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Friday, 12 March 2010
 Good news for all those Ford Fiesta fans. The latest scoop from Ford is that it is planning to launch a face-lifted version of its C segment sedan, Fiesta. The new Fiesta sedan, which is already being sold in the Chinese market, is likely to hit the Indian roads either by the end of this year or in the earlier months of 2011. Ford India had earlier revealed its plans of rationalising and upgrading its product portfolio in India and Fiesta sedan and hatchback may come pretty soon in India. Though the price range of Fiesta sedan is a matter of speculation, it will be competing with Maruti Suzuki SX4 and Honda City. Ford has, however, refused to comment on the story. When asked about their plans to launch the Fiesta sedan in India, Michael Boneham, president of Ford India said, “Right now we are focusing only on Figo, which is expected to be the game-changing model for us and the company. Having said that, we’ll not restrict ourselves with only one model and many global models are expected to add to the company’s pipeline. As far as the new Fiesta models (both hatchback and sedan versions) are concerned, I’m not ruling out its possibility. This is primarily because, India, China and Brazil are emerging markets for us and every new model is important for us in the long run.” The new Fiesta sedan was unveiled during the Ghangzou auto show held in China last month, during which Ford had revealed that the new sedan will be built across Asia - India, China & Thailand. The new Ford Fiesta will be equipped with a variable valve timing 1.6-Litre VVT (Variable Valve Timing) engine in both petrol and diesel versions, so has been claimed by a number of leading auto magazines. Recently launched Ford Figo is already receiving rave reviews, and to say that the very competitive pricing of Figo has made it an instant favourite of Indian car buyers, would be an understatement. Figo has already revived Ford’s spirit in India and the launch of Fiesta hatch and sedan should help Ford re-establish its roots in the Indian car market. Labels: Facelifted-New-Ford-Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta-Sedan-India, Figo, Ford, Ford Figo, Ford-Fiesta, Ford-Fiesta-Hatchback, Ford-Fiesta-Sedan
Monday, 8 March 2010
Ford has entered the small car segment in India with its super-cool hatchback Figo. Bookings have already started and the response from the customers has been great. That’s not all, Ford Motors wants to cash in on the growing euphoria and bring its Fiesta hatchback, which has already been launched in the European markets, to India.
Considering that Ford had earlier an+nounced its plans to launch a new product every 12 or 18 months, it only seems logical to speculate on hatchback Fiesta’s arrival in India. If launched in India, it will face strong competition with the likes of Honda Jazz, which happens to be positioned in the same segment.
The hatchback version will be very similar to the existing Ford Fiesta sedan, but with a trimmed back and new styling. The Fiesta Hatch is likely to feature two petrol DURATEC engine options: a 1.4-litre 79 bhp and a 1.6-litre 99 bhp along with a 1.4-litre/1.6-litre DURATORQ diesel engine.
The details of Fiesta Hatch have not been announced officially. However, if Ford brings Fiesta hatch to India, it will add a new dimension to the small car options of Indian customers. Most of the manufacturers in India, including Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, have multiple small car offerings.
Ford Fiesta is a subcompact/super-mini car featuring a front-wheel drive system. Currently, it is marketed by the Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India and South Africa. The sixth generation of Fiesta has been made available in the United States (starting January) and Canada (starting March), which makes it the first Fiesta model to be sold in North America since 1978–80.
It is interesting to know that Ford’s overseas Fiesta model is one of the most successful small cars sold in the world. Since its launch in 1976, Fiesta has sold more than 12 million units. Amazing, isn’t it!
