[deetjohn]

Not a very surprising move at all given the dwindling market for these three cars.

Figo: Was a bit old to start with. But was tremendous value, very good fun and great package overall. And, the new one is almost due.

Classic: The car which Ford shouldn't have bothered with. Anyone who has spent some time with the Classic and the old Fiesta will easily note the terrible drop in quality and kit. It was built for a price and that clearly showed. A very short term move which killed the 'Fiesta' brand name for the common household. Shouldn't have happened!

Fiesta: The one which never got a chance! Ford should have discontinued the old Fiesta and concentrated on the new one. Instead, they tried to catch two birds with one swoop and failed miserably. The Classic might have found some homes in the short term but it killed the brand bringing down resale value for the existing owners. And retaining both Classic and Fiesta meant the latter was debuted with a premium pricing which was never going to work.

The Fiesta is a car which will divide opinion. Either you love it or hate it. Its not an all rounder which can suit all families, so a premium price was never going to work. You cannot buy this car for the rear seat and that itself is the biggest deterrent for a sedan in the C segment given our market dynamics. I believe if the Fiesta was debuted at the same aggressive price that the 2014 face lift was launched at, it will surely have reached a lot more homes. And in India, initial success matters a lot. The manufacturer should try to put the maximum number of cars out on the road in little time as possible for success. But then, the Classic never allowed this to be. A classic vicious circle for which only Ford can be blamed.

And for the Fiesta fraternity over here, all I can say is hold on to your car for long. An upgrade is going to be very tough to find.

[RoadSurfer]

Feeling low right now. I have always been a Figo fan from the day I first took her for a spin. And after going through Team-bhp, knew what Fiesta would be like to drive. That is the only reason I never did a TD of it. Because deep inside I knew that I will be in love with it and will book it immediately. But only for Ford's attitude towards this car made me skeptical and I kept away from a Ford showroom.

[#ish]

Fiesta news is really heartbreaking.

I know how much I wanted that car last year when I came back from London. My primary aim was to get an automatic and was so disappointed to know that the new Fiesta doesnt come in automatic and only diesel. I remember I was so furious with the idiots at Ford but I decided to still go for the car as I was too much in love with it.

Then came in VW Polo GT TSI. My automatic craving came back and I finally went for the TSI.

Not complaining even for a second as this is such a lovely car!

And the fact that Ford did such a stupid thing of discontinuing Fiesta only makes me happy that I did not buy it! But the fact is, Ford screwed up with Fiesta. No petrol, no automatic, no promotion. Ugh.

Get your act together, Ford. Get Focus ST to India launch Fiesta hatchback!

And please, get automatic and petrol variants as well.

[itwasntme]

Fiesta: Always admired the front and the sides but the rear looks were totally off-putting.

Feel bad for current owners as it will have disastrous resale value going forward. A multiple whammies of the Ford brand in the used car market (apart from Figo), overall low volumes, niche market for such a second-hand car and perceived high cost of maintenance.

Anyone looking for a change had better bite the bullet now and sell, or mentally prepare to retain the car (not a bad thing at all, lovely to drive) for 5 years +

[antz.bin]

In a way, Ford has done the right thing here. They got rid of the long-in-the-tooth and dead weight cars in their portfolio so they can concentrate on their strengths instead.

To be back with a bang now, the only 2 cars they need now are:
1. The New generation Figo hatchback which will slot in below the Aspire sedan with the exact same engines and a somewhat shorter overall length of 37xx mm.
2. The latest Aston Martin grill Fiesta Hatchback with the 1.0 Ecoboost Engine in 2 states of tunes depending upon the Trim alongwith the 100ps 1.5 TDCi. This one could be priced slightly higher than the Aspire, alongside the i20s and the Jazz's . Ref: http://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/f...style-5dr/spec

To be very honest, they really need a good hatchback to fill the gap between the Ecosport and the Aspire. The Fiesta Hatchback is tailor made to get the excise benefit and do exactly that. Since this could now be a Hatchback instead of the sedan it was, the rear space issue is now resolved since it is much less relevant in the hatchback space as compared to Sedans.

I have been contemplating a fun to drive hatch for primarily city use and highway joydrives for myself and this is what I find around in the market
1. i20 is not fun enough.
2. Jazz (which I love) iDtec is too noisy.
3. Ecosport is more expensive than the much larger Ciaz hybrid.
4. Punto 90hp is something that could be genuinely considered if not for the resale bit.
5. Polo GT twins cost too much money in upkeep.

A Fiesta hatch would be a perfect fit here since it
1. Is Fun
2. Is not too noisy
3. Could be priced lower than Ecosport
4. As a brand attracts decent resale
5. Ford upkeep is at par with non German cars.

[mayankk]

I will tell you this.
Apart from a few lac people on various auto forums, people wouldn't touch a fiesta or a classic with a barge-pole. And the majority of people who bought the figo bought it NOT for its handling.
It's explained here, and we know it, but when someone is choosing an 8 lac sedan, they do not buy a ford. Ive seen at least 30 new cars being bought in the past 3-4 years in my immediate circle, and fords did not even figure in any standing!
Top down, Maruti>Hyundai. The end.

