Indian Car Blog - Carazoo.com

Good news for those who were once fans of Jaguar 24-hour Le Mans car. The “Leaping Cat” Jaguar Cars will be back in the game after a 10-year hiatus and guess who’s in charge of the revival of the Jaguar brand yet again. It’s the Tata Motors. The Indian connection for the French Le Mans seems to be right in place with the entry of Jaguar in the 24-hours Le Mans endurance race in June.

Jaguar which will be celebrating 75 years on the road this year has made a mark in the motorsports, predominantly in the Le Mans where Jaguar won five straight times in the 1950s pushing the iconic and legendary C and D type models into service.

Now with Tata Motors at the helm of affairs of Jaguar after buying the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford Motors in 2008 will restore Jaguar’s rich image in motor racing by pumping in multi-crore investments. This way Tata Motors is pretty damn sure that it will promote the Jaguar brand to the hilt in the process.

As per CJ O’Donnell, Marketing Director of Jaguar Cars Global, “Motorsports has always been important to the Jaguar brand. Our domination of Le Mans in the 1950s was the foundation on which the company was developed. Returning to Le Mans will reignite excitement for the marquee across the globe.”

Le Mans is the world’s oldest sports car endurance race and has been held annually since 1923 in La Sathe, France. JaguarRSR, the professional racing team of Jaguar, will race this year in the XKR GT2. The JaguarRSR team last won Le Mans 20 years ago in the XJR-12, but after that had to keep a low profile either due to superior competition or due to inadequate funding. Le Mans is very different from other big races such as the Grand Prix as it focuses on the ability of a car company to build fast machines which are also sporty and reliable. This was done to promote the idea of fuel-efficiency while running the vehicle over a race which would last for 24-hours (with pit stops).

Winning at the Le Mans will surely help increase sale of the vehicle too. The enhancement of the brand’s strength and the sales graph moving higher seem to be the major reasons behind the project. Ford had tried the same trick in 1989. It had spent an unimaginable amount over the acquisition and again spent a few more billions to bring back the brand’s rich image. To everyone’s dismay, Ford failed. Will Tata Motors succeed this time? The Ford Motor Company had miserably lost the battle then. But now, Tata Motors seems to be full of positive hope.

The Formula 1 race happens to be the only recent race where the Jaguar made a successful entry. Right after that, the exit followed. Moreover, the entry too was ten years ago, in the year 2000. Ford, under the burdening financial pressure, was forced to sell the Jaguar Formula 1 team to Red Bull. Yes, the leaping cat was sold to the Red Bull. It was then re-baptized as Red Bull Racing.

The Porsche has won 16 times at the Le Mans. Audi too has more number of victories than the Jaguar. It has won 7 times. Peugeot, BMW, Renault, Alfa Romeo and Bentley have been the other successful motor racing brands. Will the Jaguar make it this time? Patience!!! Only Time will tell.

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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 wait is finally going to get over when Ford India will unveil its small car today.

The small car codenamed B517 will be flagged off by the CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally. The CEO has flown to India just for the purpose. The last time, the company’s CEO visited India was at the launch of the Ford Fiesta in2005. Bill Ford, grandson of Henry Ford, had come to India to launch the sedan. Moreover, it has to be noted that since that time, Ford India has not had a new product launch, but has continued to upgrade its existing product line.

This small car is very critical and crucial to the future success and growth of the company in India. The Indian arm of the Ford Motor Company has sweated out to localise the car. Moreover, it is going to be Ford’s cheapest offering as the B517 will be priced a little more than Rs 3 Lakh.

The Ford small car will be spacious and come in two engine variants. The petrol version will be driven by a 1.2-litre engine and a 1.4-litre engine will power the diesel variant. These indigenous engines also power the Ford Ikon and the Fiesta. The engines also meet the government's small car excise norms.

The small car will pit itself against the upcoming Volkswagen Polo, Nissan Micra and the New Chevrolet Beat (code M300). The Ford B517 will also stand against the existing Hyundai i20 and the Swift model in the market. The arrival of Ford’s small car would sound death knell for its competitors.

This new Ford model will go on sale in March 2010. Then, why display the car now? Rewinding the history of Ford Motors, it was never part of Auto Expo where every car maker loves to bring their new babies to the public eye. Hence Ford might have felt the festive season would be auspicious time for the launch of small car.

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Ford Motor Company will be unveiling its much-awaited ‘small car’ in this week. This will happen as soon as in two-three days.

The US car major had launched the Ford Fiesta sedan in 2005. Since then, Ford India has not had a new product launch in India, while the company has continued to upgrade its existing product line in the country.

Ford India will launch its small car, code named B517 in March 2010. This car will be launched in an attempt to secure its presence in the country. The small car, which is expected to compete with the Hyundai i20 and the Suzuki Swift, was also showcased to its dealers in Chennai recently.

This small car will be a four-door hatchback that will be powered by an indigenous diesel and petrol engine. The engine of the small car will be manufactured at its Chennai plant.

Ford India has invested around $500 million (Rs 2,400 crore) to double the current capacity by one lakh cars and 2.5 lakh engines. Recently, the company has seen an increase in primary sales (sales from company to dealers), with the Endeavour and the Ikon maintaining their leadership positions in the premium SUV segment and mid-size segment, respectively. Ford India’s existing line-up includes the Ikon, the Fiesta, the Fusion and the hulky Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), Endeavour.

The US car major is keen to accelerate focus on emerging markets such as China and India with fuel-efficient products. Globally, consumers are seen to be moving towards fuel-efficient small cars and Ford India is currently offers cars in mid-size segments and SUV segments.

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The legendary Ford Capri is celebrating its 40th birthday. The car was incepted in 1969 as the European version of the American Ford Mustang.

The Ford Capri sold nearly two million units in just eighteen years and achieved iconic status with its target audience. The Capri was one of the greatest muscle car of the Swinging Sixties. The Sixties was an era of irresponsible excess and flamboyance and the Ford Capri was aimed at a style-conscious generation.

The Ford Capri was available in a range of engines for the economist and the enthusiast; in fact it was the choice of a wide range of customers. The car was initially called the Colt when it was introduced for the first time at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1969.

Ford began selling the Capri outside Europe in April 1970, in the North America, South Africa and Australia. The Capri proved highly successful, with 400,000 cars sold until 1970. Ford revised the Capri in 1972 with new and more comfortable suspension, rectangular headlights, enlarged tail-lights and new seats.

Ford Motor Company witnessed the highest sales of the Capri in 1973 with a total of 233,000 units.

The global oil crisis of 1973 failed to hinder the sales of the Capri and in 1974 the Mk II was launched. The new version of the Capri had smoother design lines and simplified option packs. The Mk III was rolled out in 1978, with several special editions such as the Calypso and Laser.

The last Capri, limited edition Capri 280 also known as the Brooklands Capri, was made on 19 December 1986 and 1,886,647 cars had rolled off the production lines from Ford.
The Capri is remembered for the classic advertising slogan "The car you always promised yourself".

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