[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by 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.

Spot on. Was just wondering if an Indian brand would have to exit the US market, will the US customers react in the same way. Hell no. They care two hoots about an Indian brand and here we are pouring in obituaries. Some learned friends blame the customer for Ford's exit. That is the funniest part of this entire fiasco. Ford is not at fault here, the Indian customer has no taste. Maruti/Hyndai/Kia/M&M/TATA are just hanging around by pure luck. They don't experiment, they don't bring in new products, they don't up the standards on safety and yet the only company that has done all this winds up. Such brutal Indian customers.

[Geta]

MOD NOTE : Please use the EDIT or QUOTE+ (multi-quote) button instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD! Thanks.

I came across this interesting read today. Most of which we already knew, plus some insights.

https://m.rediff.com/business/specia...a/20210921.htm

Excerpt:

///India has a differentiated tax structure that is skewed heavily in favour of small cars.

Cars less than four metres in length and engine of up to 1.2 litres attract a duty of 29 per cent (28 per cent GST and 1 per cent cess).

Imposts on larger vehicles (longer than four metres and with engine capacity higher than 1.2 litres) can go up to 50 per cent.

“Nowhere else in the world do you have this kind of structure,” Shekar Viswanathan, former vice chairman at Toyota Kirloskar Motor, points out.

Even if you do have a small car, the volumes have to be high enough to justify the profit per car, he adds.

For instance, to earn the profit equivalent to what Toyota earned by selling one Innova, the Japanese carmaker had to sell 80 units of the Etios, a compact sedan it phased out in April 2020 ahead of the emission change*over for this very reason.

Ford tried capturing the segment with the Figo and General Motors with the Spark.

But the volumes were nothing close to what the companies had plan*ned.///

Originally Posted by Raghu M

Was just wondering if an Indian brand would have to exit the US market, will the US customers react in the same way. Hell no. They care two hoots about an Indian brand and here we are pouring in obituaries.

This is not the right analogy as India is not equal yet to the US when it comes to automotive engineering. The right comparison will be if BMW or Toyota exit the US market due to mounting losses. Hell yes, obituaries will pour there, I bet.

Cheers!

[AG86]

Came across an interesting article below from Rushlane. It seems Ford India expects a reduction in the dealership networks in the coming years.



Some stock clearance also happening.



Source
https://www.rushlane.com/ford-ecospo...-12413052.html

[volkman10]

2022 Ford EcoSport Loses 1.0 EcoBoost Engine Option.

Just a single engine will be available for the final model year of the crossover in the US.

the little crossover will remain on sale in the United States only until mid-2022, and a new report says it will be available with just one engine during its final year on the market.

Once it goes out of sale, Ford’s entry-level model for the US will be the Maverick.


Link

[AZT]

Originally Posted by Geta

For instance, to earn the profit equivalent to what Toyota earned by selling one Innova, the Japanese carmaker had to sell 80 units of the Etios, a compact sedan it phased out in April 2020 ahead of the emission change*over for this very reason.

I wonder if this ratio would also hold for an Alcazar vs an i10. This is more a testament of how much premium the Innova is able to charge and why it's so difficult to build volume competing against Maruti.

[TorqueIndia]

The primary reason for this exit looks like the break up with Mahindra and Ford had no backup plans. Ford was fairly successful than many of its existing competitors. Only new Figo twins went bad for them right ? Even the old Ecosport was selling well and they were consistent in exports for years too.

Ford sold around 3.25 lakhs of Ecosports in the local market. Current gen Endeavour was consistently doing 800-1000 units.

Toyota too were in a very similar situation but now they are keeping their dealers safe with sales of Maruti products. Ford too was following the same strategy but Mahindra backed from it. Wonder why didn't Ford tried it with TML, after all that D8 platform was ford derived right?.

Now I'm concerned about all brands doing less than 10,000 units per month in less than 20 lakhs bracket.