Labels: Fiesta-Hatch, Ford, Ford-Fiesta, Ford-Fiesta-Hatchback, Ford-Figo, Honda-Jazz
Thursday, 10 December 2009
 The first-ever Women’s World Car of the Year awards have been announced from London. The supreme winner, the car that received the greatest number of votes, was the Jaguar XF. Jaguar XF edged out Audi A6 to win the coveted position. That a luxury car has won the supreme award in the Women’s World Car of the Year is an unexpected result given the ubiquitous ‘shopping basket’ is what many in the car industry consider to be a ‘woman’s’ car. But judges clearly considered the Jaguar XF to be well-constructed, competent, comfortable, a combination of sport and luxury and ideal for women. Judges are women motoring and published writers from around the world. Volvo XC60 won the Women’s World Family Car of the Year while Honda Accord was awarded as a close runner up in the category. Audi TTS outshined the Mazda MX-5 to win Women’s World Sports Car of the Year award. Volkswagen Golf diesel beat the Ford Fiesta to win the Women’s World Economy Car of the Year award. The awards were conceived in November last year and stemmed largely from the fact the USA-based World Car of the Year judging panel did not have a single woman judge in 2007. Indeed, the majority of car awards around the world are decided by a vast majority of men yet statistically women will make the final decision in all car purchases in as much as 85% of all sales. Judging criteria represented the known ‘shopping list’ of women car buyers. This included storage spaces, dashboard friendliness, child friendliness, aesthetic appeal and driveability. There wasn’t the strict requirement to ascertain 0-100 in so many seconds or the Newton metres of torque (horsepower) but judges did, nonetheless, decide how well the car drove. The car’s ‘sex appeal’ was also considered. Since model specification can differ between countries the decision was made for judges to also consider the overall model range in their voting, rather than one specific model. Cars that qualified had to be sold in at least 10-countries world-wide and available to the marketplace from between September 2008 and September 2009. A shortlist of 21 cars was decided early this year. Judging was by secret ballot and votes were audited by international accountancy practice, Grant Thornton, from their Auckland, New Zealand, offices. As the voting forms were received it soon became evident that factors such as sex appeal and carbon footprint were assessed more critically and were awarded relatively low scores compared to some other categories. It is also interesting to note that driveability and comfort rated the highest scores overall. The judging panel comprised of women auto journalists like that of Caroline Carver from United Kingdom, Regina Chan and Jil McIntosh of Canada, Helene Griffiths of South Africa, LouAnn Hammond of USA, Renuka Kirpalani of India, Sandy Myhre of New Zealand and Liz Swanton of Australia. Labels: Audi-A6, Audi-TTS, Ford-Fiesta, Honda-Accord, Jaguar-XF, Volkswagen-Golf-Diesel, Volvo-XC60, Women’s World Luxury Car of the Year
Thursday, 19 November 2009
 Hyundai has plans of launching its facelifted Verna in India. The new Verna has already has made its appearance in the Korean car market. And now the company is launching it in the country with much expectation. Guessing on what would have made Hyundai think on these lines of launching a fresh looking Verna, we can get an answer. Even though not the only reason, the launch of the revamped Maruti SX4 and Ford Fiesta could be a motivating factor behind the company’s decision of launching the facelifted Verna in India. The company launched its much loved sedan, Verna back in 2005. Since then the car has not received any major change in looks. The growing competition in the auto industry might have made the company think about bringing in the new looking Verna to India. We are not sure as to what exactly would be the changes that the car would receive. And whether it will be able to conquer the hearts of the Indian car lovers as its predecessor did. We are also not well aware of the launching date of this new Verna and what possibly would be the price that should be spend to owe one. Anyways, waiting eagerly. Labels: Ford-Fiesta, Hyundai, Hyundai-Verna, Maruti-SX4
Monday, 9 November 2009
The very popular mid-sized sedan from Ford is now available in a limited edition that would be available to those lucky customers, the early birds. The new limited edition Ford Fiesta will be available in a 1.6-litre petrol engine that accelerates from 0 to100 kmph in just 11.43 seconds. The 1.6 ZXI Duratec petrol engine is equipped with a whole lot of new clever features. The company has made of the latest technology that promises a very exciting driving experience. The new, limited edition fiesta is engineered for Indian roads. It is a combination of exceptional driving comfort with high stability.
ABS with EBD, Driver seat height adjust, intelligent rear defogger, programmable keyless entry with auto-relock front map reading lights, rear reading lights, glove box lamp, electric adjustable outside mirrors are just a few of the features that you will find on this Fiesta. The sedan also has an Independent McPherson struts suspension. The interior has been made more attractive with luxurious leather interiors, cubic finish centre and floor console, and metallic finish on trims. The car is available for a warranty period of 2 years per 100,000kms. And there is also an optional extended warranty” scheme that protects the car against all breakdown/failures associated to mechanical/ electrical engineering during its extended warranty time.
