[Rambler]

Let me add my two cents to what is already an interesting discussion. I own a first generation fiesta and have never driven second generation or the recently facelifted version. I have never regretted my decision of buying this vehicle. I can vouch for driving dynamics and handling of this vehicle. Ford's dealer network and service centers have vastly improved over what they used to be some time back. I pay ~ 5K for full service of my fiesta and so do my friends who own marutis. With Ford vehicles, its always heart-over-mind matter.
There is no bigger foe for fiesta than Ford itself. It doesn't deserve the fate that it met. If you are in the market for a car that brings smile to your face everytime you crank the engine then look no further. If there are other more subtle factors involved then you will have to weigh in your optins carefully.

[KedarB]

Congratulations on your pick! I am a huge Ford fan too and had a Figo diesel (my first car) for 3 years and completed joyful 45000 km on it.

Here is how my ownership experience was:

• it was a great driver's car. great to drive in town and simply awesome on the highaway
• for the time the car was with us, it never broke down, never had a puncture (except one which happened in our parking lot). so it never stranded us
• the cost of servicing wasn't a lot. the highest I ever paid was 6500 for the 40K service
• I stay in Pune, and I used to service my car from Planet Ford. The dealer and service was very good, SAs listened to complaints and worked on them. Took feedback. Never tried to extort money. Honored the warranty commitments

Around the same time, my father had a Honda City. And we liked the Ford service experience better.

Two things i would like to talk about in this thread's context:

The niggles - not exactly trouble free- the time the car was with me, I have replaced front break pads twice, break caliper once, both front shox once, and the rear twist beam (under recall). Did not pay anything for these, all were replaced under warranty.

Also, both headlight bulbs went bust and had to be replaced. We have 6-7 bulbs from older cars (the extra ones you get) and I used them. This was the first car between me and my dad that needed this. Wipers also replaced twice and they became ineffective in one monsoon.

The resale - not difficult at all: When I decided to sell the car, I put up an ad in olx, got a response the very next day and the first caller liked the car and gave a token amount within 12 hours of putting up the ad. I bought the car for 5.65 lakhs, sold it for 4.3 lakhs. Ofcourse, like any true BHpian, it was worshipped, had a full service history.

This is just my experience, and am not generalizing anything.

Would I buy a Ford again? Hell yeah! I think the niggles or small issues (or some big ones) are part of the Ford ownership experience. It will not be as trouble free as the Japanese, its not in any of the other markets. But it will be more than a mere point-a-to-b tool. And for that, I think its all worth it.

I now own a Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. I am still on my free services so I don't know what the real service costs are, but I am expecting them to be same or slightly more expensive than the Figo's.

If ford had launched the C-Max or the B-Max, I would have surely gone for those. But they are nowhere near getting launched in India. just when I bought the Ertiga, the facelifted fiesta was launched and I was really tempted to go for it. But we needed a 5+2. Even when my father changed from the city to vento diesel, I tried to push him towards the fiesta (pre facelift). But it was costly, and he didn't like the rear seat and the boot. And Vento was so heavily marketed, it soon became a status symbol, which is important for him.

So, heartiest congratulations on your newest family member!

[VKS]

New Ford Fiesta was always a Head vs Heart decision.

I got my Car in mid Nov and there is already 2800km on it.

Heart Wins :

• The Ride and handling. I had a Hyndai i20 for the last five years and used the brake on curves now I use the accelerator !
• The Front seats. They are easily the best front seats you can find in any C2 Sedan ( Duster , Teranno included)
• The ICE , Sync combination.
• My preference for Black/Grey combination.

Head Wins :

• In less than a million ex showroom you get 1.5 TDCI,Super silent cabin,Chiller AC,Keyless start,Auto headlamps,Auto Wipers, Superb music system.
• Ford Service is good. This is as per the experience I had for the First service of my Car.
• The Car as most others have 10000kms/1 year service interval ( City has 6 months)
• Frugal Engine, I get 16-17 in City regularly( Shell Normal Diesel)

[streetfighter]

I drive a 1.6S and let me write my thoughts... When I saw the new Fiesta, I was left in awe by seeing the fantastic futuristic design, it simply looked brilliant ! It was natural that I was looking for an upgrade from 1.6S to this one. But after a test drive, I was not convinced enough to part off with my current possession. I felt the engine quite underpowered, the zippiness, the fun factor was not there. It seemed like a car meant to go from point A to point B. Maybe I was expecting a bit too much... but yes, I was disappointed and never felt the urge to upgrade. The point is, if loyal Ford owners like me did not feel the urge to upgrade, then it is a big loss for Ford. To add salt to the wound was the pricing, it was around 50% more that what I had paid for the 1.6S. My Aquarian beauty is still the apple of my eye, and I plan to keep her for a long time to come !!

