Expectations were huge when Figo and Figo Aspire launched last year and both of them off to a great start as well. The Aspire duos are pretty looking cars featuring long list of goodies, segment best features, efficient mileage range and aggressive pricing. Ford had set a production target of 20,000 units a month for both the cars but sadly demand turned out to be very low than expected.
Owing to the average response, Ford has cut down the production to 10,800 units a month almost half of the pre-set target. Even after cutting down the production by half, the capacity of both still stands on 6500 units a month. The Figo hatchback seems to facing heat from Maruti Swift, Hyundai Grand i10 and Tata Bolt while its sedan sibling Aspire is facing stiff fight from Maruti Swift Dzire, Honda Amaze and Hyundai Xcent.
Since its launch in August last year to March 2016, Aspire witnesses a significant drop in sales around 74 percent while Figo hatchback witnessed a drop of 60 percent from October to March 2016. And it seems nothing is going in Ford’s favor as company’s Gujarat plant was supposed to begin exports early this year but has been delayed for some unknown reasons. Currently, the plant exports to Africa, Mexico, South Africa and Middle East.
Ford’s bestselling model EcoSport sales are also affected off late due to the launch of Maruti Vitara Brezza. Ford also opted for a price cut of Rs. 1.12 lakh to match Vitara Brezza’s competitive price.
Ford India upcoming launch Mustang super car is not going fetch high sales volume and EcoSport facelift is still far away, so achieving huge market share in India would be quite tough road ahead.
