[jetsetgo08]

The price cuts would have no immediate effect unless the revised prices in comparison to competitors are marketed through various journals/newspapers.

It's time the 200 crore brand campaign punches above it's weight.

[Latheesh]

Here is the today's full page TOI ad announcing the price cut of Figo twins

[ashis89]

Sorry for going OT, but this move by Ford had me thinking for the past two days: which is the time to buy a car?

a. Pre-book a new model
Pros:
1. Enjoy a lot of attention in the initial few months.
2. Get benefits of launch price.
3. Resale value rises if the model does well and the Company decides to increase the prices.

Cons:
1. You are the guinea pig and have to suffer the initial defects in the products. ( even one of the Toyota products, Fortuner suffered from poor brakes)
2. If the model fails in the market, Company might reduce prices. Your resale goes for a toss.
3. If the model is total dud, you might be left behind with a 'liability'.

b.Wait for a year and then buy any car
Pros:
1. The initial niggles will be ironed out.
2. You are sure of the market success of the model and take an informed decision.

Cons:
1. You might have to pay much higher if the OEM decides to cash in on the demand and raise the prices (eg. Baleno, Brezza,Creta).
2. You have wait for a really long time to get your hands on one (eg: 6-9 months waiting for Baleno, 3-6 months for Tiago etc).
3. The attitude of the dealership guys change if they are dealing in a successful model.

I know the second option might look better but if you love a Brezza and yet, you have asked to wait 6 months, you might curse your decision to wait and watch. So what to do?

PS: I'm not in market for a new car but two of friends bought a Baleno each after waiting for 4 months and 5.5 months respectively.

[jetsetgo08]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Sorry for going OT, but this move by Ford had me thinking for the past two days: which is the time to buy a car?
a. Pre-book a new model
b.Wait for a year and then buy any car

Most people contemplate a lot on the pro's and con's mentioned above, and finally buy a Maruti.

[arunphilip]

When I wanted to replace my Getz with the EcoSport, head said:

Originally Posted by ashis89

Wait for a year and then buy any car

I saw pictures and reviews of the EcoSport, and then heart said:

Originally Posted by ashis89

Pre-book a new model

In my case, I was fortunate because while there were a few recalls, there were no fundamental flaws in the EcoSport. Moreover, Ford started with an aggressive price which they slowly hiked, which resulted in me benefiting from being an early buyer. However, for the Figo and Aspire, the pricing strategy has been the other way around.

In general, I'd say its down to the individual's head vs. heart; which in turn is determined by what role the vehicle would play in his/her garage - is it the pride & joy, is it a daily driver, or is it a beater.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Sorry for going OT, but this move by Ford had me thinking for the past two days: which is the time to buy a car?

a. Pre-book a new model
...
b.Wait for a year and then buy any car
...
So what to do?...

I'd say take a call depending on the brand.

Toyota, Honda, Hyundai have 'relatively' lesser issues reported in the first lot, and except for some rare occasion the prices haven't been revised downward. The product launches are mostly successful (again relatively) so chances of waiting periods are high.

For Tata and Mahindra, the first batch is a definite no no at least for me, going by the niggles reported in Safari, XUV et al.

And as far as price revision is concerned, you really cannot second guess so no point even thinking about it.

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Aptly put.

Ford should have taken a leaf out of Tata's book when they finalised the dashboard design of the Figo/Aspire twins. Even the Tiago's dash feels fresh and different when compared to the Figo.

The more you look at it, the more the new Figo and Aspire appear to be a hastily put together parts bin car. It seems that they grabbed whatever bits they could from whatever was in production at the moment, and mashed it up all together, leading to some severe mismatches, like the crazily powerful engines (diesel and automatic) and DCT being offered on a mass market car, while lacking in features that should have been offered as standard, like parking sensors.

The platform is from the Fiesta, which fizzed out in India, and this shows in the good, but relatively heavier underpinnings. The diesel engine is a basic SOHC 8V from the Ecosport, while the petrol is a reworked version of the old unit in the Figo. The DCT gearbox is offered because it was already available in the market for the Ecosport and the Fiesta. The electricals are all very basic, with no fancy tech anywhere. They even chose to forego the dual beam setup from the Fiesta and go with the basic H4 setup, forget projectors, let alone LEDs.

