[Mustang.101]

Originally Posted by Gilead

So if the current Fiesta retains the current name, what will the new Fiesta be called? Or will the current Fiesta get a different name? I bet your Marketing team must be chewing on this at the moment.

What I have come to know is that the new one might be called Fiesta _____, Like you find Accent Viva.

Probably a good suggestion from my side to my company would be that the new one should be named "Fiesta Verve" as this does justice to its concept name also.

I just hope that the big bosses take notice of this.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Mustang.101

What I have come to know is that the new one might be called Fiesta _____, Like you find Accent Viva.

I'm not too sure of this. See, the Accent Viva was based on the same generation Accent, and was a mere derivative of the sedan body style. Similar to the Indigo and the shorter Indigo CS.

However, the new Fiesta is an all new generation...a completely new car. It's important to communicate the "all new" message, either with an all new name, or use the same Fiesta badge (only if current Fiesta is discontinued). But selling an old Fiesta as "Fiesta" and the new gen as "Fiesta XXX" side-by-side doesn't sound like a good idea (from the marketing view point).

Personally, I think it'd be best for Ford to discontinue the current Fiesta, and sell only the new gen.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by GTO

I'm not too sure of this. See, the Accent Viva was based on the same generation Accent, and was a mere derivative of the sedan body style. Similar to the Indigo and the shorter Indigo CS.

However, the new Fiesta is an all new generation...a completely new car. It's important to communicate the "all new" message, either with an all new name, or use the same Fiesta badge (only if current Fiesta is discontinued). But selling an old Fiesta as "Fiesta" and the new gen as "Fiesta XXX" side-by-side doesn't sound like a good idea (from the marketing view point).

Personally, I think it'd be best for Ford to discontinue the current Fiesta, and sell only the new gen.

Right on both counts.
However, there is a problem elsewhere. The iKon is a old car now and needs to be discontinued.
That's the reason I will actually support having the current Fiesta still in production for some time, albeit with a different name. Here's what they can do:

a. Call it, Ford Find (bad name, can't come up with anything else) and give it a facelift. It has to look different from the current version in order for it to not hurt resale of the current version.

b.Plonk in the 1.4litre engine (petrol,it initially came with) with tweaks to bump the power up to 90horses, continue with the diesel 1.4TDCi (maybe tune it to have a power difference with the Figo/iKon etc.). I suggested the 1.4 litre engine (Petrol) as it would aid product differentiation, with a slightly lower cost of manufacture. They can however, stick to the 1.6 if the hassle of having another engine in the assembly/distribution/spares lines would be a bad overhead.

c. Price it at a premium of 50K version per version over the iKon. The increased refinement and overall execution will make the car work.

Launch the new Fiesta, with the name, Fiesta. While it might seem like step back to many people, I think that the Fiesta in it's current avatar is a fine car, it will be foolish to let go of the advantages of recovered costs. Before someone gives the example of the Toyota Qualis and how they brought in the Innova, recall that the Qualis was a ridiculously outdated product (albeit one that did well due to the lack of decent competition).

[avishar]

If i remember Ford owns the copyright to the "splash" name in India.So could they be using this name for the new ford fiesta sedan and hatchback?

[joshdrive]

If new fiesta is going cost more they should have a new name. Retaining Fiesta name for the car which is going to cost more wont help.

[anachronix]

Ford has already registered the name 'Splash' rite!? Is it going to be Fiesta Splash then?

[Mustang.101]

Originally Posted by GTO

Personally, I think it'd be best for Ford to discontinue the current Fiesta, and sell only the new gen.

Personally i think the same, But then what will fill the sedan gap b/w the figo & the All new fiesta sedan. Plus you know that the fiesta is (*was - now surpassed by the figo) the hottest selling car by ford.

Originally Posted by avishar

If i remember Ford owns the copyright to the "splash" name in India.So could they be using this name for the new ford fiesta sedan and hatchback?

Yes we do have the copyrights to this name & i guess it might be used for the fiesta hatch(if it comes) & it might be named the 'Fiesta Splash'

[S350L-E240]

A little off-topic here but Mustang.101, any idea how the response has been to the figo as yet ? Any preliminary sales figures until now?

And on the fiesta I think Ford should follow Honda's strategy and sell the new fiesta as fiesta and perhaps discontinue the older model. Anyways I think as we go ahead in time Indian consumers are soon getting quite dynamic and it will be a matter of time when a lot of people will not accept buying dated models. Just my opinion.

