Figo is Fords first and desperate measure in desperate times to jump into the small car segment of developing nations like India. As this segment is where the number game is played Ford’s homeland rival GM made it clear that it would grab a bigger share with its recently launched Beat. Beat is the most lively car in the country’s deal ships right now and with a price tag of 3.34lakhs it has already booked over 10,000 in 25days of its launch. So you could say Ford is resting its shoulders heavily on the Figo to beat the Beat and GM, but has Ford done enough?

Figo is a completely different car from the Beat though they will be sold in the same price segment (I am taking a guess here). At this point I am going to stop comparing the two and get on with my thoughts on the Figo. Figo is a perfect Indian Ford, rather too perfect that’s what its problem is. There is nothing new to the eye. The body panels are too stereotypic, I get a feeling that they have squeezed in Fiesta’s styling in to Fusion’s body. But being a Ford it is quite civilized and simple but a grownup car in this segment wouldn’t be adequate any more with Maruti’s unlimited supply of peppy hatches and the beat around Ford could have gone an extra mile on making it interesting.

It ticks all the boxes when it comes to that fordness except for one, the dashboard. Ford in its relentless efforts of make at least the interiors a bit bonkers, it gave Figo a red (or something close to red) plastic dashboard. But then you can get it in black as well. Other than the cross-dressing, Figo’s interiors are indeed fresh in terms of functionality. For instance the bonnet open switch is accessible only to the shotgun. The head lights dim and dip are no more on the stick below the steering but on the dash with an A/C switch like knob. Speaking of the A/C, it will turn a bottle of water on the back seat into ice when set in full, it is that good. Armrests on the door can rest a water bottle, other than your arm. There are plenty of cubby holes around for all your storage needs from holding your drink to holding toll road change. Figo’s party piece is its size, dimension wise it is far bigger than its rivals. The 284litre boot is the biggest in the class. If that’s not enough for you, fold the rear seats to make your own football field.

From the picture that ever one else is painting, both the 1.2L 4-cylinder petrol and 1.4L Diesel lack grunt, with no emergency in the rev or the acceleration but then again it’s not a part of Ford’s intensions. Ford’s plan of a small car for India had practicality as the main priority and I feel that ford has delivered.

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Photo courtesy: Team-bhp

Today at the Delhi launch Mr. Alan Mulally unveiled Ford’s Indian small car, Figo. Ford scored its first goal with the name Figo which is Italian for cool and soon it will be cool in Hindi as well. The car just looks perfectly fordly. Though It might have bit of Fiesta in it (which in itself is a perfect looking car) it is as fresh a design as one would expect.

This event was not as much a launch as just an introduction of what is to come. Though the car was unveiled there was no disclosure of any details about the car or it’s pricing. The only info out of the launch is that the car will be launched during March of 2010 and will be produced in the company’s Chennai plant which recently received a major expansion worth $500 million.

Mr. Mulally, Ford’s Global President and CEO said in his press address that “The Figo is designed to compete in India’s small car segment, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the market. Our exciting new Ford Figo shows how serious we are about India. It reflects our commitment to compete with great products in all segments of this car market. We are confident the Ford Figo will be a product that Indian consumers really want and value. Ford is reserving further details about the car till its launch in early 2010”.

When Michael Boneham, Ford India president and managing director addressed “It’s going to be very competitive with the current market leader and will offer a tremendous value for our consumers, it will transform our brand into a volume player in India” he added that “it’s going to be a big game changer”.

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All the speculations and the rendering jobs will end for good in two days as Ford is likely to take the veil off its small car for India. Ford’s President and CEO Mr. Allan Mulally will be flying down to India on the 23rd to unveil the car which has been spinning around the minds and lenses of the Indian auto bounty hunters.

According to the company officials the car will come in two variants 1.2L petrol and 1.5L diesel. Ford’s factory in Chennai which recently got pumped up with 500 million dollar job will be producing this car. The Chennai factory is getting its steel from its plant in Thailand, to make this small car cheaper, Ford is holding talks with Tata for a steel deal.

The 500 million dollar (2000 crores) expansion of the Chennai plant is evident with ford acquiring 103 more acres of land out of which 30 acres will be allotted to its components suppliers. The Chennai plant has been automated by 30% with the installation of 90 new robots. Ford has increased its components suppliers from 30 to 180, another step to make the small car cheaper.

The Car might look like these:

Ford launches its overhauled Endeavour SUV in Delhi today (9th Sep). This launch is significant for Ford since there is an eminent threat to its throne from Toyota’s Fortuner, so if Ford wants to reign in power it has to get it right and from what we are seeing it does look like the American will prevail.

We liked the old looks it was unique but since we have seen the new looks, the old look kind of feels nostalgic. The new front grill is keeping with style so is the blunt front head lights. Endeavour hasn’t lost its macho feel with its huge 16-inch alloys. This new ford gets great off-roading capabilities with a limited slip diff, which sends toque at a different rate to either side wheels according to the terrain. To roll this chariot Ford provides two engine options.

The smaller 2.5L common-rail diesel produces 143 Ps of horsepower and 330Nm of torque. This variant comes with a manual gear-box and 2-wheel drive. The bigger 3L diesel produces 156 Ps of horsepower and 330Nm of torque. This variant comes with an automatic transmission and with both 4 and 2 wheel drives. The switch between 4 and 2 wheel drives can be done on the go. The mileage of the smaller 2.5L manual variant is 13.44kmpl while the bigger 3L give 11.4kmpl.

Ford has taken it to the next step with the gadgetries. The new Endeavour comes with the first in segment touch screen with satellite navigation. The entertainment section is covered by the built-in DVD player with 6 cd changer, Mp3 and audio aux which will be enough to play your iPod. It also has Bluetooth connectivity. It even has rear view cameras.

The best part of the car is the seat arrangement and its dexterity. The front row is standard. The middle row has 2 split seats which can accommodate 3 with a leg room of 978mm, and these two seats can be folded to create luggage space. The third row has a single stretch seat facing the front. To enter the third row you just have to fold one of the second row seats. The third row seats can be folded all other to obtain the booth space of 1433 litres

Ford has gone all the way with this one. The costlier automatic is priced at the same range as the Fortuner at Rs. 18.14Lakh. The manual variant which is pretty much a facelift from the old Endeavour is priced at 16.14Lakh.

The launch of Toyota’s new premium SUV Fortuner has made the other Automakers a bit nervous. Ford which is the current market leader in this segment is no exception. To get the Endeavour battle ready, Ford has given it new looks. The new looks in our opinion has completely changed the Endeavour’s uniqueness. The American bad boy looks it had is no more. It now looks like a Japanese Geek.

Honda’s got the cold too. But it took the right pills. Its new face-lifted CR-V is looking more bling than its predecessor. Only after the sales figures for the next month are out, we can decide who has gotten it right. Until then Keep checking in for updates.