In essence, what they've done is brilliant. The Figo and the Aspire must have involved very little R&D, other than tuning the suspension and engine power for the various markets. They've gone and made an Etios, but with typical Ford DNA.

What's next for Ford? Easy. They're already working on the next gen Sync system with touchscreen and it's already out for their top end models. The updated Aspire, which will probably come next year, will definitely come equipped with this, as well as a whole host of styling updates. All of this will be paid for by the increased sales from the price revised Figo/Aspire. I'd definitely pay more if the Aspire came with more modern detailing, up-to-date features, touchscreen AVN and bigger, proportionate wheels.

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

It has to be herd mentality, as the Figo and Aspire were leading most of the comparisons even at the older price point. So at this new price point, for the informed buyer, it is a no-brainer now

Exactly. The Aspire diesel Titanium is now priced close to similar trim level Petrol models of most competitors. The Amaze VX Petrol and the Dzire ZXi are priced above the Titanium TDCi. The additional premium you had to pay for diesel performance and economy has vanished!

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

Exactly. The Aspire diesel Titanium is now priced close to similar trim level Petrol models of most competitors. The Amaze VX Petrol and the Dzire ZXi are priced above the Titanium TDCi. The additional premium you had to pay for diesel performance and economy has vanished!

And if the sales of these competent little Fords still don't pick up, then I really don't know what will help.

But the take away message is very clear - design a premium car, not a budget looking or feeling car - market does not want it !

Just take a look of the below cars, and their sales reports...

Budget-feel but very competent and good VFM cars:
- Datsun Go
- Datsun Go+
- Toyota Etios & Liva
- Renault Lodgy

Premium-feel / premium-looking cars with decent VFM:
- Renault Kwid
- Hyundai i20
- Suzuki Baleno
- Maruti Ciaz
- Tata Tiago

Premium cars with not-so-VFM price tags:
- Hyundai Creta
- Toyota Innova

Our car market is maturing very fast, so its time that the manufacturers learn faster too!

[dtox]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Build quality. The one and possibly only sore point, as has been pointed out in several TD impressions.

I have both the new Figo as well as the EcoSport. The build quality, yes, is better in the Ecosport but the Figo's build is no way inferior to any of its competitors like the Swift or the Grand i10 ! The Polo, Elite i20, Baleno really belong a notch above ( the so-called 'premium' hatchback territory) and generally have a Rs 1 lakh mark-up over corresponding Figo models and frankly speaking, I don't see such a drastic jump neither in equipment levels or build quality for this extra premiun. Yes, the dimensions are bigger, though.

Would suggest all to form an opinion by actually test-driving the car rather than forming opinions by reading others' comments on the forum instead of calling it an 'inferior' update !

In my humble opinion, the Figo TDCi's engine itself blows the competition away, which no amount of 'tank-like' build can match. Plus, the Figo's safety features at such an attractive price also are a whole lot more to write home about.

This is a car which should get its rightful due and respect.

Kudos to Ford for making all efforts to stay competitive ( even though I don't think the price see-sawing strategy is any good to start off with )

[johannskaria]

Originally Posted by dtox

I have both the new Figo as well as the EcoSport. The build quality, yes, is better in the Ecosport but the Figo's build is no way inferior to any of its competitors like the Swift or the Grand i10 !

In my humble opinion, the Figo TDCi's engine itself blows the competition away, which no amount of 'tank-like' build can match. Plus, the Figo's safety features at such an attractive price also are a whole lot more to write home about.

This is a car which should get its rightful due and respect.

I totally agree with both the opinions. With 3 years of Ecosport under the belt and 8 months of Figo being my grandparents car, the Fords at the current positions is a terrific VFM proposition. They have successfully intergrated low cost ownership and safety too in that proposition. The lacking factors working against them are the resale value and the service network. While the former IMO will take time, they have been working hard on the latter. And the current crop of Ford products (all of them) surely deserves one of the top 3 place in the buyer's shortlist.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

this has resulted in the interesting position where the top-end Titanium+ diesel is actually cheaper than the slightly lower end Titanium petrol AT!

