Reference Auto

In order to offer more to its customers, owing to lacklustre sales, Ford has rolled out an automatic transmission variant of its sedan, the Fiesta, in the petrol version, which is priced between Rs 8.99 lakh and Rs 9.70 lakh.

This new car is propelled by Ford’s 1.5 litre Duratec Ti-VCT engine, which comes with maximum power of 110 PS at 6,045 rpm and peak torque is 140 Nm at 4,500 rpm.

The new Fiesta is backed by six-speed automatic powershift. The car’s accleration is commendable with the new Fiesta being able to touch 100 km per hour in just 12.1 seconds flat.

“The all new Fiesta powershift automatic will pave the way for opening up this segment further. This new variant’s owners will be in a win-win situation as it is economically priced and has better fuel efficiency compared with the manual variant,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India.

“We’ll see many more Ford automatic cars being rolled out in the Indian market,” Boneham said, without revealing the American auto giant’s India plans.

This is Ford’s second automatic car in the country’s market after the Ford Endeavour SUV. The company expects to launch more automatic variants in India in the coming two to three years.

But whether the company will launch more automatic cars at all will depend on the response these vehicles get in the Indian market.

Though cautious, Ford is bringing in such cars to vie with companies that have automatic versions like the Volkswagen Vento, Honda City and the latest being Skoda Rapid.

Generally, Indian drivers shy away from automatic vehicles and the reasons for this are steep pricing and not being comfortable eough to drive such vehicles. So, Ford could be a little wary prior to driving in a slew of automatic vehicles.

The company could be contemplating launching its much-awaited SUV the EcoSports, which will also be in the automatic petrol version category. This new product is part of the car major’s plans to introduce eight models in the country within the next four years.

Ford is seeking a larger pie in the world’s second fastest growing automobile market, India. Its latest plan is to set up a unit in Gujarat for a whopping Rs 4,000 crore.

The price of the petrol variant Fiesta of the non-automatic variety ranges between Rs 8.25 lakh and Rs 9.44 lakh. The diesel variant of the manual transmission comes for Rs 9.28 lakh-Rs 10.43 lakh.

Also, automatic variants introduced by rivals could be prompting Ford to opt for the automatic type. It may be because competitors have gone on an overdrive with automatic versions. This could also lead to change in the way drivers look at cars in India today.

With a litany of automatic vehicle options, car buffs may be ready and the Indian market could turn out to be a virgin territory for such cars in the near future.

But launch of the automatic version of the Fiesta may not see Ford’s sales touch a new high as India is still a newborn market so far as automatic vehicles go, but in the long term (say 4-5 years), the country’s car market could come of age and may see a string of automatic vehicles being launched as well as sold.