[FrodoOfTheShire]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Agree. Owners don't have to panic because there are a good number of cars on the road to keep the service centers happy.

I wouldn't panic. If GM and FIAT owners (like me) are able to maintain cars without a headache - Ford owners should be good for 10 years at least.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I wouldn't be too worried for the Ecosport, Aspire, new Figo and Endeavour owners.

Ford sold plenty of Ecosports and there is no way that there will be any issue about parts and support. Same with Figo and Aspire. They didn't sell as well but combined sales were plenty to offer after sales support for years to come.

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Having bought an Endeavour 2.0 4x4 AT in February this year, here are my candid thoughts.

So, net-net, if one has the time and patience to procure parts and find a good FNG, retaining a Ford car should not be an issue at all.

As for me, I am still in double-minds since I no longer have the temperament or time for procuring parts/finding good FNGs.

Also, I had opted for 4th and 5th year extended warranty at the time of purchase!

Originally Posted by Mile_muncher

Just a quick update: there are 4 car owners in lounge including myself. One of them is getting a part replaced 'under warranty'
As per Service center, nothing changes as far as warranties or regular service ops are concerned. This incident should be a relief to all

Originally Posted by narmad

I had 5 years extended warranty , with almost 3 years still remaining. Does it have any value going forward ?

Reading the experiences of owners who are maintaining FIAT and Chevrolet cars, I am somewhat assured that I should be able to maintain my 3 year old EcoSport. My initial panic is now replaced with some amount of hope.

Few questions regarding other matters. Would be great if experienced members can shed some light on this -

1) I still have another 3 years of extended warranty left. Since mine is a facelift EcoSport petrol with torque converter AT, I got the maximum extended warranty that Ford offered. What will realistically happen to the EWs still left? Since warranty is basically provided by the manufacturer, who in this case is shutting shop, is the EW as good as null and void?

2) What happens to insurance renewals in the future? Will it become difficult to get the same? What all should be kept in mind while going for insurance renewals?

3) Whether service centers remain functional or not, I feel it would be good to keep a FNG or maybe a Ford service center technician handy for future services. How does one go about identifying such technicians? My car has been to the service center only for 5 times in 3 years, for regular maintenance. So I don't have any personal connection with the technicians. I have the contact numbers of maybe 2-3 service advisors who had attended my car during my visits.

Thanks in advance.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by FrodoOfTheShire

I still have another 3 years of extended warranty left.

Ford India has clearly stated that they will honor all EW contracts. Given that they will continue to be present in India, they are legally bound for the same.

Originally Posted by FrodoOfTheShire

What happens to insurance renewals in the future? Will it become difficult to get the same?

No issues at all

Originally Posted by FrodoOfTheShire

Whether service centers remain functional or not, I feel it would be good to keep a FNG or maybe a Ford service center technician handy for future services

Service centers will continue to operate for sure. What will go down is:
a) No. of outlets
b) Quality of service (possibly)
c) Ready availability of parts

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Service centers will continue to operate for sure. What will go down is:
a) No. of outlets
b) Quality of service (possibly)
c) Ready availability of parts

And potentially higher rate(comparatively) for spare parts, owing to most of the parts ending up as direct imports.

[ScorpioYadav]

I happened to visit 2 ASCs of Ford earlier this week here in Jaipur & here is my experience at both the places :

1. Seeing the no. of vehicles turning up at both the ASCs, it will still be a profitable venture for the ASCs owners & the spare parts manufacturers for at least the next 6-7 years.

2. Those with single service outlet might struggle to provide spare parts readily (as I experienced) but the ones with multiple service outlets might have it available in one of their other locations (also as I experienced).

3. The service manager of the multi-outlet ASC was confident of the service costs remaining competitive for the next 5-6 years due to the SLAs (Service Level Agreements) specified by Ford.

4. The only negative thing experienced was the charging of 'Diagnosis Charges' for identifying the issue & letting me go without the repairs as they were out of the part & wanted me to book it with some payment while the delivery timelines were beyond my impending travel.
This was at the single outlet ASC & was surprising as earlier this year in March, the same ASC had identified another issue with the same procedure of raising the vehicle on a lift. That time also, I didn't go ahead with the repairs as it wasn't a critical one & I wasn't charged anything for it !!

