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Old 9th September 2021, 21:09   #121
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

Though we knew such a day would come with all the news doing the rounds still recommended the Ford Fiesta Automatic to one of my friend who is in look out for a non AMT hatchback which is also fun to drive yet cheap to maintain.

Also remembering driving Ford Escort from Bangalore to Coorg, one of thier first cars in India.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:10   #122
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

Was considering buying an EcoSport last year but after repeated calls to the dealer for a test drive to which I got no positive response, I bought a Brezza.

Now I thank the lax attitude of that dealer which put me off.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:22   #123
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

Well, this news will help me in remapping my car before the warranty ends, who knows Ford will vanish before warranty ends
Honestly, as an owner I was prepared for it. With no recent launches (not talking about mere facelifts), half baked efforts to shift to BS6 norms and service centres shutting down. All indicated towards the news of Ford not continuing in India.
A positive I could see is owning a BS4 Ford TDCi instead of DPF troubled BS6. I just don’t want to imagine situation of BS6 diesel owners and no company left for helping them after a while maybe? I will take Ford comments about providing service and honouring warranty claims with a pinch of salt.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:26   #124
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

I still cannot believe this. I currently own old Endavour and Ecosport. Also owned ikon and fiesta earlier. As a ford fan boy this news really broke my heart.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:26   #125
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

Sad news indeed. They made some really good products that stood the test of time. 8 years after launch, the Ecosport was still considered a cool car till this news struck.

I would really urge anyone contemplating a Ford car at this stage to stay away. My mother had a Fiat Punto 2015 model and we tried to get it services last week. Routine service costs a bomb (Rs. 13000) and it took 6 days for the service to be completed as there is only one authorized service center left in Chennai and they are overcrowded with cars for service and parts have long lead times. The manufacturer after exiting just keeps a bare bones service network just to escape any lawsuits on account of reneging commitments to customers on service continuity.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:28   #126
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

From Ford’s perspective it makes no sense to stay invested in India. The average middle class income has not gone up as expected 10 years ago. Economic growth is down and the pandemic has only made things worse. While many graduate from the lower class to the middle class, the transition from the lower middle class to upper middle or upper class is not happening. With high taxes on the “luxury product” that is a car, the first thing middle class people do is look at the price of the car and it’s relative size. Ford will never win on that front. It is understandable why Ford decided to give up rather than bleed further money. It will be inevitable that there will be more companies leaving if this pandemic does not end globally soon. It’s a matter of when not if.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:30   #127
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

A question to be asked now after this recent debacle of manufacturers leaving India is that could Jeep be next in line? Their sales have hovered around the 1000 mark.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:32   #128
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

Quote:
Originally Posted by navpreet318 View Post
A question to be asked now after this recent debacle of manufacturers leaving India is that could Jeep be next in line? Their sales have hovered around the 1000 mark.
They are happy producing 2.0 diesel engines, which are consumed by Tata, MG etc.
They would be producing 7000-8000 engines every month.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:42   #129
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

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Originally Posted by mazealot View Post
She might be going for the Scross now .
There is a silver lining here. The S-Cross is supremely comfortable, built surprisingly well by MS standards, in general a fantastic car and she will not miss much vis-a-vis Ecosport except may be CSUV looks and tall-ish driving position. Only sour grape is MS being lazy about diesel engine and is busy pushing the petrol engine narrative down customer's throat. My sister is co-incidentally looking at something similar and after taking TDs of Sonet, Nexon, Venue and such, so far S-Cross felt the best..she is just not sure about the petrol engine (drives a diesel currently, and is fan of diesel engines). Let's see!

Back to thread, any brave souls call up Ford dealer and enquired about discounts?
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:45   #130
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

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Originally Posted by Akshay6988 View Post
Look at the only positive outcome of this - the ugly facelift of Ecosport will not be coming
That, and the fact that the used car market will now be flooded with people selling their Endeavours. If you ever fancied owning a Endeavour 3.2 but could never afford one, here’s your chance to grab a sparingly used one for cheap (yes, Ford’s resale value is gonna TANK!)

