[Fusion2006]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Looks like FORD played it brilliantly. They unveiled the looks of the car, which has design similarities to Verna atleast to most common man, well in advance of Verna launch. This definitely should have slowed down the people, who are not SO KEEN with Hyundai Verna.

I agree, they have had a good strategy to keep up interest till now!

As for this thread being closed, I think actually the thread itself is evidence that interest is high, at least every day there are a few posts. Whether or not they are value adding is a personal opinion - I have been reading most threads with quite a bit of interest.

[ajay_satpute]

With the great Mr Mustang taking a hide for a week and launch dates around this month-end, nothing much is going to happen in here. IMO, no point in discussing and contemplating things before we know anything concrete. Whatever info we already have, has been discussed to the depth of Alice's Wonderland. So, lets all take a chill pill for a while.

[Surprise]

Ford dealer earlier indicated that launch could be in the first week of June 2011. Today he called me to update that launch will be only in the month of July 2011. Added that their showroom might receive NFS by second week of this moth & deliveries will be from first week of July 2011. Thanked him for keeping me posted

Surprise! Call from VW dealer to check my booking interest for Vento....First call from them in 40 days after taking the TD. Told me that waiting periods have come down from 6-8 months to 2.5-3 months for top end diesel.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

With the great Mr Mustang taking a hide for a week and launch dates around this month-end, nothing much is going to happen in here. IMO, no point in discussing and contemplating things before we know anything concrete. Whatever info we already have, has been discussed to the depth of Alice's Wonderland. So, lets all take a chill pill for a while.

hey....
with all the anticipation for the car, and an assumption based on the quality of info he's provided that he's actually involved at a micro level with the product, he might actually be bogged down.
add to that the open-mouth-surgery he was scehduled for.
break required.

Next news may just be a launch date...

EDIT:Ajay, thats what i meant.Since he is presumably involved with the project, and is not here as frequently, he may actually be busy with the launch!!!

PS:is it the NFF or NFS?
acronym has not been approved yet, which one is it?

[ajay_satpute]

Dear mayankk

"Taking a hide" did not literally mean that Mustang is hiding away. I meant that since he is taking a break for a while, and Ford not doing anything till month-end, let us all take a break too.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by mayankk

!

PS:is it the NFF or NFS?

acronym has not been approved yet, which one is it?

See post # 608 onwards.

[aravind.anand]

Michael Boneham wants to leave no stone unturned, we can see. Here's what the Ford M.D. had to say at the Fiesta Fashion show, " we just want to make sure that we get the car completely ready for our customers, as it’s a premium sedan." Which is good So guys, lets please await patiently as Ford is not just simply sitting with the completely finished car, they are still fine tuning and getting the car better. They're taking time, sure, But thats because they do not want to take any chances with their new premium offering.

[Revention]

The delayed Fiesta launch may have actually also lessened Verna bookings, since many would be waiting for Fiesta to launch and then compare the two before booking. By launch that time the initial euphoria for Verna would have died down and began for Fiesta, benefiting Fiesta.

Just a thought

[Hatari]

Clearly the new verna is making them think long and hard about pricing.
Doubt its anything else that is causing the delay.

[oxyzen]

Originally Posted by Revention

The delayed Fiesta launch may have actually also lessened Verna bookings, since many would be waiting for Fiesta to launch and then compare the two before booking. By launch that time the initial euphoria for Verna would have died down and began for Fiesta, benefiting Fiesta.

Just a thought

I dont think so.
On seeing a car if you like it, there is 90% probability you wont wait for the other launches. Hence those who liked Verna in the 1st site will definately book it. Also the Verna is an excellent performer on Paper. Fiesta not so much. More customers fall for ON PAPER PERFORMANCE than real on road performance. People willing to give Fiesta a choice but cant afford to wait will also go for Verna. Anyway fiesta is loosing more and more customers as they are delaying the launch.
Bit I agree a sneak peak there and there will still keep a handful of customers on the hunt.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Surprise! Call from VW dealer to check my booking interest for Vento....First call from them in 40 days after taking the TD. Told me that waiting periods have come down from 6-8 months to 2.5-3 months for top end diesel.

WOW !! You are priviledged , hope you recorded the call - it's such a rarity The sales guys suck big time - I did 2-3 TDs and got a new sales guy everytime who was expert in Passat but didn't know anything about Vento. Actually I finally concluded that there was no one at the dealer's end who knew much about the car anyways . IMO though the wait was fruitful

Well on the Ford launch , I don't believe that this delay is such a great thing. We should realise that one very big factor behind ANHV doing so well is that people do blindly trust their very good A$$ and affordable spares ( apart from looks, performance, equipments, etc, etc) - Ford certainly does not have that bragging right on that count. If Ford launches the car in late July and there is one more interest rate squeeze in the meanwhile ( as most people are talking about) it's likely to dent the sales quite a bit .

June - July - August are monsoons months too, wouldn't that impact new car sales adversely however marginal?

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Clearly the new verna is making them think long and hard about pricing.
Doubt its anything else that is causing the delay.

Mustang answered a similar question on pricing long time back. He said pricing would have been decided in the initial stages itself and what they do during the launch is "tweaking the price" in a small way. He also mentioned that the fine tuning will be like 5% or so.

The delay might be because of couple of reasons -

1. They might be fine tuning the car and sorting out any small issues / niggles
2. They might be waiting for the initial excitement of Verna to come down so that the launch of NFS gets complete focus.

But personally I think that Verna has got the first mover advantage. I agree that enthusiasts dont mind waiting for the Fiesta for "n" number of days, but there also are lots of customers who want a "nice" car and would pick anything based on features irrespective of the handling. Ford could have benefited from these customers. And the response to Verna clears that a huge number of people really dont bother about the handling of a car, rather they look at a "package".

[greatmana2000]

Ford should have launched it in may end itself or atleast the bookings could have started .l July is the time most of them are back from vaccations , schools etc where ppl end up booking or buying cars

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by souravc

June - July - August are monsoons months too, wouldn't that impact new car sales adversely however marginal?

Not only monsoons, these months are actually traditionally weak months in terms of car sales. This is because of no marriage season; no major festivals etcetera so people prefer extending car purchase till festival season. I guess Ford management should have this thing in mind. IMO launch is already delayed and the car should have launched this month only. I fear people would even bother to wait for the Fiesta because of the Verna and Vento. Ford should set the timing right along with the price.

[Hatari]

The Verna has hit the jackpot with the twin diesel options, while the new Fiesta has only the 1.6
Pricing will be key.