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by FrodoOfTheShire

1) I still have another 3 years of extended warranty left. Since mine is a facelift EcoSport petrol with torque converter AT, I got the maximum extended warranty that Ford offered. What will realistically happen to the EWs still left? Since warranty is basically provided by the manufacturer, who in this case is shutting shop, is the EW as good as null and void?

2) What happens to insurance renewals in the future? Will it become difficult to get the same? What all should be kept in mind while going for insurance renewals?

3) Whether service centers remain functional or not, I feel it would be good to keep a FNG or maybe a Ford service center technician handy for future services. How does one go about identifying such technicians? My car has been to the service center only for 5 times in 3 years, for regular maintenance. So I don't have any personal connection with the technicians. I have the contact numbers of maybe 2-3 service advisors who had attended my car during my visits.

Thanks in advance.

I got an email today from Ford India (fordindia@crm.fordindia.com) with the subject "#Commited to serve you| Message from Ford India President'. It reads as below:-

"Dear valued customer,

Ford in India has announced a restructuring of its operations to focus on serving customers with some of Ford’s iconic global vehicles and electrified SUVs.

This business decision is in response to increasingly challenging market conditions, including the extended slowdown of India’s auto industry, and cumulative operating losses of about $2 billion that Ford has incurred against an investment of $2.5 billion over the years.

The business changes we announced are designed to create a new, asset-light business model, which is sustainably profitable in the long term.

As part of the restructuring
We will serve Indian customers with must-have, iconic vehicles, including the Mustang coupe. Customers in India will also benefit in the longer term from the Company’s plan to invest more than $30 billion globally to deliver all-new hybrid and fully electric vehicles, such as Mustang Mach-E.

We will stop vehicle assembly in Sanand and vehicle and engine manufacturing in Chennai.
This means, in the time to come, Ford will shift from the existing set of locally produced products to a global portfolio. The sale of our current products such as Figo, Aspire, Freestyle, EcoSport, and Endeavour will continue till we have them in our inventory.

For the customers of our current portfolio, I want to be clear that we will continue to take care of you like family. We are committed to continuing to treat customers like family through our dealer network, availability of spare parts, and full warranty support.

Ford has a long and proud history with over a million customers in India. We will be working closely with our dealers, all of whom have supported Ford for a long time, to ensure:
Accessibility of service
Accessibility of spare parts
Quality of service with a family wali feeling
Competitive cost of ownership
Warranty promise
In the end, I thank you for your trust and seek your support in this transition. The restructuring of our business allows us to continue serving you. Should you have any questions or queries, keep in touch with us via our social channels or Customer Care. We will endeavour to clear all doubts that you may have as quickly as we can.

Thank you!

Anurag Mehrotra
President & Managing Director, Ford India

"

Let us hope for the best!

[saumitra_joshi]

I have a 2021 Freestyle, purchased at the end of February. I have absolutely loved it right from the test drive and meets my family requirements perfectly. The current news is extremely disappointing and I am hoping for the best like everybody else. I never thought about resale value as for me, this is likely to be my last IC Engine car - another 8-10 years and we will likely be completely on electrics (PS: As a very happy owner of a Ather 450X, I would reckon it will be sooner!!). For me, if the car is able to provide me the driving pleasure for next 8 years, I would have got my money's worth. Given some inputs from friends in the industry, it looks like we are looking at a electronic chip shortage at least till end of 2023. Ford is facing a lot of problems in its home markets as a consequence and sale of their bread and butter product seems to be trouble because of this problems with Chip. May be that was the last nail in the coffin as far as India is concerned and they decided to shut shop. As an optimist, I am hoping that Ford will be back with newer models, possibly electrics in a couple of years as they are not completely out of the Indian market. Keeping my fingers crossed....