Heck, even the Mustang which was already a disaster of a depreciating car will now finally be affordable. Enthusiasts will now be in a dilemma, should they go for a brand new Octavia 1.8 TSI, or a pre-worshipped V8 beast!
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:45   #131
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

Well it is quite sad to hear about Ford's exit.
I'm not really worried about the service at-least for the next few years.
But resale value will surely take a hit.

To cheer Ford loyalist's here, I finally picked this one up after years of searching.

I knew Ford was most likely to shut shop, but did it matter when I was looking at one of the best handling cars out there? Nope, not for a minute.
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Ford stops manufacturing cars in India-img20210905172500.jpg  

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Old 9th September 2021, 21:51   #132
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

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Originally Posted by souvikjana83 View Post
Ecosport is good and it still sells in decent numbers but I can say the backseat is not wide enough for 3 adults on a long journey. Anyone spending 10 lakhs will expect 3 people to sit comfortably in the back seat and hence has a higher probability of picking Vitara Brezza over Ecosport this being primary reason and the assured reliability of Maruti.
I too was one of them who wanted to go in for Ecosport. Unfortunately, their rear seat is contoured in such a way that three adults couldn't sit comfortably. I had taken my family to test out the back seat, and they felt it was a pretty tight squeeze. i20 and Jazz were much better even though they had similar dimensions. The contour of back seat , especially near seats was such that it couldn't seat 3 adults. Finally went in for Jazz.

Was thinking Ford would launch an Ecosport refresh or a competitor in Creta class. Unfortunately, that was not to be. It is surprising as Ford is focusing on SUVs in US market, and they still couldn't find a SUV for Indian market from their portfolio.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:55   #133
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

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.

My 2015 Sail sedan is still doing great and drives like a charm.

The Chevrolet authorised service centre in my city is good and till date I have not faced a problem with servicing or spares.

Like Chevrolet, Ford has sold many cars, so availability of spares should not be an issue for the next couple of years.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:56   #134
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

Quote:
Originally Posted by navpreet318 View Post
A question to be asked now after this recent debacle of manufacturers leaving India is that could Jeep be next in line? Their sales have hovered around the 1000 mark.
Always a possibility. In fact, this was doing the rounds today -

Ford stops manufacturing cars in India-img20210909wa0063.jpg

But, on the other hand -

1. Jeep is selling 1000 units of a very profitable product, whereas Ford had around 150 units of the Endeavour and rest of the sales coming from low margin products.

2. Jeep is using India as a production hub. Ford couldn't do that because they were banking heavily on a working partnership with Mahindra and they weren't making any of the global products here.

3. Jeep is getting some side revenue from engine sales to TATA (Harrier and Safari) and MG (Hector). And those products are doing reasonably well.

4. FCA India is not accumulating losses like Ford did. Looks like they had a profit-after-tax of 190 crores last year and 367 crores the year before. (Source)

5. FCA is part of a larger organisation now (Stellantis) and with new brands like Citroen just starting to set shop in India - it won't be possible to just leave as easy as Ford currently did. For example - FIAT is not around anymore, but hasn't made much of a difference on the dealer experience and in a way it has even improved.

6. Once the Mahindra plan failed, Ford didn't have a future portfolio that's relevant for India to keep them sinking the next few years. Whereas Jeep is looking to bring the Commander / Meridian and some rumoured small SUV in the next couple of years.

Last edited by CrAzY dRiVeR : 9th September 2021 at 22:03.
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Old 9th September 2021, 21:56   #135
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re: Ford stops manufacturing cars in India

Heartbroken & sad to see Ford exit India.

On the other hand, I would like to thank Ford for giving us the best driver's cars coupled with reliability, low cost of service & spare parts.

At the moment, I've decided to keep my EcoSport for as long as I can. With support from Ford dealers & Team-BHP members.

1 thing I observed. When any foreign major exits our market in any sector, the loss is ours, not theirs. Shows how doing business in India is not-so-easy.

As for the enthusiasts, India is not the market/country to enjoy cars/bikes due to so many factors already pointed out by many members here in various other threads.

Last edited by Bhupesh_2628 : 9th September 2021 at 22:03.
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