Indian Car Blog - Carazoo.com

The year has been great for the Indian automotive industry. Most car makers saw record sales figures and now we have General Motors India rolling out the 100,000th Chevrolet Spark from its plant at a simple ceremony. While the Ford Figo is driving sales for Ford Motors, Chevrolet Spark has been doing exceedingly well for GM in the Indian market.

Day after day and month after month the Chevy Spark has been pleasing its creator with impressive growth in sales. In the mini car segment, the Spark has been sparkling and has emerged as the most sought after minicar in its segment when it comes to styling, performance, fuel economy, value for money proposition and other product attributes. The Spark is a leader when it comes to internal space utilization.

The Chevrolet Spark is a hit globally, and it is one of GM India’s best-selling cars in India. The sales figures stand as enough proof supporting the fact that the Spark is a great car when it comes to quality, economy and performance. General Motors is also confident that the award winning Spark makes for a natural choice for the customers, given its product attributes and the value proposition it offers at such a low price. General Motors has been constant working hard to offer its consumers the best-in-class products and services. The roll-out of the 100,000th Spark from the plant only adds a feather in the cap.

The Chevrolet Spark is equipped with a 1-litre, 995cc, S-Tec petrol engine which very generously gives out 63 bhp. The engine is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. The S-Tec engine, that stands for Smart-Tec engine, is made even better with technological novelty like Sequential MPFI (Multi Point Fuel Injection), Dual Distributor Less Ignition (DDLI) System, Motorized Throttle Intake System (MTIS) and Advanced Optical Sensors. This is why the engine is a high performer.

The smooth and noise-free driving with high fuel efficiency only enhances the joyous riding experience. The 995cc petrol engine of the Chevrolet Spark offers a mileage of around 13 kmpl in the city, while on highway, it gives 16.9kmpl. The acceleration is breath-taking to such an extent that even if one drives the Spark at 100 kmpl, it is not going to vibrate. The drive is going to be as smooth as ever.

The Chevrolet Spark is being produced at GM India’s Halol and Talegaon plants and these plants boast of a combined production capacity of 225,000 units. The car maker has been doing all it can to boost sales. It has recently started second shifts at both these plants to meet the increased demand for its inventory of products.

Another facility, General Motors India’s engine plant with a capacity of 160,000-units a year is also fast coming up at the Talegaon manufacturing plant premises. This will be the car maker’s first flexi-engine plant in the GM world where we can find both petrol and diesel small car engines being manufactured together. The engines are believed to roll out of the plant by the end of 2010.

General Motors India is now like a busy bumble bee. It has also collaborated with the Reva Electric Car Company to produce the electric Spark. So we now know that GM is just taking another step towards going green. This path-breaking initiative emphasizes GM India’s commitment to introduce eco-friendly mobility solutions in our country. Reva would provide battery technology for the E-Spark. The e-Spark will be India's first 4-door passenger electric vehicle and will be launched by the end of 2010.

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Miracles happen, don’t they! Well, at least, Ford India has witnessed a miracle. And it is no rocket science to guess that it is called Figo. The latest hatchback from Ford, Figo, has sold more than 7210 units in the first month of being on sale.

The Figo hatchback has cruised past the 7000 mark in the very first month of its launch. It has shattered the hopes of rivals like the Chevrolet Beat which sold 4499units. And Polo, which is trying to save the honour and dignity of Volkswagenwith sales of 698 units, can hardly be considered any match for the mighty Ford Figo.

The Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai i10 are miles ahead of the other with sales of 12,188 and 15,236 units respectively. The Estilo, too, has picked up sales, but the Wagon R (11,084) and Alto (16,397) have been subjected to a slight downfall, as the small car segment heats up with new launches. Soon, the Alto may lose its much coveted position of India’s largest selling car to Hyundai i10. But then, it would not be surprising if Figo just cruises past all these top guns of the small car segment.

Ford India sold 9478 units in March 2010 and registered a threefold growth on year-over-year basis. This is a record for Ford in India. Ford is trying its best to meet the heavy demand for the Figo and is planning to start a second shift at its plant. The comprehensive strategy of launching the Figo in both diesel and petrol variants and still maintaining a grip on the pricing factor has spelt magic for Ford India.

During this time, approximately 9 lakh people have visited the Ford India website and spent about 8 minutes of their precious time on the website. Though not completely, but, to a large extent, it can be attributed to the Figo. Not only this, thousands of people expressed their liking for Figo by joining Figo communities across social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

“As we remain committed to redefining the Ford brand in India, we expect this momentum to continue,” said Boneham. “Factors such as the initial price of the car, fuel efficiency and cost of maintenance are critical in determining affordability for a new car buyer. Indian customers are confirming that Figo solidly delivers on all of these.”

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With the launch of the new Figo, sunny days have finally dawned upon Ford India. And the sales figure has been equally unbelievable. Yes, so brace yourself for the truth. Ford India sales for the month of March more than tripled when compared to the same month last year, rising 203 per cent.

