[anky]

When Honda and Suzuki come with their mini suv not many will come to ford . They are hedging today for tomorrow is uncertain for them .

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by ecosport

I don't think any brand here in India has anything even remotely close to a loyal fan base. We flock to whoever sells it cheapest. Every car is a new car.

Well said, I couldn't have phrased it any better.

I'm sure Ford also realizes this - for every 1 enthusiast who buys a new Fiesta because he loved his old Ikon, there are 10 (or 100) others who compare the new Fiesta to other competing models and buy what suits them best at that time.

Secondly, Ford would rather earn 50k more on the EcoSport today (and they know that any cancellations will be compensated by others' demand) than hope for tenuous brand loyalty in the longer term.

Ford aren't selling FMCGs. Cars are roughly a once in 5 years purchase, and that duration, combined with our lack of brand loyalty makes them take decisions like this.

To top it all, as ecosport and Thad have been saying, there is absolutely nothing illegal about what they're doing.

Originally Posted by anky

When Honda and Suzuki come with their mini suv not many will come to ford . They are hedging today for tomorrow is uncertain for them .

I think that's another brilliant point, and explains why Ford might want to rake in an extra 50k today.

[ecosport]

Originally Posted by Red Color Lover

Cheating loyal customers is not smart marketing by any marketing theory. When the Ford India President announced that they are ready to meet demand either he under estimated his own product or he was lying.

When the prices were announced they potrayed the Ecosport as a vfm product. If there is another hike then probably the Duster would become more vfm than Ecosport. Ford India took 1.5 years to launch the Ford Ecosports and they are still not ready to meet demand.

You don't take statements made by corporate honchos on face value. They are mostly subjective, and is intended to be interpretable as suitable to them in the future.

[Moto-Mariner]

Hey we sail on the same boat (seem my earlier post). I think there is nothing like a great product that you cant miss..for me, owning a car is not just about the car. If ford had taken care of the pre-booking and delivery process and maintained a certain level of transparency, they could have well catered for the pre-bookings before their hike. for eg, i pre-booked on 10 Jun. If i had been in chennai/ rest of south india i would have got the vehicle well prior hike. However, deliveries in rest of india has been below par and this when added to dealer's free-hand/ undercutting..result is just frustration. I have not only moved on from ecosport, But its also a good-bye to ford.

Originally Posted by himanshuchadha

Allright! 'Smart Marketing' referred to here is going to harm Ford's real marketing strategy in the long run. The buddy whom this was being discussed with himself agreed to that this is going to shoo away the loyal customer base. I own a Figo and this action has left a terrible aftertaste.

The reason is people like us (prebooked and non-delivered) are still a sizeable chunk and the next time Ford releases another product this will be kept in mind. So either you act 'smart' and prebook within first two days (like your goodself did) or you can just wait for the prices and deliveries to stabilize and don't pre-book or book early. There is no point pre-booking 4 days into the start.

And again the issue with your approach of acting smart is that it aggravates the actual problem. You find the problem with customers while I find the problem with a corporate. When you perceive that customers aren't as smart as you are, I can only pity the mindset.

Actually, every car manufacturer has good margins on their cars. I don't buy the point that Ecosport is/ was being sold at wafer thin margins. Also, the price increase looks okay if the delivery numbers were good. As it looks, they deliberately delayed the deliveries and increased the prices. And btw Ford is the first company to not honor even the pre-booked vehicles.

So, there you have it- your smartness is smartness until a smarter person doesn't outsmart you. And it will happen sooner than later. Within the fight of who is smarter, it is the big corporate who is laughing and taking all the cake.

The other way out of this situation is that you call spade a spade; something deliberate, deliberate. Otherwise we will constantly live to only outsmart each other rather than forcing corporates to honor and acknowledge their own commitments (which was the delivery time in my case)

Personally, I am not fuming; my wife was. My dad took the news okay'ishly. I was kind of disappointed. I was in the market to buy a SUV and I am okay with stretching of budget. But there would be many others (pre-booked ones) for whom this price stretch will not be comfortable. I stand by them.

[himanshuchadha]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

Well said, I couldn't have phrased it any better.

I'm sure Ford also realizes this - for every 1 enthusiast who buys a new Fiesta because he loved his old Ikon, there are 10 (or 100) others who compare the new Fiesta to other competing models and buy what suits them best at that time.

Secondly, Ford would rather earn 50k more on the EcoSport today (and they know that any cancellations will be compensated by others' demand) than hope for tenuous brand loyalty in the longer term.

Ford aren't selling FMCGs. Cars are roughly a once in 5 years purchase, and that duration, combined with our lack of brand loyalty makes them take decisions like this.

That is exactly the opposite of what Ford should be doing. If you see the Ford's percentage share of selling cars, it hovers around 4.5%. This is similar to VW and Honda. Now, to gain this percentage over long term they need to behave much like Suzuki and Toyota. Both of these companies enjoy great brand loyalty much unlike what you mention. They would not want Ecosport to become one time success- the category is witnessing great growth and will soon be crowded.

As you said that cars are not FMCG items which is exactly why brand matters a lot!

