[Mafia]

Nissan and more so Renault turned around their business on one or two good models that are priced well.

Ford was around longer. They have a bigger diverse portfolio. If they wished, they could have achieved more success.

You will have excuses or results. The American brands have proven that they cannot be trusted to slog it out in tough times.

This makes Marutis stand seem more sensible in terms of updates and safety.

Goodbye Ford. You will be missed.

[karan561]

Announcement;

On this auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi, earlier today I SOLD my Ford Ecosport 1.5L DCT & handed over the keys of my car to the new owners.



^ Here's a pic clicked during the delivery & we all have Happy faces

[Jaggu]

Source:

Chennai: Ford’s decision to shut down manufacturing in India will impact nearly 45,000 to 50,000 jobs including its own assembly lines as well as at vendor factories, dealerships and workshops.

The company said that it employs nearly 4,000 people, directly, at its factories who will have to go. The silver lining will be a separation scheme which could offer some financial solace.

“Ford will work closely with employees, unions, suppliers, dealers, government, and other stakeholders in Chennai and Sanand to develop a fair and balanced plan to mitigate the effects of the decision,” the company said in a statement.

But beyond the assembly line, the hit is much bigger. “There are around 170 dealers who in-turn have around 391 outlets and have invested around Rs 2,000 crore setting up their dealerships. These dealerships employ around 40,000 people — what happens to them?,” said FADA (auto dealers body) president Vinkesh Gulati. Even in the plant, the severance package is not likely to be very lavish. Ford employs around 2,000 odd people in its Maraimalainagar factory. Union sources say the severance settlement being discussed is likely to be around Rs 6-8 lakh per person which works out to a year's wages. Ford India MD & president Anurag Mehrotra said that the company will “retain 100% of dealer partners in the service network” and work with “potential buyers to make sure the deal covers both assets and employees”. However, that hasn’t mitigated the uncertainty over job losses.

Ford has clarified that the 11,000 people employed at the Ford Business Solutions will continue and this business will be ramped up. Besides, more than 500 employees at the Sanand Engine plant will continue to make engines for the global Ranger pickup and 100 employees will support parts distribution and customer service. Beyond this, a section of employees will be needed for the transition till mid-next year but the rest will “be separated with an equitable and fair package,” said Mehrotra. The company will use the Smart Mobility business and Ford Business Solutions to place additional employees, he added. The company will start talking to its union and employees from next week.

[RijuC]

With due respect to all, nobody is touching upon some practical aspects. Many gave examples of Tata and Mahindra surviving in this tough market, and Ford loosing business.

Did we ever thought what Tata and Mahindra did? They have raised the quality and features of their cars. Tata and Mahindra had to elevate their level to achieve what they are now. Whereas, for Ford, to survive in this cut throat competition, they had to degrade from the level, their standard "Ford" level of quality, design, feature etc.

People who are engaged in large scale, mega size design, industry, product development etc. know and would understand the difficulty faced by Ford. All foreign conglomerates are facing this problem in India in almost all sectors. Quality and good design come against a cost. At the time of Indica and Indigo of Tata, Ford had their Fusion and Ikon, Fiesta etc. Indica/ Indigo became Zest/ Tiago/ Tigor now, but Ford had to deliver the present Figo and Aspire which I believe most of the TBhpians would agree- they are not of true Ford DNA.

Well, I am not good in writing the things elaborately. This is also from my experience, what I am seeing in Indian industry (different sector), working as design engr with 150 year old Jap conglomerate for 8 years. These big names just can't degrade in order to survive in competition.

And sometimes the systems are tailor made favouring some particular entities.

[jeetumg27]

Ford marketing had such an interesting discovery series going on with Rishad Saam Mehta which I think would have contributed to the Endy’s sales or atleast generated a lot of interest. Watching that series made me feel that Ford still has some hope & would likely discontinue the lower range models, keeping the Ecosport & Endeavour alive.

Not sure if I should be glad or sad - while buying a compact SUV, I was wary of Ford wrapping up operations in India & thus skipped the Ecosport. It is the only compact SUV that offers a “proper” torque converter 6-speed automatic

[ashishmathur14]

Really sad news as I have always been a huge Ford follower primarily due to the build quality of their cars and fine driving experience.
My family still drives my first; 2013 Figo back home and its close to clocking 200K and still runs like new.
Ford did really with Figo, Aspire and much loved EcoSport but failed miserably to upgrade in a timely manner; Even when new Figo and Aspire were launched in 2015/16 it was pretty late as the previous generation Figo's had started to fade out in the market.

Ford continues to launch new models and facelifts in the European markets and still holds strong place in the sector of small hatches. Focus, Fiesta and Pulse are hugely popular in UK. I wish similar launches would have been done in India and I am sure customers would have loved their new Focus and Fiesta as the India market have started to understand the hatch culture.

A good opportunity, to get really good bargains in coming months on the existing cars in the showrooms; i will not shy away from getting a EcoSport or Aspire if good discounts are offered.