The 10-20 numbers we see for these fords, they're probably being bought here, or on some other forum. Isnt someone the owner of the last Classic to roll off the production line right here?
Handling and manners do not matter when you are going to spend most of the day in B2B, averaging maybe 20-30 kmph for the journey. KMPL, not KMPH. And zero time and money wastage when the car is up for maintenance.
We can blame the firms for not giving us good cars, but unless ford, or someone else, sets up an "Drivers' cars manufacturing hub", we are going to be relegated to a lot mile crunching, mileage pushing, cost effective, 10 years warranty cars that will run without fault for their lives, and which actually is an intelligent business decision.

I sad, but I am glad to own one of the last of a dying breed.

[rajivn]

Good business move by Ford to shun the dated models and simply focus on the newer ones and boost their respective sales. Ford can now project that they offer the best of their products loaded with technology and safety features to their customers.

Ford should now focus on Diesel Automatic for both Aspire and Ecosport and newer models such as Endeavour, Figo Aspire hatchback, etc.

[mukul32]

Shocked to hear this. Though somewhere, I too had expected something like this from a while. The Classic was the obvious choice to be discontinued first, being too old and it might have cannibalised Aspire sales. So was the Figo, though I suppose they could have sold it as a budget hatch for a while more. It was one car that the market had a positive impression about.

The most shocking (though actually quite justified as well) discontinuation was that of the new Fiesta. As it was, it was never going to sell much. It never had a lot of space, and the diesel was underpowered. These were the two main draws they could possibly never have fixed quickly. Plus, no automatic either. They should have really had a fast petrol automatic for the Fiesta. Would have at least appealed to previous Ford owners, who would've been used to Ford's dynamics, or to the hardcore petrolheads among us, who would've dared to take the plunge to an automatic petrol in the 'Kitna deti hai' era.

The riskier thing now though is that they are now practically surviving off the somewhat quirky EcoSport, which is not yet a brand by itself like the Fiesta and may not even have long term viability, and they are still not making efforts to sell Aspires. Now I live in Nashik, which though not nearly a metro, is still a quite big city. We have two Ford dealerships around as well, and I'm yet to see a single Aspire on the road. So now there's a risk they shouldn't become a one-car brand, and shouldn't be identified with the EcoSport only, like Renault, who are virtually recognized as 'the company who make the Duster' (Remember, people knew the Logan more as a Mahindra).

Anyway, this Aspire too, though very well loaded with tech, just doesn't have the road habits of earlier Fords. I've read many reviews saying it feels generic on the road, and not quite like the old Fiestas. That's a big USP cut out from that car. So effectively a Hyundai now ( though that should spell 'successful' to Ford India, shouldn't it?!).

Ford should understand they are still a mainstream manufacturer in India, and they should not be defined by one or two products in niche segments like Fiat (though the sad reality is that these utterly fake 'compact' cars are the new mainstream, and the full size hatches and sedans are onto becoming the new niche).

Though their success days are coming, the new Endy is a reasonably sure shot to severely hurt the Fortuner (given Ford stay on their toes with pricing), and the Aspire is capable of doing the same to the Xcent and co.

Now, despite the above condition, if the Endy miserably fails again to the Fortuner here, like how it did earlier, I'll surely lose my trust in this crazy Indian market, or whatever little's left of it after all this 'sub-4-metre' saga.

[RavenAvi]

This was pretty much expected.

Now that the Figo Aspire has taken over the mantle in the C1-segment, the Classic faced the axe. Owners will definitely feel a pinch, specially those who own that fantastic 1.6L zippy petrol version, since the Aspire disappoints with it's 1.2L petrol variant.

The current-gen Figo was a definite, since the all-new Figo is coming during Diwali. LINK It should do wonderfully well, if marketed right by Ford.


The most curious case is now the Fiesta - with sales numbers completely in the doldrums in the past few months, the axing was inevitable.

But now what, Ford? Will you bring back the Fiesta YET AGAIN, this time with a petrol and/or DCT option, the preview of which we had a glimpse of back in April LINK?

Or do we see the Fiesta well and truly buried and you do nothing for the next 3 years, by the time you develop your all-new C2-segment contender LINK?

I shall be keeping a keen eye on what Ford does in the Fiesta segment from now on.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

4 years! Could you be more specific and justify your answer?

I don't know why most of the times I see that the old batch of Fiesta owners sort of disrespect the Classic most of the time. Agreed, the plastic quality isn't that great and there are some places where there is too much part sharing with its sibling i.e Figo. But, it was still a great car in its own right.
Cheers,
Neel

The below reply neatly summarizes the reasons.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Not a very surprising move at all given the dwindling market for these three cars.

Classic: The car which Ford shouldn't have bothered with. Anyone who has spent some time with the Classic and the old Fiesta will easily note the terrible drop in quality and kit. It was built for a price and that clearly showed. A very short term move which killed the 'Fiesta' brand name for the common household. Shouldn't have happened!