[Vid6639]

Why are Endeavour customers panicking especially in Bangalore:

https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...ndeavour.html/

https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...ndeavour.html/

https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...ndeavour.html/

3 Endeavours for sale in less than 10 days. Also of interest is Endeavour owners looking at BMW or already have a BMW or Mini.

[Sebring]

Because I guess the writing's on the wall. Even as my friend tries to sell his Endeavour, dealers are saying 'Company left, so resale low'. Just an excuse to quote rock bottom, and this sets off an avalanche

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Why are Endeavour customers panicking especially in Bangalore

[MCR]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Why are Endeavour customers panicking especially in Bangalore:

3 Endeavours for sale in less than 10 days. Also of interest is Endy owners looking at BMW or already have a BMW or Mini.

The sad reality is nobody would be willing to plonk big money in a high depreciation car like Endeavour. That too after Ford has decided to exit India and everyone knows that 2 years down the lane, these cars can not be even sold for half the price as demanded in the classified ads.

One can get a very well maintained Fortuner for the same money and expect a "return on investment" like, lower service cost, peace of mind and can also expect a good resale value 4-5 years down the lane.

Its just easy and simple for a new car buyers to just stick to the Manufacturers who have good sales and have built cars to the liking of Indian Customers.

Ford did it with Ecosport and First Generation Figo, but sadly they slept afterwards.

[gloriole]

More development at Ford, Anurag Mehrorta quits !

https://www.autocarpro.in/news-natio...rd-india-80091

[400notout]

I had booked an Ecosport in July along with selling my 15 year old Honda City to Bhavna Ford Nerul, Navi Mumbai. All in all I had 90k deposited against my name at the dealership.

Then the news broke out on 9th September. I was worried but decided to call my SA day after as it was Ganesh chathurthi the next day. On 11th September I called him up and asked him calmly about how we should proceed. He said refunds should be sorted from next week onwards. I felt bad for those people, Bhavna would absorb most of the guys to their Kia dealership. I kept following up without being too hard and the SA assured me the amount would be credited next week.

Today, on the 24th, the amount was credited to my account. I appreciate the manner in which the dealership despite whatever stress they are facing, cleared my refund within 2 weeks. And I didn't need to pressurize them one bit. All in all the booking, TD and refund experience was very smooth. Its a pity I couldn't experience the delivery and ownership experience.

Having owned a Chevrolet earlier, one thing I know is that they still have an operating service centre. And I still see familiar faces there. This happens because the dealership is owned by a company which usually has more showrooms of other brands too. Such big companies manage to take care of their sales and service staff.

I'm sure servicing a Ford should not be a big issue, atleast in cities. Even if service centres wind up, spare parts will not be an issue in the coming decade. Just keep calm while dealing with the employees, it's a tough time for them too.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Why are Endeavour customers panicking especially in Bangalore:

https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...ndeavour.html/

https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...ndeavour.html/

https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...ndeavour.html/

3 Endeavours for sale in less than 10 days. Also of interest is Endeavour owners looking at BMW or already have a BMW or Mini.

The first ad is mine and I can speak for same.

1. My car is 5.5 years old, I was planning to hold on for some more time and get an EV as upgrade, but with Ford exit I am thinking of preponing and get one last ICE car.
2. Is Ford exit a concern? Frankly for a year I don't see a major problem other than letting people know I still get service. Problem is service quality/parts availability will only go down as we push longer. Even when Ford was selling well, parts inventory was not good with many dealers. For instance radiator hose of my Endeavour took about a week. While Ford sold Endeavour in decent number, good chunk of parts were imported.
3. Depreciation- This is not a major concern as the car has depreciated enough and if I keep for another couple of years, I might lose another 10L. But that said how Ford runs the show especially in smaller cities will decide how bad depreciation is. I don't want to write off the car 2 years down the line.
4. Case of Endeavour is slightly different than Figo/Ecosport. While there is bigger market for Ecosport Figo, Endeavour market is smaller. Also Ford technician in general are not as confident as repairing an Ecosport.