Originally Posted by GTO

Of course, Ford could have sweetened the AT variant a little, but it wouldn't ever be as good as the localised MT cars.

I realized something else - for those people like me who were hoping that Ford would offer the Figo/Aspire AT in the Titanium+ trim also, well, this pricing revision totally kills the chance we'll ever get the AT in the Titanium+ trim.

Going by RavenAvi's prices on page 4, I see that the cost of moving from Titanium to Titanium+ is:

• 63k/64k for the Figo petrol/diesel respectively
• 81k for the Aspire petrol and diesel

Given the Figo AT and Aspire AT in the Titanium trim currently cost 7.27 lakh and 8.19 lakh, I'd calculate the prices of the hypothetical AT Titanium+ variants to be:

• Figo AT Titanium+ as 7.9 lakh
• Aspire AT Titanium+ as 9 lakh (which Ford will definitely revise to 8.99 lakh if they ever offer this!)

This pricing will set the hypothetical AT Titanium+ variants even more expensive than the diesel Titanium+ variants, and that is a losing game. While one can argue that they are still the cheapest dual-clutch transmissions, no enthusiast will care about that, since the engine/gearbox combination is unexciting. And to the average joe, DCT/TC/CVT/AMT are all automatic options.

If anything, Ford should consider if they want to offer the AT in a lower trim, such as the Trend, in addition to the Titanium trim. That is, if Ford are keen on moving many units of the AT variant, which is unlikely given their profit margins are probably lousy on this.

[varunswnt]

In my opinion this is a really good move. Before Ford did price cut of Ecosport, there was a difference of around 2 lacs in OTR price of Titanium variant of Aspire and EcoSport. After that, it came to around 1 lac, which I think might have triggered a shift from Aspire Titanium+ to EcoSport Trend+/Titanium. Because when compared side by side, EcoSport comes out as a better option over Aspire. Now with Aspire price cut, the difference is again back to around 2 lacs. This will definitely make Aspire more VFM and help reduce shift to EcoSport. Only those who are bowled over by looks and build quality will upgrade to EcoSport when shopping for Aspire.

Just my 2 cents.

[Ketan T]

Booked Figo Aspire today. Petrol Titanium. On road Pune Rs.7,10,983. The price includes RTO charges, 3rd and 4th year extended warranty + RSA, Zero Dep Insurance, Essential Accessory pack, and Logistics.

The dealer has charged me 10k under the head 'Logistics'. Is it too high?

The difference between Trend and Titanium variant is about 30k. Makes sense to go for Titanium now. You get Alloy wheels, ABS, EBD, and Auto AC in the Titanium variant which is missing in Trend.

[auto_enthusiast]

Originally Posted by Ketan T

Booked Figo Aspire today. Petrol Titanium. On road Pune Rs.7,10,983. The price includes RTO charges, 3rd and 4th year extended warranty + RSA, Zero Dep Insurance, Essential Accessory pack, and Logistics.

The dealer has charged me 10k under the head 'Logistics'. Is it too high?

The difference between Trend and Titanium variant is about 30k. Makes sense to go for Titanium now. You get Alloy wheels, ABS, EBD, and Auto AC in the Titanium variant which is missing in Trend.

Dealer can't charge you for Logistics. Their ex-showroom cost includes everything like logistics/depot/handling charges etc. Are they ready to give you in writing, if yes, mail that to Ford India and get it reversed.

Did you manage to get some discounts after the recent price cuts?

[Ketan T]

Originally Posted by auto_enthusiast

Dealer can't charge you for Logistics. Their ex-showroom cost includes everything like logistics/depot/handling charges etc. Are they ready to give you in writing, if yes, mail that to Ford India and get it reversed.

Did you manage to get some discounts after the recent price cuts?

Thanks for the info, auto_enthusiast. The Ford dealer has given the Logistic charges in writing. I will speak with salesperson tomorrow and ask him about the Logistic charges.

No discounts are on offer. The salesperson told me that the company has already reduced the price by 91k so no discounts.