[Mysticeyes]

Whatever be the reasons for the exit of Ford, for people like me into early 40s now, Ford always had an emotional connect as they came with the Escort as we were sixteens, Ikon in eighteens, Fusion & Endeavor near mid-twenties, Fiesta & Figo in early thirties and the Ecosport soon. The Escort was a true aspiration at those times, the first step to owning a great American dream. The Ikon, through gave the real 'Josh' and the Fusion had some sort of captivating aura to it. The taste of 'real' Fords at those time came in courtesy to my Brother who had the Petrol & Diesel Ikons at same time, followed by the Fusion, Endeavour, Figo (1st Gen) & Ecosport. Personally, I had a great time with my 2014 Ecosport 1.5D and enjoying the 2018 AT (Facelift).


The beauty of journeys are the conversation - be it between people or between people & machines or between people & nature. The Machine brought the people closer/ together and also the people to nature. As Ford rides into the sunset in India (in the mass-market segment), I wish, there would be a sunrise again for them here.

[H0RSEPOWER]

Ford have started to pack their bags when the Mahindra joint venture was cancelled, now they just boarded the flight! I have told it to the prospective Ford buyers earlier also, that GM also did similar test run of upcoming camouflaged Beat just before their exit. Here Ford did the same with the so called Ecosport facelift. It was just an eyewash to give confidence to the customers in order to quickly sell the inventory.

I am reiterating what I have mentioned earlier in different thread also; we have to admit a fact that if one fails to evolve as per the local market & customer requirements, they would perish. Just because once they have made some wonderful cars earlier would not help them to stay afloat without proper upgradation. 15-20 years back Mitsubishi Lancer used to be enthusiasts choice for the sedan category, Pajero used to be choice for getting a butch BOF car, for powerful hatch people used to choose Fiat Palio 1.6. Just 10 years back, Chevy Cruze used to be the best diesel car in it’s class. But neither Mitsubishi nor Fiat nor Chevrolet sells car in India at today’s date. And still we do have good options to choose from some other home grown manufacturers(Tata, Mahindra) which used to sell mostly commercial vehicles in those days! Only nostalgic value & one car which is good but a decade old would not help to succeed in this competitive market.

It’s not like only unsafe cars are being sold here at today’s date. Incremental success of the safer cars from Tata & Mahindra proves the same. We have to admit bling works in Indian market, in order to mitigate the same Ford should have upped their game by adding more features while staying true to their core of good driving dynamics. They themselves got the taste of success during the launch of Ecosport by giving a great car at a very competitive price utilising the sub 4 metres rule. No one would complain if they get added features along with great driving characteristics! But Ford later chose the easier option of feature deletion to increase profit margins. They did not bother to do some new launches in different segments. And add to that the not so good service network, which is really important to get success in tier 2/3 cities & towns. If Mahindra can launch a car with advanced features & 200 bhp engine at 12 lakhs, they could also do something similar with a new platform! Even though someone loved, say a Mitsubishi Lancer, from the core of heart, would he buy the same now? I guess we know the answer.

[rameshnanda]

Some news coming about the Chennai Plant. Ford in talks with another Auto major to handover its Chennai plant.

https://www.business-standard.com/ar...1000456_1.html

[sunsetorange]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

Sad news indeed.

A tip for the Ford Owners from a Chevrolet owner.

Hold on to your cars. They are good cars and there is no point losing money in resale.

Makes sense as the resale value will only go down. Enjoy the ride and retain the car as long as you can.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Well, no Sales Head is going to say anything other than what he has told you.

Buddy, He did not speak his official language (usual sales talk). I know him for the past 10 years and he had explained their internal sales issues with Ford RSM etc., few times. Ford has improved its service levels to a great extent in the recent past and its escalation matrix is one of the best in that space.

Let me give another personal example also. My Figo's steering rack was replaced for its faulty oil seal leak (Rs 200 worth) and the total cost was 21k. I escalated to Ford Management and Rane Steering Systems. Rane called and explained clearly about the agreement with Ford on their child spare support. I took it up with Ford India and you can see the reply in the picture.

It took quite some time for Ford to understand the nuances of the Indian market including their plant operations. They clearly understand that some of the crucial mistakes were by them.

I strongly believe Ford will not leave its customers in the middle of the ocean.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by RGK

The existing service is going to continue with the availability of spares for the next 10 years. It is nothing wrong to buy a new one even now..

But why only for 10 years? Shouldn't it be for 15 years, which is what the vehicle registration validity is up to. (barring NCR's 10 yr old diesel vehicle ban)

[QuentinTino]

Ford India to make an Exit from India…..

Look who just got competitor-free in the segment once again!

[SkylineGTR]

I used to wonder why Dodge doesn't sell their vehicles in India. I guess this explains it. This will make it harder for any future American/European brands to enter India and do business. If Ford with its 20 year presence can just wrap things up and walk away, how can we trust anyone other than Maruti/Tata/Hyundai?

Originally Posted by poloman

Govt with 'kill the golden goose' kind of mentality are squarely responsible for the sad state of affairs.

Genuine question: Can you explain what government policies led to Ford's exit? Would be really interested to know.

[speedfreak01]

Just today when it was raining in Delhi at night. I decided to go on a short drive and thats when I spotted a black unregistered Ford Endeavour just cruising on the ring road. My first thoughts were, what the owner must’ve felt when he had first read the news instead of admiring the black beauty. The car definitely looked surreal driving slowly in the light drizzle.