[nvramsub]

Originally Posted by abhi29

In case of fiesta, a solid marketing campaign talking about Drive-ability, Handling , Refreshed 'Aston Martin-ish' looks and most importantly the revised/ corrected pricing was missing. The marketing didn't support the product at the launch, when it was most required. Now no matter how hard they try (which they are not), they cant bring it back

Despite all the so called shortcomings of space and perception, the biggest reason for the poor sales is the complete lack of marketing. I don't agree with you that all is lost. If the marketing wakes up, and advertises the low features, price, ARAI mileage and the low cost of ownership, and production is stepped up, I don't see why this car can't create some worries for the competitors. The total lack of marketing had ensured that people hardly know that this car exists. Changing the name might also help in a big way.

Alas, this is not the case. And so even after 6 months of buying this car I have seen only two others in flesh on the streets - a white one in Chennai and a golden brown Bangalore registered car in Ooty.

I wonder what can be done about it. It is bad that the potential owners of a real gem of a car have to go through the tough battle of heart vs head.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by rajtheindian

Agree the fact that in UK and Europe, Fiesta is selling as Hatch alongside with the likes of Polo, Corsa, Fabia etc. However in India Fiesta is launched as Sedan and pitted against Vento, Rapeed etc, which are nothing but the Sedan version of Polo and Fabia respectively!
it's just the name, one place it represents a Hatch and another place the sedan based on the hatch. So your second point is invalid! Fiesta in India is positioned in the right segment.

What i meant was that they could have launched the hatch first and allowed it to soak in (due to more affordable pricing) and gain some popularity/positivity, and then proceed with launching the saloon at a premium!
It might have worked! of course, I am just speculating!

[abhi29]

Originally Posted by nvramsub

I don't agree with you that all is lost. If the marketing wakes up, and advertises the low features, price, ARAI mileage and the low cost of ownership, and production is stepped up, I don't see why this car can't create some worries for the competitors.

I understand, we cant be sure of anything, all I am saying is they have already lost the opportunity to start afresh and re-launch the Brand Fiesta in a big way, and still they don't seem interested in selling anything apart from Ecosport.

Now even if they intend to do the needful, it is going to be really difficult, just like Honda could never recover Jazz after initial failure even after a huge price cut.

In India, the initial perception plays a major role across the product life cycle, you have to get all the ingredients right at the time when it matters. One misaligned element and the entire effort goes waste, for Honda it was Jazz's pricing whereas for Ford, it was marketing (if any) which failed at positioning Fiesta well

[ssingh83]

I really don't understand what Ford is up to with the new Fiesta?

I am planning on a car lease through my company and am looking at the Rapid, Linea and Fiesta. The Fiesta is really high in my priority list as I am a big Ford fan (I have already owned a Ford Figo and was extremely satisfied by the performance and ride quality).

Ford's approach to the sales process was extremely lackadaisical. I had to call them 4 times before I finally received a call from their sales representative As if the lethargy was not enough disappointment for the customer, I was told that the largest Ford dealer in the state of Karnataka did not have a single test drive vehicle available and there won't be any for another 10 days. Worse they tried to hard sell the car to me without even a test drive.

On the contrary, Skoda engaged me very professionally. They arranged for a Test drive with almost no delay and have since been constantly in touch with me trying to positively influence my decision
Fiat on the other hand has been between the two extremes. They too needed a couple of reminders before arranging the test drive but over all the test drive experience was good.

Its shocking how in today's buyers market Ford is killing itself with its lackluster sales process.

Mod Note: Post Edited. Smiley usage is restricted to two per post on Team-BHP. Please do NOT use more than 2 smileys in a post.