No prizes for guessing the magic mantra that uplifted the sales numbers of Ford India. Ford launched its compact car, Figo, and that seems to have done what other Ford cars could not do in India. Ford Figo has set records of a sort, with over 10,000 orders booked in the very first month after it went on sale. And with this kind of a customer response, Ford India will launch a second production shift at its plant in Chennai.

Thanks to the growing popularity of Figo, Ford India sold a total of 9,478 vehicles in March, 2010. The big number, obviously, includes strong sales of Ford Ikon, Ford Fiesta, and Ford Endeavour, but the Figo numbers are the icing on the cake.

"We are delighted at the initial response to Figo, and are incredibly proud to have struck such a positive chord with Indian consumers," said Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India. "The launch of Figo is the start of a transformed Ford in India, and a true reflection of our commitment to delivering world-class products that allow Indian customers to feel the difference.''

Figo, which was designed & engineered for the Indian customers, has set a lot of things on fire and when we say that we imply not only Ford India sales figures, but the peace of the top guns in the small car segment.

Figo has not only established Ford’s competitive position in India’s growing small car market, but also brought in the much needed sales volume.

“As we remain committed to redefining the Ford brand in India, we expect this momentum to continue,” said Boneham. “Factors such as the initial price of the car, fuel efficiency and cost of maintenance are critical in determining affordability for a new car buyer. Indian customers are confirming that Figo solidly delivers on all of these.”

With the competitive pricing and lower maintenance costs, Figo had to become popular. Figo has been placed among the top leaders with scheduled service over a 5 year/100,000 kilometre period.

Ford India does not want to drive away the customers with longer waiting period and, hence, has announced the opening of 28 dealerships in India, bringing the total number of Ford outlets to 164 facilities in 97 cities. The company plans to have an exclusive network of 200 facilities by the end of 2010.

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The Geneva motor show has begun and car makers are busy displaying their small and eco-friendly cars. Each of them is trying to outdo the rest with new technologies wrapped up in the small packages. What does the general public look for in a car? Isn’t it the brand and the wallet-friendliness? While it is possible to get the brand at a rock-bottom price, there’s no stopping.

On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex was up 48.76 points or 0.29 per cent to 17,101.30. The average daily volume in the last quarter being 1.36 lakh shares, 1.64 lakh shares were traded in the counter and stocks went from Rs 1472 to a high of Rs 1519.90. Since Feb, till 9 March 2010, stocks had outperformed the market rising 10.75% compared with the Sensex's 6.30% rise. Over the last quarter it underperformed the market, falling 6.78% as against 0.42% decline in the Sensex.

India’s second largest selling car maker, Hyundai, has an equity capital of Rs 144.46 crore with a Re 5 face value per share. Rs 1488.15 being the current price, it discounts the company's Q3 December 2009 annualized EPS of Rs 95.19, by a PE multiple of 15.63. The Figo has come out with the destructive price to compete with cars from other auto giants like GM’s Beat, the Maruti Swift and Ritz, the Hyundai i10 and the VW Polo.

The cool car has come with 1.2 litre petrol and a 1.4 litre diesel engines. The pricing seems to be superb. The petrol variant prices range from Rs 3.49 lakh - Rs 4.42 lakh and the diesel models are in the Rs 4.47- 5.29 lakh range. The mileage too is simply great; 15.6 and 20 kilometer from every litre of petrol and diesel respectively. As if the Figo is just not enough, Ford plans to launch a few more small cars to make the competition tenser.

We know that these little cars have already captured 70 per cent of the domestic market. What are car manufacturers planning to do now? Something more? Just a while ago Nissan and Toyota announced their plans to bring in small cars in the Rs 4 lakh range in India. Maruti shares had risen 0.69% on 9th March and Suzuki Motor raised its stake in the company to 55%. This set off rumours that the move was part of a bigger plan to take full control of India's top carmaker. Only recently did Suzuki raise its stake in Maruti to 55% through secondary market purchases.

At the close of the year 2009 Suzuki had 54.21% stake in Maruti. Did you know Suzuki may increase its stake further? In India, carmakers can make acquisitions of up to 5% a year and anything over 55% will require Suzuki to make an open offer for another 20%. So, it’s clear enough now that the increase in the stake must be part of a larger strategy to take full control of Maruti. Suzuki's latest alliance with Volkswagen that saw the German group pick up a 20% stake in the Japanese group further justifies the doubt.

Maruti Suzuki India's profits jumped 221.9% to Rs 687.53 crore on a 62.5% rise in sales to Rs 7372.65 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008. It produces buys and sells cars and parts. With all these changes, we only feel that the big cars will have to shy away a little. The sale of small cars is going to be real quick. The small ones will have to fight each other too with better technologies and pricing as weapons. Which one will you buy?

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Okay folks, it is official now. Price range for Figo, the first compact car from Ford Motors, has been officially announced.