This new sedan from Ford will be offered only in only petrol option with the price tag of INR 6.44 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Labels: Ford-Cars, Ford-Fiesta, Ford-Fiesta-Limited-Edition, New-Cars-India, New-Ford-Fiesta-ZXI
Thursday, 17 September 2009
The Indian car market is now in a glorious period. There is also a fast emerging luxury car market but the most expanding segment is that of the small car. Many companies, realizing the flowering love for the small cars in the country are coming up with new models or introducing new variants for the existing models, and so there is never a scarcity in this segment. The next in the queue is Ford with its small car, codenamed B517. The company has been long working on the project and this seems to be the right time to make it public. The company is expected to showcase its small car in Indian this month. But the car will not hit the roads this year, it will be at least March next year for the car to get launched. After B517 gets launched in India it will also be exported globally including the African and Asia-Pacific countries. The B517 will be available in both petrol and diesel variants. It was said that the diesel version of the car will have a 1.5-litre engine, but now it is expected to be launched powered by a 1.4-litre Duratorq engine, similar to the one used in Ford Ikon and Ford Fiesta. The other option will be a 1.2-litre petrol engine. Chiefly designed for the Indian market, the car once launched will pose a good completion to models like the Volkswagen Polo, and new Chevy Spark. The pricing of the B517 is not yet revealed. This small car is expected to enter the Indian car market with really big promises. Labels: Ford, Ford-Fiesta, Ford-Ikon, Small-Car
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
It’s the time to get ‘Go Fida’ with the Ford Fiesta as the company has added some attractive features to the car. The ZXI variant is now available with additional features like Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), advanced audio system, and front fog lamps without any extra cost. With all the exciting features, both petrol and diesel version of Ford Fiesta ZXi will carry the same price tag of Rs 6.34 Lakh and Rs 7.32 Lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi), respectively. The car has received good response from the Indian car market and has even acclaimed by auto media like Auto India, Top Gear, and What Car for its reliability, performance, and affordability. Ford has made a wise move at the wake of dwindling car sales as launching a new variant or a model wouldn’t be a smart decision when the prospective car buyers are deferring their plan to purchase a new car due to credit crunch. But a few value added features without any additional burden on the consumer will definitely fetch some good sales. Labels: Ford-Fiesta, New-Car-Launch
Monday, 29 December 2008
Recession has got its hold around Ford’s throat. But still the company has the pedal to the metal. It plans to introduce the new generation of Fiesta based on the winning Mazda platform. The new Fiesta is speculated to be seen on India roads by 2011. Eyeing the current domestic demand, the company is likely to improve the fuel efficiency of the new car compared to the present day Fiesta. Ford is much optimistic that the car with enhanced fuel economy and performance would do wonders for the company in India. In addition, the company has taken a less expensive route to tune the old version with a sharp focus on driving pleasure. The company also has plans to localize the new car to about 80% in order to increase its appeal in India. But, unfortunately at this stage when the company is experiencing a severe financial crunch, it may not get the required funds for execution of the project. So Ford is left with an option to reduce the percentage of localization as well as cost price of the car for the Indian market. The new agenda of execution would design and build the new Fiesta with about 25% of localization. It all depends mainly on the company’s ability to invest. Ford has high hopes attached with the new Fiesta. If the operations are executed as per the plans and if the market situation is improved till then, Ford would also unveil a hatchback version of the current Ford Fiesta. As the company is concerned about investment, there are less chances of 80% localization of the car. Because in order to do so, it may need about 100 million dollars, an amount which is economically not feasible. Labels: Ford-Fiesta, Fuel-Efficient, New-Car
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
The festive season brings lots of luck and charm to every one. The car makers are rolling out new car models, offering discounts and other attractive gifts to the people. Ford Fiesta which recently face lifted its popular model Fiesta has come up with sparkling offer to its customers. As a mark of celebrating this festive season the brand has partnered with the renowned jeweler Tanishq to offer diamonds worth Rs 20,000 for every customer who book a Ford Fiesta. Beside this marvelous gift, there will be special offer for corporate and government employees. This festive bonanza is going to give a real boost to the Ford sales. No body would like to let go such a wonderful opportunity. Now it is other car makers chance to beat this offer to attract more customers. Labels: Car-Festive-Offer, Ford-Fiesta, New-Car
Friday, 27 June 2008
Wake up folks! If you like the appeal, comfort and performance of Ford Fiesta, then go and grab one before the price lets you fall.
The rising input cost with the hike in steel prices has pushed Ford India to review the price tag of it’s recently launched car, the Ford Fiesta. The current price of the Fiesta is Rs 6.57 lakh for the petrol variant and Rs 7.44 lakh for the diesel. Even the small car expected to launch in 2010 is proposed at a price higher than 1 lakh. Wondering how much price would the company raise for the Fiesta after raising the price of its SUV, Ford Endeavour by Rs 30,000. Keep your fingers cross and wish that the increased price tag is affordable. Labels: Car-Price, Ford-Fiesta
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Good news for all those Ford Fiesta fans. The latest scoop from Ford is that it is planning to launch a face-lifted version of its C segment sedan, Fiesta. The new Fiesta sedan, which is already being sold in the Chinese market, is likely to hit the Indian roads either by the end of this year or in the earlier months of 2011.
