gen Figo for himself. After that he bought another EcoSport as well.

Now, once the rumor's started floating that Ford might wind up in India, he was worried. Now that it's official, it's time to think.

[Singh101]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Like the bowtie, I have no sympathy for the blue oval. Lacklustre product line-up, no aggression in product strategy, plain complacency and to top it all off, ego by the Endeavour-loads.

Blaming it on the government or the junta is hilarious. Cry, flip over tables, laugh, smile, whatever. Fact is that it's curtains for them because they messed up. Period.

The EcoSport set the benchmark of what all sub4m SUVs should aspire (heh) to be like.

What did Ford do with all that momentum? Sit back and watch the Tata Nexon dance away with their golden girl.

I wonder what happens in the minds of the people who were responsible for holding back Sync3 for so long and ever after bringing it, shuffling their feet around variants trying to pinch pennies when they realise that their decision might've been the turning point where their castle fell.

I wonder how the team responsible for deletion of active noise cancellation in the Endeavour feels right now. Was it the right call? How about the breathless 2L in a ~40L on-road, massive SUV? Was that a good move when playing in that segment?

Did no Ford employee ever sit in an i20? Or did they, and come out of it thinking "Yep, we're definitely doing this right. No problems here!"

No crossover to compete with the Creta. Kia probably looked at Ford scratching their behinds looking bored and said "Well if you're not gonna, I might as well."

Psssh no problem! The (aging) EcoSport will hold up the bottom end and the (fledgling) Endeavour the top. A couple (overpriced) Mustangs thrown in there and we're golden, baby!

I guess not, Ford. I guess not.

[VWAllstar]

Coincidence? (Picture)

Ford cars never had good resale value, now with such a news the value must have gone minimum.

As a Ford owner, I feel we wont have issues for another 5 years. However, we have to wait on the reaction by dealers who must be having sleepless nights now.