We advise you to read the Forum Rules before proceeding any further.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by streetfighter

I drive a 1.6S and let me write my thoughts... When I saw the new Fiesta, I was left in awe by seeing the fantastic futuristic design, it simply looked brilliant ! It was natural that I was looking for an upgrade from 1.6S to this one. But after a test drive, I was not convinced enough to part off with my current possession. I felt the engine quite underpowered, the zippiness, the fun factor was not there.

Well said! That was another 'idiot' moment from Ford India, and one of the rare times that a replacement newer engine is poorer than the older one.

Where the older 1.6L was torque'y, revv-happy and fast, the new 1.5L petrol is so mediocre.

The new Fiesta has probably had the maximum amount of goof-ups from any car sold in India:
- Exorbitantly overpriced at launch
- Poorer petrol engine than the model / generation it replaces
- DCT Automatic silently discontinued (at a time when ATs are gaining in popularity)
- No petrol on the facelift (at a time when the market is moving to petrols)
- No real sales push or marketing support from its maker.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by GTO

Well said! That was another 'idiot' moment from Ford India, and one of the rare times that a replacement newer engine is poorer than the older one.

Where the older 1.6L was torque'y, revv-happy and fast, the new 1.5L petrol is so mediocre.

The new Fiesta has probably had the maximum amount of goof-ups from any car sold in India:
- Exorbitantly overpriced at launch
- Poorer petrol engine than the model / generation it replaces
- DCT Automatic silently discontinued (at a time when ATs are gaining in popularity)
- No petrol on the facelift (at a time when the market is moving to petrols)
- No real sales push or marketing support from its maker.

To add one more to the list. Even if a customer himself goes to the Ford showroom to buy a new Fiesta they don't have stock or have waiting for 2-3 months!!! Forget trying to sell the car, they aren't even able to give a customer who goes asking for one!

[HYDRAVI]

I just want to share my feelings with all the members in this Forum who love Ford cars, like me. I can only say Ford has the habit of killing its own good cars, whether it is Fiesta or Fusion or Figo. Their understanding about Indian customers is poor; even if they understand they do not have consistent strategy to improve. Very Good Cars not matched with adequate marketing and service. They allow perception to go down and down; fail to wake up. As most of the people say in this forum, Ford India is one car company at any point of time.

NOTE FROM T-BHP SUPPORT: Please refrain from tying in capitals as it may convey the wrong message to readers. Please read the Announcements and understand general Posting Etiquette before proceeding. Thanks.

[HVSC]

Here are my 2 cents on Ford's strategy:
Ford had to cut prices and relaunch the Fiesta because they can't phase it out(whenever that is) as an over-priced car in its segment. They are salvaging the situation with price correction and Aston looks. They are not advertising or marketing it because City and Ciaz already has too much momentum to be challenged, that too with a sales dud. No matter how sweet the Fiesta is, Ford has an image of being heavy on pocket maintenance wise. While the truth is far from it, Ford is going to have tough time shaking that image off even with new products. I say this because I am currently in the process of selling my Ford car and the people I meet has the same image of it being heavy on pocket, even the knowledgeable ones. I would not be selling this car if it had ABS and would drive it till its wheels fall off.
I wish to see Ford succeed in India and wish them all the luck. They are going to need it with Hyundai and Maruti already have their boxing gloves on.

[Wolfconsole]

Originally Posted by ssingh83

Ford's approach to the sales process was extremely lackadaisical. I had to call them 4 times before I finally received a call from their sales representative

Well, that's exactly what am going through. Visited the Ford India website, navigated to the Fiesta page, customised a Titanium version with choice of colour and accessories and requested a quote and test drive. It's been 4 days now and no response. Will pay a visit to the showroom in person and inquire later this week.

[jetti]

They do so many ads of the Ecosport on TV, don't know what's stopping them from putting out something for the Fiesta.

[arunphilip]

I presume Ford is selling the Fiesta either at a loss, or - more likely - at negligible profit margins. Only this can explain why Ford aren't pushing the Fiesta, and also explains why they've cut the petrol variants (they would have had to price it too cheap).

And that is a shame: for what is a stonkingly good handler, that only lacks a bombshell engine. If only Ford has the courage to do what VW did with the Polo by launching the GT twins, it would be happy days for a small - but vocal - minority in India... namely us petrolheads.

Ford: put the EcoBoost engine in the Fiesta, and I'll trade my EcoSport for one. A DCT will be the icing on the cake.