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Ford launched the Old Gen Figo in 2010 without having too many expectations and it rocked the market. Diesel competition was only Swift and Tata Vista. Build quality, brilliant handling(still the best?), few nifty Ford features and frugal diesel mill made Figo a good enough package to shake up the Vista.
Hyundai was still warming up for the diesel market then.

Ford launched the new Figo twins in 2015 with some huge expectation after the Ecosport success. Competition and segments in market were too many compared to 2010 and they are almost losing the battle.
IMO, they should have just launched the Aspire and continued with old Figo and some time down the line thought of launching the new Figo. With one model they would have managed minimum 2.5k per month easily.

However, leaving aside the sales figures, the Figo twins are amazing cars.

I can see the reason very well. IMO, in India, first thing that buyers look is the logo on the hood and the design itself. Figo has a very subtle design. It's classy though not a great looker like the baleno or the elite i20 that make them stand out of the crowd. Now, the figo retails at the price point equivalent to swift and grand i10. Those tight on budget, settle for a B1 segment hatchback mostly the swift or the Grand, reason being the brand support and the resale value. They find no point in buying figo over these two. 6 airbags? They don't give a damn about it. They'll be happy even if they don't get a single also. Performance from the 100bhp engine? They'll think about the FE first and moreso, they don't care because they are happy with swift's/ Grand i10's performance.
Then comes the second portion of buyers. Those on a bit flexible budget, and they opt for a baleno/ elite i20 as they find it more premium with touch screens and reverse cameras than the 6 airbags. Also, they give them a big car feel.

Those who care about safety or enthusiasts who love that engine buy the car. The sale numbers are mostly contributed by them only.

When the first gen figo was launched there wasn't any grand i10 and the segment was not this loaded. Also, the diesel figo was a bit cheaper than the swift and it was the only option other than swift so people considered it as an option. Premium hatchbacks had just come in and people were not that comfortable spending that much money. So it was either swift or ritz or figo, and those that wanted more went with the i20.

The other reason is as stated by everybody is the marketing failure by ford. They went all gaga with the twins when they unveiled it but delayed the launch so much that people forgot about it. Even today, they are more interested in promoting ecosport than the twins. This is what I think.

I would like to stress on this point; even with a 100bhp engine, my Figo 1.5D returns 16kmpl in peak traffic (avg speed during my daily commute does not go beyond 17kmph). I don't think that is bad.

On highway it is in different zone altogether, returning a whopping 24kmpl+ regularly. Mind you, this is while keeping up with the big boys in terms of speed and acceleration.

Those who have driven it, would agree about its FTD factor.

OT: SImilar to Figo, I feel sorry for Punto. That is a car which gives much driving pleasure but is plagued with other flaws (lack of storage space, ergonomics) but Figo has those problems sorted too!

Afterthought: The aspire thread has some news about a recall to fix Restraint control module, has anyone received any communication from Ford about it? I haven't yet!

I think this is the best explanation I have read/heard so far for the sales performance of otherwise brilliant cars. Kind of stuck between 2 segments. Elite i20 and Baleno opened up a segment that was not so strong before. And Grand i10 brought features from a segment above to it. Rise of the diesel had perhaps fueled more sales of the old Figo in its time. But the resurgence of petrol engines - the strong point of Suzuki and Hyundai, hit another blow to the Ford twins.

All of this is retrospective knowledge as no one could have predicted all of these points - Baleno had not been launched at the time.

Apart from all that, there is also no advertising by Ford, no events. I am daily bombarded by ads of Baleno, despite the fact that they have sold 6 months of production, whereas the only Ford ads I see are those for Endeavor and Ecosport - and even those have reduced now.

Booked Figo Automatic last week and waiting for delivery next week. Checked with SA regarding RCM problem. He assured vehicles are delivered as usual and only certain batch of cars has this problem. He also confirmed there won't be any delay in delivery next week.

Brilliantly explained !! Completely agree with your line of thought here. Figo being an extremely competent car in isolation looses out to Maruti and Hyundai backed products just for the sake of it. Added to it is all this negativity about the build quality, under performing petrols etc. 60% of the views come from those who may have not touched or driven the car even once. More of a word of mouth marketing. No Car is perfect, Period.

At the end of the day I feel sorry for products like Figo, punto or to an extent Polo. Indian consumers are not ready to think beyond the Marutis and Hyundais for near future. Let's accept this and move on.

One should understand as to how Hyundai has reached where it is today.
Hyundai's road to success started out with the Santro and to some extent the accent. They provided really good cars with decent space,mileage and reliability and backed it up with very good sales and service at the time when every one used to run after maruti irrespective of what they threw at us.Even though they erred with the sonata and to some extent the getz,they still continued with their excellent sales/service and reliability while ford and the rest were doing the opposite.

Year after year they continued to improve and update their cars, did not get greedy and launched cars like the verna and i10 that propelled them even further. Still the continued improving their cars, maintaining their reliability and after sales experience and as people enjoyed the experience of hyundai and word spread far and wide, hyundai were all set to dominate the indian market.

Ford was just waking up from their slumber and tried to emulate Hyundai With the Figo,which succeeded initially but sadly they dint back it up with a decent petrol engine to start with, dint improve their service experience and as the figo aged the issues with reliability were not addressed properly. Engine stalls, premature timing belts replacement,Ac issues,steering rack issues etc are the list of problems that still haunt old figos. Compared to hyundai, you dont find that many of them suffering like that, just have a look at the ownership reports.