[Naman_Ferrari]

We have been planning to replace our 2014 Ecosport to get a new Creta or MG Astor from before Ford made this announcement. We will get the new car in 1-2 months. My dilemma now is whether I should keep the Ecosport for those 1-2 months or sell it immediately. By keeping it, do I risk the car depreciating a lot?

Will appreciate your thoughts on this. We have spare cars at home, so can manage even if we have to sell it. But if the car won't depreciate much, I'd rather just keep it till we buy the new one. Any suggestions?

[iamahunter]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

Any suggestions?

With the current spree of Ecosport being a wonderful car, Ford sending out email to customers, promises of after sales, etc... doing rounds on social media you will fetch a good value.

Possibly down the line, if the issues with spares and services start cropping up, the resale value might take a huge hit.

So if you're planning to replace it, its the right time.

[singhvikas101]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

We have been planning to replace our 2014 Ecosport to get a new Creta or MG Astor from before Ford made this announcement. We will get the new car in 1-2 months. My dilemma now is whether I should keep the Ecosport for those 1-2 months or sell it immediately. By keeping it, do I risk the car depreciating a lot?

Will appreciate your thoughts on this. We have spare cars at home, so can manage even if we have to sell it. But if the car won't depreciate much, I'd rather just keep it till we buy the new one. Any suggestions?

Its the same dilemma with me, I own a 2014 Figo and wanted to sell it from sometime, I had advertisements and inspections (With 3rd party dealers like OLX auto and cars24 etc) to sell it, but with all this fiasco created by Fords exit I see quite a lot number of low-ballers quoting even price below a lakh! I am actually rethinking on selling it now, I would anyday retain the car as a secondary car in the family rather than selling it!

[GautamJ]

I was paranoid when Ford forgot to mention is jargon for AMC plan, emailed Ford India and received a standard reply with no clear mention of them honouring Flexi Plan. After which I emailed CRM of Rudraa Ford (Mira Road) but received no reply, this forced me to mail the next person in the hierarchy which is Service Manager. His response was quick and positive.

[basuk]

I believe many (maybe all)of us have received the email from Ford India MD stating why they are exiting and assured the entire Ford family not to panic.
However, service centres should be our primary cause of concern - how long are they planning to keep servicing Ford - pretty sure they would tie up with another brand and keep their business running - that way they will not run out of business.
Service representatives are keeping assurance to their customers and I believe that would be the case for next 3 to 5 years as well.

[Floyd de Souza]

Received an e mail from VP Ford customer service for a vehicle safety recall for my Ecoboost quoting the VIN.
The recall is to inspect and properly fix the hood insulation free of cost for both parts and labour.
In my opinion, Ford owners need not panic. It appears they are committed to providing parts and service to their customers.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Saw these straight forward replies from Ford Instagram account, regarding future of dealerships and the parts situation -

[lsjey]

The best way to safeguard against maintenance cost increases and spares is to check out if Ford is offering any AMC plans. I usually buy AMC at least for the initial 3 years. I suggest that all Ford car owners explore this option. AMCs provide you peace of mind for a period on maintenance costs.

If Ford is really caring for its customers and its ASCs then it should roll out AMC plans for the next 5 years IMO.

Regards,
lsjey

[Wanderers]

Things are not going to be hunky-dory in times to come. Please take all these communication and assurance with a pinch of salt. While I think for best, expect the unexpected if not worse. For example, while I have booked the Ford service, I am not sure of same commitment as rating has no meaning now and thus I plan to stay at service center with the car.

All dealers have hired/bought/engaged high rental/lease property in prime location. Just the service will not repay their loan or provide enough return. Expect all service center to move to smaller place and cheaper location. The service center may not keep highly paid advisor except for one or two who can act as one in all. Don’t expect customer care or service lounge. However I am expecting decent service and part availability for high selling cars like ecosports, may not be that great for Endeavour and other cars.
Some of the things I am speaking from experience of having a 2005 Aveo. Part and service have never been a issue. Also the Chevrolet website is well maintained and you can visit to get assurance that things would still be good. In fact expect Ford to do better than GM.
Only drawback is that the resale value have already gone for toss and would be worse going forward. So be prepared to keep a car till it last.