Ford Figo will be available in two engine variants, 1.2l Durateq petrol and 1.4l Duratorq diesel. The petrol engine has a mileage of 15.6 kilometres per litre and diesel engine has a fuel efficiency of 20 kilometres per litre.

Price for the petrol engine variant starts at Rs 3.5 lakh, the diesel one is priced at Rs 4.48 lakh. Both engine variants will have a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Ford Figo, which will compete with the likes Maruti Suzuki Ritz, Hyundai i20, has been priced very competitively and is a sure to become popular among the small car loving Indians.

The car looks totally cool - both from inside and outside. Low-set grille, sloping roofline and edgy side panels give its exterior a look that makes it easily (and in a better way) different than its competitors. The interior look of Figo is based on two themes – ebony black and coral red. Based on a 2498mm wheelbase, the interiors are quite spacious. Figo has a seating capacity of five adults and a rear boot that that has 284.0 litres of space.

The equipment section of Figo has been planned carefully. Figo is equipped with a Bluetooth Phone Interface, an MP3 player, a radio and 4 speakers.

Safety features in Ford Figo include dual front airbags and Anti-lock Braking System with EBD which enhances car handling. Apart from that, Figo features intelligent central locking, engine immobilizer (PATS) and a 3 point seatbelts for front and rear seats. It has a Rapid Deceleration Warning system that, at speeds greater than 96 kmph, activates the hazard warning lamps and warns trailing drivers about the sudden brakes.

With South Africa serving as the initial target, Ford will be exporting the Figo from India to various markets across the globe.

To appeal to the different colour preferences of people, Figo has been made available in seven shades: Diamond white, Panther black, Moondust silver, Chill, Sea grey, Squeeze and Colorado red.

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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!

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Now you need not have to predict or guess the plans of the US car maker, Ford Motor, for the Indian car market. The company has already made it public. And it seems that the company has a vivid and fruitful plan that will be beneficial both for the company and the Indian car market.

To start with the company has plans to launch new car in India every 12-18 months. And this, the company thinks will help it to enhance the market share of the company. The company now has a market share of about 2 per cent and the company does not want to remain the same position, but it wants to grow along with the growing Indian car industry.

Now you can do a bit of guess work here as the company has not let out any information about what sort of market share is the company is planning to accomplish in the long run. The company has also set a target of selling over 30,000 units this year, aiming at selling 1,000 units extra this year compared to 2008, where the company was able to sell 29,000 cars.

The company is also a marking an increase in sale on a monthly basis. In the month of September this year, the company was able to send 3,500 cars, a 50 per cent increase on year-on-year basis.

Ford has been exporting car that it has manufactured in India to South Africa. And the company is also planning to work on exporting more cars this year. The company has high hopes on the launch of Ford Figo and the relaunching of Ford Endeavour.

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The Australian arm of Ford Motors has assisted the parent company in bringing out the small car, Ford Figo, in India. (Maybe, this is Oz’s redemption after all the racial abuses!)

The word is around that Ford Australia has taken a lead role in the development of the multi-million dollar project in India for the Figo. The Ford Figo is the fourth big international design job undertaken at Ford Australia, a lead design and engineering centre for the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions.

The Ford small car was unveiled yesterday and will go on sale next year. The Figo is based on the previous generation Fiesta hatch but has undergone significant engineering changes in accordance to the Indian market condition.

Ford's rendezvous with India has been neither warm nor cold. Ford’s existence in the Indian car market has taught the company the baffling ways of how the Indian car market works. The car major has learned that price is the king and small cars mean big volumes. To secure its presence in the country, Ford India has come up the Ford Figo.

The Ford Figo is aggressively priced below the Ford Ikon. The Figo will be standing against the Hyundai i20, Maruti Suzuki Swift and the Tata Indica Vista.

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The much-awaited small car from the US auto major Ford has been unveiled in New Delhi. The car has been christened Figo.

Ford Figo is a four-door hatchback that will be available in both diesel as well as petrol engines.

Figo has the main elements of Ford’s kinetic design language such as modern headlamps, grille shapes and sculpted bonnet of its distinctive face to the subtle integrated spoiler and chamfered window shape at the rear, which the company has used in world renowned vehicles such as Ford Mondeo, Ford Focus, and the Ford Fiesta. It also has very contemporary features, with a completely new look that is very different from the usual Ford models.

Figo is a synonym of car that has essence, superiority and intelligent designing, which is truly Italian inspired very similar to the name of the car which in Italian means cool. It also has a solid posture and a very spacious and elegant interior. The Figo is designed to best suit the urban driving conditions.

The Figo also has a molded body side with chiseled front fenders, a “comet tail” undercut in the doors and additional light-catching sculpting in the lower body side.
The Figo has a bold graphic with large side window shape and spaciousness awaiting occupants’ front and rear and the side window graphic has a blacked-out B-pillar.
The engine specification or transmission details are not available.

The production of the car will begin in the early months of 2010. The company has also not yet unveiled any details about the pricing of the car, but it is expected to be priced at something higher than Rs. 3 lakh.

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