Reference Auto

At a time when car makers are pruning prices of their new variants, owing to a rapid slowdown in sales, Ford has rolled out a new Fiesta variant that will come at a steeper price of between Rs 8.23 lakh and Rs 9.42 lakh for the petrol variant and Rs 9.27 lakh-Rs 10.42 lakh for the diesel model (ex showroom Delhi). The diesel as well as petrol models will be in four variants — Style, Trend, Titanium and Titanium+.

With the launch, the company introduced the first-ever 1.5-litre powertrains — 1.5 L Ti-VCT and 1.5 L Duratorq TDCi engines — that is set to spur the premium sedan.

The car will be available in seven colours — diamond white, moondust silver, sea grey, chill, panther black, squeeze and kinetic blue. A standard two-year or 100,000-km warranty will come with the new Fiesta.

The new Ford Fiesta has a litany of features, including anti-lock brake system, electronic brake force distribution, airbags and steering wheel audio controls as standard features in all the eight variants in both diesel and petrol options.

The Titanium+ version comes with Bluetooth connectivity, voice-activated climate control and auto-fold mirrors.

The top-end variant has a new feature by the name Pull Drift Compensation, which applies force that is opposite to that of road camber and cross-winds, making driving easier and smoother. Also, design of the new Fiesta has been completely overhauled 

Ford India president and managing director Michael Boneham said he is bullish on sales following the success of the hatchback Figo, which has received thumbs up from the market.

Spurred by the Figo, Ford India has logged a 50% jump in sales in the January-June period with a figure of over 60,000 cars against 39,465 cars in the same period of the previous year.

May be Ford feels that Indian customers are slowly beginning to accept the US brand and this could help buoy sales in all categories, including the new Fiesta.

But, on the other hand, a good response in the compact cars market may not necessarily boost sales of high-end cars.

According to Ford India, cost of ownership of its Fiesta is among the lowest in its class when compared with Maruti Suzuki’s SX4, Honda City, Volkswagen Vento and Hyundai’s new Verna.

This is a very significant feature and if Ford raises awareness (may be through advertisements) of this advantage it has, it could help the company speed up sales of the new Fiesta substantially.

In fact, Ford’s offer of a litany of diesel models could be one of its USPs. Boneham added, “There is a major impact on diesel car output due to supply constraints for powertrain components, which is the biggest concern for Ford. The surge in demand for diesel cars is from around 60 per cent in 2010 to around 70 per cent now.”

The Figo, which has been the volume driver for the auto maker, witnessed a volume slide of 6% in the first quarter of this financial year at 17,319 cars compared with 18,495 cars in the corresponding quarter in 2010-11, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers or SIAM. This is a major concern for Ford.

Also, slowdown in the auto sector has been one of the worst in recent years and Ford pricing its new Fiesta steeply compared to its old models may not go down well with prospective buyers, who may shy away from buying the new Fiesta.