As Everyone has rightly said, for ford to now start emulating Hyundai's success when there is much more competition from other manufactures will require Ford to work much harder in getting its basics right, like Engine,build quality,reliability and sales/after sales experience.This will take time to build up the confidence with us Indians who not too long ago and still run after anything maruti, now runafter anything hyundai and hopefully in the not too distance future will run after anything From Ford .lol:

I don't completely disagree with you but Hyundai has been simply luckier than others to say the least. They have seen fare share of failures also. So on one side I do appreciate them for understanding our market demographics well and responding accordingly, on othe side, saying their carsAre great pieces of engineering is exaggeration.

I don't own any of ford, hyundais or Maruti or for that matter any car in India and none of them make cars to my taste. Once upon a while Honda used to but now they are just one among the masses. If you really want to experience a perfectly engineered and an all rounded hatch drive the polo, you ll know what I mean.

Cheers..

Received the following email from Ford tonight. Have other owners also received the same?

Dear ,
Ford India Private Limited (&#8220Ford India&#8221) is committed to provide top quality vehicles to customers. As part of that commitment and regular quality check process, we have identified a software issue with the Ford Figo / Ford Figo Aspire as per details below

What is the issue? On your vehicle, the Restraint Control Module may contain a software error which could prevent airbags from deploying in certain collisions.

What will Ford and your Dealer do?
Ford India has authorized your Dealer to update the Restraint Control Module with new software, free of charge.


How long will it take? The time required to update the Restraint Control Module is less than half a day. However, due to service scheduling requirements, your Dealer may require your vehicle for a longer period.


What should you do? Please call your Dealer without delay and request a service date under Safety Recall 16S20. Please provide the Dealer with your registration number or the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The VIN and Registration number are mentioned at the beginning of this letter. You can access the list of an authorized Ford India dealer and their contact details from Ford India Website www.india.ford.com


What if you no Longer own this vehicle? You have received this notice because our records indicate that you are the current owner of the vehicle described at the start of this letter. If you are no longer the owner of this vehicle, please let us know by contacting our customer care on the number mentioned below or by writing to us at custmail@ford.com


Can we assist you further? If you still have concerns, please contact our Customer Relationship Center at 1800 419 2500 / 1800 425 2500 and one of our representatives will be happy to assist you. Representatives are available 24x7 to attend your queries.

We want to assure you that, with your assistance, we will correct this concern, ensuring safety, and comfort.

Yours faithfully,
For Ford India Private Limited

sign
N Prabhu
Vice President
Ford India Customer Service Division

I received the email earlier in the evening. Glad there is an update, but scary equally. Problem is I'm abroad and will only be back next week. If you talk to them, will you update us here on what's the waiting time like in Bangalore.

Z

I have received the e-mail too last night. Called the service center and got an appointment for Tuesday. Let's see how it goes.

But truly, it is a scary thought. We have airbags in our cars and though we are not complacent we are assured that the balloon will inflate if need be. This adds a terrifying perspective to it now.

Hopefully they have well and truly sorted the bug with the software. please:

Hi,

I too received the above mail from ford india. I have a trip coming up in a month, need to get the issue corrected on my car at the earliest.

Thanks,

Checked with the service guys today. Since i am busy this week, asked them to pickup/drop the car- they said it was available only on Friday.

Since Figo is my daily runner I asked them if it is fine to run the car without getting this checked. Promptly came the reply, 'sir please come tomorrow and get it resolved'.

Now I appreciate the honesty, I wonder what the actual reasons are for this recall. I am thinking of staying back in the garage till they sort it out, will try to gain more information if available from the SAs; they've asked for 1 hr for this task, will find out and let you know.

Z

Hi all
We bought the 1.5 VCT DCT in Golden colour about a month ago. This has become the vehicle everyone want to drive as it's extremely smooth. The gear changes are absolutely imperceptible. Also it is returning 11~13 kmpl in town.
Ford should have provided this car in the Titanium plus trim, we would've gone for that for sure.
We have added parking sensors and door sill scuff plates from the Ford accessories bin.
One accessory Ford must provide is the centre arm rest. I am sure all automatic car owners will buy it since the left hand is at rest.

Can someone suggest alternatives that they have installed? There are universal armrests available online, But didn't have the confidence to get them.

Coming to the wheels, I have moved to 15" wheels, Ford original, the design is the standard one that comes with Fiesta and is available as an accessory for the Ecosport. The tyres have been upgraded to 195/55R15 Yokohamas. They are slightly noisy, but provide much better grip and inspire more confidence. The ride is also not too unsettling. Will post some pictures in the near future.

The software update took just 2 minutes at Harpreet Ford, gurgaon. I went without any appointment and was there totally for 10 minutes or so.

This was for my 25 day old Figo titanium plus. Car is wonderful to drive and got 17km/l on my first tankful itself. clap:

Have upgraded the tyres to Continental MC 5 195/55R15 on HRS alloys. This upsize is a must for any enthusiast I feel. Looks, steering feel, grip all improve tremendously, and overall ride/performance barely suffers.

Attaching 2 pics below.