Fiesta: The one which never got a chance! Ford should have discontinued the old Fiesta and concentrated on the new one. Instead, they tried to catch two birds with one swoop and failed miserably. The Classic might have found some homes in the short term but it killed the brand bringing down resale value for the existing owners. And retaining both Classic and Fiesta meant the latter was debuted with a premium pricing which was never going to work.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

The most curious case is now the Fiesta - with sales numbers completely in the doldrums in the past few months, the axing was inevitable.

But now what, Ford? Will you bring back the Fiesta YET AGAIN, this time with a petrol and/or DCT option, the preview of which we had a glimpse of back in April LINK?

Or do we see the Fiesta well and truly buried and you do nothing for the next 3 years, by the time you develop your all-new C2-segment contender LINK?

I shall be keeping a keen eye on what Ford does in the Fiesta segment from now on.

I don't think Ford would make an effort to relaunch Fiesta . They did relaunches but somehow did work out, and i feel they have had enough relaunches.
What I feel they should do is, re-brand Fiesta, cut the boot, slot it against i20/Jazz. It might not sell as much as i20 or even Jazz, but will for sure get decent numbers for ford.
Right now they should focus on launching Figo and Endeavour ASAP.

[Baddychat]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

This was pretty much expected.

Now that the Figo Aspire has taken over the mantle in the C1-segment, the Classic faced the axe. Owners will definitely feel a pinch, specially those who own that fantastic 1.6L zippy petrol version, since the Aspire disappoints with it's 1.2L petrol variant.

The most curious case is now the Fiesta - with sales numbers completely in the doldrums in the past few months, the axing was inevitable.

I shall be keeping a keen eye on what Ford does in the Fiesta segment from now on.

The Aspire could be a game changer for Ford as was the previous gen Figo and the Ecosport. By the looks of it the Aspire diesel should garner decent sales.

Coming to the Fiesta, if I remember correctly, even a couple of years back Ford dealerships would have no stock of the Fiesta and was most available on order and hardly a TD car available. The Ecosport was in the market already then and they preferred to move away from the Fiesta. The shutting down of production press release is just a formality.

The Figo's sales have dwindled over the last 12-18 months mainly because of newer more exciting options available in the market and I think Ford are a little late to the party. Yes a Figo will not compete with an i20 or a Jazz or a Polo but the hatchback segment customer is not as price sensitive as he used to be.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Doge

What far better models are you talking about? I think if space is not on top of your list,fiesta is an incredible car to buy. Best looking,decent interiors,solid build and acceptable diesel.

A majority of the market believes that the other options - most of them more expensive - are better. Even as an enthusiast, I think the Vento diesel is a superior sedan to the Fiesta diesel, and the Honda City Petrol / Linea T-Jet are superior to the Fiesta petrol. It was a decent sedan, but 'incredible' isn't a term I'd use for the Fiesta.

Originally Posted by NiInJa

Is it me or anyone else who is seeing a lot of 'rationalization' happening around in automobile industry ?

Well said. Low volume models are loss-making. Better killed.

Originally Posted by Porschefire

Ford goofed up the pricing and the people went elsewhere. Ford realized their mistake and launched an improved version of an already good car with amazing pricing but the people never gave it a chance.

How a car is perceived is more or less decided at the time of launch (of course, later, reliability & after-sales add to it). Few cars ever recover from an overpriced launch.

Originally Posted by PrideRed

What I feel they should do is, re-brand Fiesta, cut the boot, slot it against i20/Jazz.

Why would they chop the boot off when the Fiesta sedan is a Fiesta hatchback with a boot added on!

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

It was much more dynamically accomplished, had a robust 1.6 Duratec engine, good ride, solid build, gem of a steering, and looked MUCH more proportionate than the sub-4m sedans.

Simply because it's too old & outdated. No one wants to buy a 10 year old sedan. If product attributes alone were enough, we'd still have cars like the 3rd-gen Honda City & Maruti Baleno on sale.

[PratikPatel]

Well, if these reports are accurate, then it looks like I will own one of the last of the Fiestas to roll of the production line. And no I will not be cancelling the order. I don't buy cars based not their resale value. I buy them based on how much my wife and I will enjoy driving them.

[kilireddy0]

Originally Posted by Wolfconsole

While I am happy that Ford is concentrating on better performers to improve their Indian presence, being a new Fiesta owner, this news makes me sad.
The silver lining: we, the Fiesta owners, now belong to an exclusive group owning a limited edition vehicle.

Glad you see the bright side

Originally Posted by MSC

But one thing is for sure. Ford has to be credited with keeping safety in its product range. The titanium plus version of most products are having 6 airbags.

For making safety their USP they need a big thumbs up. Hope all manufactures follow the path set by vw, ford. Would have been much better if ABS was given at least in the trend variant.

Originally Posted by PratikPatel

I will own one of the last of the Fiestas to roll of the production line. And no I will not be cancelling the order.

That's serious commitment. It takes some guts from your side. I hope you have a trouble free ownership, but what about the spares will you still be able to source them from ford at least as long as the warranty stands ?