[Sanidhya mukund]

As somebody who has owned and cherished a Ford Ikon for the past 21 years, the news of them quitting the mass market has made things rather gloomy for me. Just about a week back, I was about to purchase the Ecosport Trend Diesel in that lovely Canyon Ridge shade as a secondary car, but the exit rumours gave me cold feet at the last moment and I ended up picking a ‘herd’ car instead. The first week of ownership was filled with buyers remorse each time I saw an Ecosport on the road.

“What if it was just a rumour?”, I would think. Now that they have officially announced their exit from the mass market, my buyers remorse has eased a bit.

On an optimistic note, I may have missed the Ecosport this time, but when the time comes to replace my primary car a few years down the line, I hope Ford brings along some tasty cars and SUVs from their global lineup. I just hope that I keep getting the lovely support and easy availability of parts for my beloved Ikon from Ford and it’s dealers.

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
It’s loveliness increases; It will never pass into nothingness.” - John Keats

[pkk077]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

While it is sad to see Ford exiting India, I find it hilarious that people are blaming Govt, taxation and what not for Ford's failure.

What's the expectation from Ford here? To give you a 'Honda' Amaze or a 'Toyota' Etios? Why not simply buy a Maruti Dzire instead? Why do people want a Dzire with Honda or Toyota tag? (In fact, Toyota played smart and simply started rebadging Marutis if all that's what people want.)

IMO Ford did well not to give up on their core DNA. It's like asking Apple to manufacture 100$ iPhones because that's what the market wants.

[Sebring]

If Management comes up with wrong strategies, and if their cost structure is sky-high, what can the Government do? Others are thriving, right! At the beginning they give them large tracts of land at throw away prices, and that's the best they can stretch to help (Laying out the red carpet). Then market forces take over

Originally Posted by johy

When big car manufacturers exit - it is not a sign of an open economic environment in the country.

[Mr.Ogre]

I am afraid at this rate there wont be many manufacturers left. I strongly believe Honda will be next to either leave or reduce the footprint.

But, it will be wrong to blame just the Indian market. It is a global theme. Here in Australia too Holden (General Motors) shut down their shops. Honda has resorted to fixed price model, which expectedly caused further decline in sales. Ford is doing ok here, as they have some competent CSUVs, SUVs in their portfolio.

I think in all this, a common theme is whenever a manufacturer tried to deviate from its DNA, it hasn't been successful. Honda, Ford which were synonymous with fun to drive, lost some of that appeal when they tried to please everyone.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by pkk077

IMO Ford did well not to give up on their core DNA. It's like asking Apple to manufacture 100$ iPhones because that's what the market wants.

Then they should not have been here. It is not the government's job to handhold them forever and create a market for them. The rules are same for everybody in the market.

[Venkatesh]

Top Thanked Posts in the last 24 hours belongs to only one thread

(as of now)

[gargmudit]

Indeed very sad news. I own a FORD Ecosport and its such a good value for money car with very low maintainence cost. Was evalauating to upgrade my Vento with Endeavor but that options is closed now.

With new Tiguan (5 seater) getting delayed consistently and Endeavor out of picture, I am back to ground zero. Anyways its a topic for different thread.

Coming back to Ford's exit, I am hoping that VAG India 2.0 is a success and they don't take the same path few years down the line. India Auto industry needs strong German and Americal players in the market with decent share else only loosers will be the driving enthusiasts who want to look at options other than Korean and Japanese brands.

[eccentric]

Reminds me of the movie, 'The Dark Knight', where in the climax, Batman fades into oblivion!

Why is Ford leaving?

Who is Ford really?

Sometimes the basics like solid build, decent dynamics, capable engine, efficient braking, structural integrity aren't good enough! Sometimes people deserve more say ravishing looks, enigmatic road presence, wireless charging, panoramic sunroof, air purifier, branded ICE, LED lights and other multitude of feature lists.

