Ford has unveiled its new small car Figo today in New Delhi with Alan Roger Mulally, Ford's president and chief executive, making a lightening visit to the country for the unveiling. It is expected that "Figo" will be priced in the range of 3.5-5 lakh rupees and will compete with the likes of Maruti Ritz, Hyundai i20, Honda Jazz & Skoda Fabia.
The Ford Figo, a new nameplate and a fresh face on the Indian market, signals Ford's intention to compete in India's largest and most important small car market segment. Ford Figo is the result of a significant Ford investment commitment to expand its plant near Chennai for volume production as a small-car centre of excellence regionally.
Ford's $500 million investment has doubled the plant's production capacity to 200,000 units per year and introduces major advances in high-quality automation and innovative, eco-friendly production techniques. Ford Figo is designed and engineered to compete in India's small car segment, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the new vehicle market. It leverages Ford's small-car platform architecture, sharing underlying technology with the Ford Fiesta, already familiar to Indian drivers.
Design & Style
Design-conscious Italy inspired the new Ford Figo's name is colloquial Italian for "cool." From the front it is typical ford design - like we have seen in Ford Fiesta and Ikon in India - A big front airdam below the grille which gives Figo a very distinct & aggresive look. At the rear it resembles "Fusion" alot with high mounted vertical tail lamps in D-pillar. Ford Figo features a fresh, contemporary shape that will be a distinctive alternative to traditional brands in this segment. The design language conveys a dynamic spirit of energy in motion.
Quality, substance and generous proportions are clearly evident in the design of the new Ford Figo, which features a solid stance, an invitingly large interior and a vibrant, youthful character. Its package is right-sized for the market, which is predominated by congested urban driving conditions.
From its modern headlamps, grille shapes and sculpted bonnet of its distinctive face to the subtle integrated spoiler and chamfered window shape at the rear, Ford Figo is filled with kinetic design touches. These also include sculpted shapes to the body side - chiseled front fenders, a "comet tail" undercut in the doors and additional light-catching sculpting in the lower bodyside - which combine to communicate the solidity, substance and protective safety of its design.
The bold graphic of Ford Figo's large side window shape is another key kinetic design feature hinting at the comfort and spaciousness awaiting occupants' front and rear. The side window graphic is executed with a blacked-out B-pillar, an elegant design touch that unifies the side windows into one shape visually.
With its wheels positioned at the four corners of the vehicle with minimal overhang, Ford Figo's bold wheel arches self-assuredly signal its agility and solidity. All in all Figo looks very muscular and much better that Honda Jazz, Skoda Fabia and Maruti Ritz. But Hyundai i20 still leads the B+ hatchback segment due to its awesome styling, three engine options, spacious interiors and loads of features to play ith which makes it a value for money deal. Let's see if Ford India manages to replace the segment leader with all new Figo.
Interiors & Comfort
It is expected that Figo will get a completely fresh interior package which means a brand new instrument panel, seats and trim. According to Ford insiders, the interiors are expected to set new standards for small hatchbacks combining class-leading aesthetics and functionality.
Built on the same 2486mm wheelbase as the Indian Fiesta and Ikon, the Figo is expected to have a similar amount of passenger space as its saloon siblings. Ford's Fusion has never been able to sell in good numbers even it was available in diesel. Ford bets very high with Figo and want to change the complete scenario in luxury small car market.
Engine Options & Expected Price Of Figo
New Ford Figo will initially be launched with 2 engine options - DuraTec Petrol and DuraTorq Diesel. The diesel engine will be the same .4 Duratorq 68bhp motor that powers the Ikon & Fiesta saloons. The Duratorq motor is incredibly responsive at low speeds and hugely economical too which should suit the urban driving conditions the Figo will mostly cater to.
The petrol engine will be all new all-aluminium 1.2-litre petrol motor which is essentially a scaled-down version of Sigma petrol engines that power the Fiesta saloon. Belonging to the same engine family, it shares common architecture like double overhead cams, four valves per cylinder an aluminium block and is expected to develop max power between 70 and 75bhp.
The Figo petrol is expected to be priced around 3.5-3.75 lakhs and Figo Diesel will retail around 4.20-5.0 lakhs. New Volkswagen Polo is also expected to be priced under 5 lakhs which means competeition is going to heat up early next year with Maruti Ritz, Hyundai i20, Skoda Fabia and Honda Jazz in B+ hatchback market in India.
New Ford Regional Production Centre For "Figo"
The introduction of the new Ford Figo marks a significant shift for India's role in Ford's strategy. Transformed with a production capacity of 200,000 units, the integrated Chennai manufacturing facility is now positioned as a Ford regional centre of excellence for small-car engineering and production. Ford Figo models will be produced at the plant for export to international markets. The plant is also being groomed to produce diesel and petrol engines for local vehicle production and export within Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa region.
With more automation and high-tech new facilities, the new site reflects the latest Ford manufacturing processes globally and pioneers new technologies for Ford and India. Created with a "best of the best" approach, it has been benchmarked against other competitive facilities globally, as well as the current volume manufacturers in the Indian market, for quality and production efficiency.
The transformed plant introduces eco-friendly production techniques like its new Three-Wet High-Solids paint process. This approach produces beautifully painted vehicles with three wet coats - primer, base coat and clear coat - of high solids-content paint applied one after the other without oven curing between coats. A first for India, it produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions and reduces volatile organic compounds emissions by about 20 percent compared to current medium-solids solvent-borne paints. Use of high-solids content results in a paint finish with high levels of gloss and depth of colour which is more resistant to scratches and stone chips.
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