Endeavour is a good car and I don't want to sell at throwaway price. I may end up driving it for another 5 years with poor service/brand reputation and write it off while I upgrade for a good EV.

Why BMW? Fortuner would have been my choice if Endeavour gets sold, but I already have one. Don't want Gloster and VW/Skoda is not my piece of cake(Though they make some fine cars). So next in line is Big 3. Audi is sinking which leaves me with BMW or Merc. Personally I see Merc as an chauffer driven car for an old man(Though in am not too young anymore and they too make some lovely cars and love the GLS/GLE) and hence BMW . Definitely don't want another brand that I see as sinking ship(Volvo/Lexus etc).

[Mach_1590]

Well, the news of the Ford exiting Indian market sure made me teary eyed since both of my current cars are from Ford. And being a 90s person and having driven cars like Mondeo, Fusion, Ikon and Fiesta, I sure always had soft corner for the American giant.

Having been said that, IMO Ford lost it sometime in middle of the last decade after the success of Ecosport. They did not launch any successive vehicle in the "affordable" segment with the Ford DNA. The masses royally ignored the Figo and the cars based on it even when they had the amazing 1.5L TDCi and still had very less desirability. They did not launch any vehicle between Ecosport and Endeavour which again, was a void which was needed to be filled asap. I recently got Ecosport, I would have gone ahead and happily bought a Creta rivalling Ford if they had one.

While its being said that the loss of jobs will hurt Indian economy due to the manufacturers shutting shops, I disagree that it is solely India's problem which is causing them to leave. These manufacturers simply couldn't adapt to the market. If it was majorly India's problem, we wouldn't be seeing OEMs entering the Indian market at the same time and making profits.

I am not letting any of my current cars(Ecosport and Endeavour) go since it will be a depreciation disaster and the cars that can actually replace Endeavour are twice the price at the least.

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by DriveOnceMore

Ford made great cars except the new Figo twins

I beg to differ. Except for the outdated dash the new Figo hatch with the TDCi engine is a really good car. I was actually planning to buy one. I had done a comparison between the Figo TDCi Titanium Blu and the Altroz XZ and found that for my needs it was the better car. Lowering springs, 17" wheels from the Ecosport and a nice remap was all that it needed and would still be cheaper (after mods) than a stock Altroz.

Originally Posted by Mr.Ogre

Ford Figo diesel was my last car in India.

What you had is exactly what I'm looking for in the used market.

Originally Posted by anb

Ford used to provide such cars. Figo is cheaper than swift, even lesser maintenance and a very good reliability. The same goes for Ecosport as well.

+1

Originally Posted by TusharK

Car dealerships in India are shocked by Ford's announcement

There are about 170 Ford dealers in the country with around 391 outlets. Dealers have invested approximately Rs. 2,000 crore in setting up their dealerships. While Ford India employs 4,000 people, dealerships are said to employ around 40,000 individuals.

Goa recently got a new Dealer (Most of you must have heard about it from the thread about the fake rat damage on the Ecosport). Don't know how much they invested. The premises was earlier a Fiat Dealership followed by a Nissan Dealership.

Ford India dealers currently have about 1,000 vehicles in stock, which amounts to around Rs. 150 crores via inventory funding. The dealerships have hundreds of demo cars as well.

That's not too much and should be easy to sell off.

Originally Posted by Starfire

(yes, Ford’s resale value is gonna TANK!)

Not yet. People are still quoting high prices.

[gloriole]

Originally Posted by 400notout

I appreciate the manner in which the dealership despite whatever stress they are facing, cleared my refund within 2 weeks.

Certainly can relate to this. I was looking for a Ecosport AT this July and initially delivery time quoted was 120 days. To be on safer side, booked ES AT with 3 different dealerships in Pune. With rumour of Ford closing down India operations, also booked a Venue DCT as a backup plan.

Fortunately got the delivery of ES from one of the dealers in August. Other two Ford dealers were very prompt in refunding the booking amount. However, had a hard time getting the money back from Hyundai dealer, required multiple follow-ups.