I guess, Ford never aspired to compete in the ever-changing market rather remain in their own league and end this way. Also, they didn't (want to) build a product portfolio that either could retain its old customers or lure new customers into its family. There were gaping holes in the lineup. As an example, there was no 4m+ C-SUV that could have retained the existing EcoSport owners opting for an upgrade...

Has Ford died a hero or lived long enough to see itself become the villain?

[Electromotive]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Really sad. ... So Ford’s India foray has cost them USD 5 bn. Just tells you what a terrible regulatory policy framework we have in India. ...Telecom companies (Vodafone, Telenor, Batelco, AT&T, Sistema, Axiata et al) lost billions (likely upwards of USD 20 bn down the drain even without counting the liabilities of Vodafone Idea)... Not good for the Indian customer or for the future of India.

I don't think it is fair to blame the govt. for Ford's exit. Rules in the auto sector are fair enough and don't particularly favor any manufacturer. It was Ford's unwillingness to give the consumer what they wanted that sealed their exit. How do you explain Kia's meteoric rise or the okay-ish success of the Nissan Magnite?

Ford's issue is two fold:
1. Unwillingness and lethargy to take the Indian market seriously like Hyundai+Kia, and create value offerings designed for the Indian market.

2. The herd mentality of Indians (but that's changing)

So yeah, Ford only have themselves to blame. They could have pulled a Magnite or a Seltos but weren't willing to compromise or do their homework.

I do agree with you that the govt. and its bureaucracy is quite incompetent and short-sighted when it comes to making sustainable, business friendly rules and their greed has been responsible for the bloodbath in the telecom sector.

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by pkk077

What's the expectation from Ford here? To give you a 'Honda' Amaze or a 'Toyota' Etios? Why not simply buy a Maruti Dzire instead? Why do people want a Dzire with Honda or Toyota tag? (In fact, Toyota played smart and simply started rebadging Marutis if all that's what people want.)

IMO Ford did well not to give up on their core DNA. It's like asking Apple to manufacture 100$ iPhones because that's what the market wants.

Did anyone force people to buy Ecosport, it was a big success because Ford introduced a model which was relevant to the market and people's need.
Post Ecosport, only Endeavour came close to being called a success.

What did Ford do with these success, sat on it and patted their backs and did nothing to take advantage of the momentum they gained in the market.

No body is asking Ford to give up on it's core strength, all they needed was to play to their strength and introduced good SUVs for which the market is crazy for. There are global models from Ford which compete with Creta, Seltos and XUV500, what was stopping them from introducing them in India.

Before Magnite, Nissan India was on its death bed, one relevant product has given it a lifeline. Now it all depends on how Nissan will utilise it and stay relevant in the market.

In between all this gloom, Ford India really did bring in best practices to rectify public perception on it's products being expensive to maintain.
I have been a Ford customer and am pleasantly surprised by the top notch service quality and the costs.
Believe me, maintaining my Ford Ecosport is much cheaper than my wife's Ignis. Also my Ecosport was a Diesel powered and the Ignis is petrol.

All in all, a lackluster leadership and myopic view of Indian market did them in. Post Mahindra-Ford JV failure, the Ford India management did not receive any further support from the global headquarters.

The writing was clear on the wall that Ford has committed a blunder and it is now facing the consequences of it's action or rather inaction.


Offtopic:
The used car market has taken notice and I am seeing a weird trend which is opposite of any logic.
I was checking Cars24 yesterday for Ecosport's value, it quote 5.98 for a car in excellent condition. Today morning, the number was 6.9L and now it is showing 7.9-8.27L for the same values.
Might be the pricing algorithms correcting itself due to an increased interest for Ecosport after the news came out.

[Torque_Cruiser]

I have always like the Endeavour and yesterday around noon got calls from a dealer around noon. I am in two minds whether I should prepone my purchase by a year by driving a hard bargain with dealer. My heart says I should head to showroom now whereas my head is suggesting that it may not be worth the service issues that I may have to face later and hence I should buy the Fortuner next year

Should i go with my heart or head?

[Ragavsr]

Having owned a Ford Figo (2012 Diesel ZXI), from September 2014 to October 2020, it was a bitter sweet experience.