[ecosport]

Originally Posted by himanshuchadha

That is exactly the opposite of what Ford should be doing. If you see the Ford's percentage share of selling cars, it hovers around 4.5%. This is similar to VW and Honda. Now, to gain this percentage over long term they need to behave much like Suzuki and Toyota. Both of these companies enjoy great brand loyalty much unlike what you mention. They would not want Ecosport to become one time success- the category is witnessing great growth and will soon be crowded.

As you said that cars are not FMCG items which is exactly why brand matters a lot!

I haven't heard of anybody being a Maruti fan. Only their cheap cars sell. Else, why did the loyal fans not buy the Kizashi or the Vitara or the Estilo or even the A-star?

Or even with a low fan base, why did buyers flock to Ecosport?

Since we are truly OT, i would refrain from commenting about fan base after this.

[ruchirtnt]

My ecosport

[Nilesh5417]

All those saying Ford price hike makes Duster an option now, Renault charged a bomb when they launched. And they have had their hikes. When every other manufacturer is hiking prices today, Renault can manage to hold Duster prices steady simply cause it's already been overcharging for it for almost an year. Subsidizing it now after you've already raked in volumes at ridiculous prices seems like a brilliant stroke of luck for Renault. It makes them look good. Another advantage of being a first mover. First you charge a premium, then just hold the prices when everyone else who has a similar product is hiking prices.

[Thad E Ginathom]

In a few months it will all be forgotten about by everybody except those who are getting stung, or deciding not to buy, right now.

Congratulations, ruchirtnt. Looks beautiful.

Originally Posted by ecosport

I haven't heard of anybody being a Maruti fan...

Go back a few years and you'll find the Diesel Swift getting almost as much attention as the Ecosport is now.

[PrideRed]

Happy news for all. There seem to be some replacement/option to Ecosport! The Polo GT TDi(There is a thread running in T-BHP).. I know its a proper hatchback,but consider below:
1. Its supposedly has the VW 1.6 TDi which needs no intro.
2. The fit and finish is top notch.
3. Should handle better than Ecosport.
4. Should give better FE than Ecosport.
5. Biggest of all, as per current rumor's floating around, its a cool 2lac cheaper than Ecosoprt on road.

What you'll lose for 2lac
1.All the Gizmos like keyless entry,6 airbags,SYNC etc.
2.Around 60-70 lts of boot space.
3.Rear leg space.
4.The SUV feel/appeal and the 200mm GC.
5.Maintenance cost might be slightly higher for Polo.

Now i am confused. My dealer hinted me saying, i might get delivery of my TDCi Titanium(O) this or next week, wondering if i should cancel and go for Polo GT TDi.

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

All those saying Ford price hike makes Duster an option now, Renault charged a bomb when they launched. And they have had their hikes.

Renault did give price protection to a large section who had similarly booked in July last year and got deliveries in September after price hike.

[naveen.raju]

Finally took delivery of my car today. Ownership report coming soon.

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Happy news for all. There seem to be some replacement/option to Ecosport! The Polo GT TDi(There is a thread running in T-BHP).. I know its a proper hatchback,but consider below:
1. Its supposedly has the VW 1.6 TDi which needs no intro.
2. The fit and finish is top notch.
3. Should handle better than Ecosport.
4. Should give better FE than Ecosport.
5. Biggest of all, as per current rumor's floating around, its a cool 2lac cheaper than Ecosoprt on road.

What you'll lose for 2lac
1.All the Gizmos like keyless entry,6 airbags,SYNC etc.
2.Around 60-70 lts of boot space.
3.Rear leg space.
4.The SUV feel/appeal and the 200mm GC.
5.Maintenance cost might be slightly higher for Polo.

Now i am confused. My dealer hinted me saying, i might get delivery of my TDCi Titanium(O) this or next week, wondering if i should cancel and go for Polo GT TDi.

I'm in the same situation as you are. I have a Ecosport booking and might get delivery by the month end,but with the launch of the GT TDI i'm left confused. Since both a hatch and micro SUV will do fine for my requirements i'm unable to justify if Ecosport at 2L+ is worth it. I suggest you head-over to this thread to discuss further since we're OT here.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...t-world-5.html

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

I'm in the same situation as you are. I have a Ecosport booking and might get delivery by the month end,but with the launch of the GT TDI i'm left confused. Since both a hatch and micro SUV will do fine for my requirements i'm unable to justify if Ecosport at 2L+ is worth it. I suggest you head-over to this thread to discuss further since we're OT here.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...t-world-5.html

Since i already have a Vento TDi, its mostly going to be Ecosport. But extra 2lac, the 1.6 TDi, the hot hatch are hard to resist. Had not Ford increased price by 50K, i would have definitely settled for Ecosport.

First thing tomorrow is i am going call VW and Ford dealer . Only worry is Polo TDi might also command a waiting period. Last time when i checked for TSi it was whopping 9 months!! I am not willing to wait more.

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

First thing tomorrow is i am going call VW and Ford dealer . Only worry is Polo TDi might also command a waiting period. Last time when i checked for TSi it was whopping 9 months!! I am not willing to wait more.

The TSI is different since the gearbox engine are all imported. I'm hoping the TDI deliveries will be made faster since the engine is made locally.

Ecosport with 50k more is still a good buy,though at the previous prices it was much better.