Regards,

[AyAn!]

Originally Posted by Amartya

b.Plonk in the 1.4litre engine (petrol,it initially came with) with tweaks to bump the power up to 90horses, continue with the diesel 1.4TDCi (maybe tune it to have a power difference with the Figo/iKon etc.). I suggested the 1.4 litre engine (Petrol) as it would aid product differentiation, with a slightly lower cost of manufacture. They can however, stick to the 1.6 if the hassle of having another engine in the assembly/distribution/spares lines would be a bad overhead.

Better,reposition the current Fiesta with the engines you mentioned and replace it with the ailing Ikon,which is sure to be phased out soon.Naming it the new Ikon ___ probably.

So the line up in the next couple of years should go like this Figo>new Ikon___(current Fiesta)>new Fiesta hatch>new Fiesta sedan>Focus>Mondeo.

[Mustang.101]

Originally Posted by S350L-E240

A little off-topic here but Mustang.101, any idea how the response has been to the figo as yet ? Any preliminary sales figures until now?

And on the fiesta I think Ford should follow Honda's strategy and sell the new fiesta as fiesta and perhaps discontinue the older model. Anyways I think as we go ahead in time Indian consumers are soon getting quite dynamic and it will be a matter of time when a lot of people will not accept buying dated models. Just my opinion.

Regards,

We will only get to know the March 2010 figures, only next month. Well as far as 'dated' models are considered. A dated design does not mean that its not a worthy car

Example: lets do a comparison b/w the current focus ST & a ford escort cosworth RS.

The focus started selling in 2005, if i am not wrong & the escort came to the UK in 2002.

I'll anyday pick the Escort RS over the focus ST & luckily saw a full fledged track test b/w the two in the UK. The Escort RS was 2.5 seconds faster than the focus ST & I have driven both & let me tell you that personally I would always pick an escort RS over the focus ST.

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by S350L-E240

A little off-topic here but Mustang.101, any idea how the response has been to the figo as yet ? Any preliminary sales figures until now?

And on the fiesta I think Ford should follow Honda's strategy and sell the new fiesta as fiesta and perhaps discontinue the older model. Anyways I think as we go ahead in time Indian consumers are soon getting quite dynamic and it will be a matter of time when a lot of people will not accept buying dated models. Just my opinion.

Regards,

Hi 350L, just a point I thought I should put across, Ford would prefer the market demand decide if the current Fiesta is to be phased out or not, I understand you thought the Honda model is ideal.

But actually what Honda did was also get all the classy features of Civic into the Honda City. Well I said almost all, but I am not telling everything. IMHO, I am guessing Ford would also be doing something similar to this. Which should be really good, imagine this at the time of Honda City upgrade if they were offering the old city i.e. NHC for a lesser price (but in a diff name)wouldnt have one bought it.

Moreover, India is one market where the models like Alto, 800, Getz, Santro, Accent survives even post thier successors have arrived, I guess this should work out too.

[ph03n!x]

IMHO, they can phase out the iKon and have the old (current) Fiesta with the iKon's 1.3 Petrol and 1.4 TCDi as a silent model (give it a face "lift" (drop ). The new Fiesta should be called something else and positioned above this reworked Fiesta.

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

IMHO, they can phase out the iKon and have the old (current) Fiesta with the iKon's 1.3 Petrol and 1.4 TCDi as a silent model (give it a face "lift" (drop ). The new Fiesta should be called something else and positioned above this reworked Fiesta.

Well going by what I see, dont think they will rename the new fiesta into something else. Cos now worldwide including the US, the new Fiesta has garned a brand equity which is valued high, they for sure would not want to loose out on the branding exercise that they have been engaged all this while.

[Mustang.101]

Ikon Petrol 1.3 Rocam is phased out from today onwards. Discontinued!

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Mustang.101

Ikon Petrol 1.3 Rocam is phased out from today onwards. Discontinued!

Bound to happen some day. I'm saddened.

The Ikon 1.3L ROCAM Petrol (some 70BHP) was a car that humbled some cars like the Accent. On-paper power figures didn't matter at all. The nice low end torque and the racy engine, wow!

However expensive spares+Poor FE (When it's driven the way it SHOULD be driven) = Poor Sales.

The Figo 1.2 L Petrol is sluggish in comparison to the above Ikon. Why?