The ride quality, handling, comfort, stability was all top notch and the car was a hoot to drive as long as it didn't breakdown.I bought the car at 48k kms and sold it at 97K kms and the overall reliability left a lot to be desired.

While a few people who I spoke to were of the opinion that such heavy maintenance issues were common, the previous Japanese or Korean vehicles simply didn't require that sort of maintenance as they aged. Maybe, my expectations are a bit different and I am better served by a Toyota like vehicle with stellar reliability. I swore off buying Ford cars after the experience and now have purchased a XUV300.

[Azalactone]

Ford atleast tried hard to succeed in the Indian market unlike General Motors.

Unlike General Motors which brought in cheap Chinese cars, Ford actually brought good products. GM's exit in India had tarnished the reputation of American brands.

I fear next in line will be Jeep, they just have 1 product which they are depending on for sales.

I feel in the coming years only Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, Tata, Mahindra will be remaining.

Toyota and Honda are sleeping since ages. Honda is just not what it use to be. Toyota is dependent only on 2 expensive producs.

Fiat and Mitsubishi are dead.

Renault/Nissan's long term success is yet to come.

VW/Skoda are producing good products but expensive which the average Indian family will never buy.

MG may succeed in the long term.

The way Peugeot exited, I seriously doubt Citroen will be here for long. Joint Ventures between European/American companies and Indian companies just don't work.

The Europeans/Americans just can't be trusted. Peugeot,GM, Harley Davidson and now Ford are classic examples.

It's quite sad that Ford is leaving. I remember as a kid in 1990s that Leander Paes was the brand ambassador of the Ford Escort. There was a ad in Reader's Digest with Leander Paes handing over the keys of a Ford Escort to a Sikh gentleman.

I always felt Ford was far better than GM and really hoped to buy a Ford Ecosport as a replacement for my Swift. But I guess it won't happen now.

[Vyas]

A year ago, I purchased Ford Ecosport(Petrol) after selling my Hyundai i20, I am quite satisfied with the build quality and its value for money. Am I going to plan to sell it? Big No! I will not think of selling until it gives major troubles that are not with fixing. Although sad to see the exit, I am sure Ford won't leave its customers on their own when it comes to service.

[jithin23]

I personally feel that Ford was one of the few brands which didn't cut corners in India and pioneered with the airbags, ABS and rear wipers in the mass market cars such as figo gen 1. Their bane was also because of the constant feature shuffle in their portfolio every alternate month.

Though I had anticipated this earlier in Feb by the way their customer emails were being sent, I never knew this would happen too soon. Ford definitely did give some truly amazing cars which were fun to drive, frugal, efficient and safe, all in one package. Sad too see that due to their lack of not keeping pace with the market despite having brilliant cars as well as a huge parts bin globally and of course our obnoxious taxes, the legend disappears into the sunset.

The only thing I dreaded might come true soon, monopoly or duopoly of a select Asian carmakers in India and they might dictate the quality standards we need to get in India. For the homegrown bad boys(actually better ones)(M&M and Tata), sunny days are ahead and they can go all out on provide a better car ownership experience.

I'm afraid the next to bite the bullet will be VAG group (except Audi and Lamborghini).

I'm not quite concerned about resale because I'm keeping my ecosport for as long as it keeps living (I mean till it goes to scrap or 15 years). And it's quite tough to find a worthy replacement for an EcoSport.

Service wise, Ford parts can be sourced locally and globally and the TDCi is a known engine to most garages. Some parts like TPMS can be used from M&M's parts too. Only the petrol owners might face a bit of a challenge in long term maintenance.

On the flipside, those who want a car and wish to keep it for 10+yrs, expect a juicy discount on a Ford now.

Till then, I'll enjoy the times with my blue baby to its maximum and try adding features what Ford couldn't provide in the first place

A famous dialogue from a Tamil movie which I can relate to the EcoSport
"Vayasaanalum, un style um azhagum innum apidiye iruku" which means that even though you're old, you're style and looks are still the same.

Still a showstopper despite the age!