[Sugeeta]

Originally Posted by rajivn

Ford believes that they have launched a wonderful product and hence probably decided to price it accordingly. Maybe, Ford is not aiming at garnering big numbers here. They wanted to launch a good well rounded product, which they did and they have put a price tag which they deem is worth it. Now, if people see value in the product, they will put their money on it.

Some reasons that I could think of for the price that others have also echoed.
1. Ford has tried to retain as much features for Indian variant of Fiesta as that of international variant of Fiesta. Result even low end Fiesta is loaded with safety and other utilitarian features.
2. Ford claims Fiesta body is made of high strength Boron steel which is supposedly used in high end cars (Volvo, Audi, etc).
3. I believe the sporty front seats of Fiesta are available right from low end variants here. These seats are supposedly available only in high end variants Internationally.

There could be other reasons too for Fiestas price as others have mentioned such as to avoid overlap between Classic and NFS,to make room for Fiesta hatch, etc

Ultimately, for petrol I might pick Honda City and for Diesel I would pick Fiesta D. I think Fiesta D is a well rounded car and another reason why I would suggest it is because of the experience with Fiesta 1.4D. We have a Fiesta 1.4D at home and its been serving well for the last 2 years or so. Though it lacks the top end grunt, holding the Fiesta steering and driving it has always been a delight.

A very rational and mature post.
The 1st para kind of summarized the right approach towards this product.

[carfreak77]

Originally Posted by "vb-

And that's why I posted a question to Mustang whether he know what's the sales forecast for the New Fiesta. They would have a set target for India, and then rest of the plant capacity maybe reserved for export oriented manufacturing (this is just my assumption though).

Just received news that Ford has set a low sales forecast for a year(don't know exact figure but below 8k). This is not confirmed. If that is true then it justifies the price from their point of view(sell few cars and get max profit). I do not know the reason for such a low forecast (seems weird to me especially since they could have taken advantage of Verna's waitlist.)

[lamborghini]

Just when I thought the NFF would be the answer to my car dilemma, and after spending hours trying to digest its looks and convince myself that it could be the one, Ford goes and announces its pricing structure.
The difference is 1L between the Fiesta D Titanium, and the VW Vento HL, and for the 1L more, I get:
- Better ICE (a similar set up would be around 25-30K for the Vento)
- Better handling, and sportier suspension
- Wider tyres
- Some extra features such as the voice recognition program and the sportier front seat.

However, I would lose out on the VW image, better quality interiors, and a much better engine. Also, with the 1L I would save, I would be able to get a good touch-screen HU and speakers, wider tyres, and leather seats!

I hope Ford is reading this, and announces a price correction within the next week, for all existing bookings and new bookings!

[suman]

Few questions come to mind -

• Was everyone on the forum expecting a Figo pricing strategy for the new Fiesta? If so, that's a nice wish but is it reasonable/feasible?
• How come the new Fiesta is perceived as "overpriced" & yet the Vento Highline TDI is not? The Titanium Diesel pretty much wallops the Vento in terms of features - there is absolutely no comparison. And the difference in on-road prices is very very justifiable.
• What major "extras" does the top end Diesel Fluidic offer? A Start-Stop button ????

[RacingForIndia]

Attached is the comparison between the different versions of the fiesta. It is heartening to see that the safety features have not been compromised and the difference in the trim levels is mainly concentrated in the Comfort and Convenience department.
Kudos to Ford for braving it out.

Source: india.ford.com

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by suman

Few questions come to mind -

• Was everyone on the forum expecting a Figo pricing strategy for the new Fiesta? If so, that's a nice wish but is it reasonable/feasible?
• How come the new Fiesta is perceived as "overpriced" & yet the Vento Highline TDI is not? The Titanium Diesel pretty much wallops the Vento in terms of features - there is absolutely no comparison. And the difference in on-road prices is very very justifiable.
• What major "extras" does the top end Diesel Fluidic offer? A Start-Stop button ????

Suman,

That is exactly what I am trying to justify to myself in the post above. Given the differences in the vento and fiesta D, IMO the prices shouldn't be that much higher than the Vento D, which was overpriced from the outset due to its higher brand value. A difference of 20-25K would have been acceptable given the slightly cheaper interiors, smaller engine, and poorer brand value (though it makes no difference to me) that the fiesta has, though its feature list is significantly larger, and handling would be much better.
As for the Verna D, you lose out on the dynamics and seat comfort that the Fiesta offers, but get a great engine, a lot of features (though the Fiesta might have some others which the Verna doesn't offer, and the Verna has a few that the Fiesta doesn't offer), and better interiors and looks. If the pricing was similar to the Verna, there would be no reason to crib given the trade off's each car offers.
BTW, the top of the line Verna also comes with 4 additional airbags.

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by RacingForIndia

Attached is the comparison between the different versions of the fiesta. It is heartening to see that the safety features have not been compromised and the difference in the trim levels is mainly concentrated in the Comfort and Convenience department.
Kudos to Ford for braving it out.

Source: india.ford.com

Thanks RacingForIndia. That was a nice and useful analysis. Looking at the data, I somehow feel the STYLE (base) variant is not bad at all, since it has all the required safety features. Voice control, blue tooth, alloys and rest are secondary and one can get them from anywhere and of their own choice.

[nipunkul]

If some tuner can figure out a sportier suspension and offer it with new tyres and an ECU upgrade for the ANHV for 1-1.2L, this car will loose any enthusiast buyers it might have. Anyway, they are still ruing the old S which was discontinued.

[RacingForIndia]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Thanks RacingForIndia. That was a nice and useful analysis. Looking at the data, I somehow feel the STYLE (base) variant is not bad at all, since it has all the required safety features. Voice control, blue tooth, alloys and rest are secondary and one can get them from anywhere and of their own choice.

Yes Mate! Thats what I've been thinking. The features in the base variant for the price (though not a total steal) are pretty good.
The base variant, is almost at par with the top of the line variants of some of the other cars in that segment.
So is it a VFM, not really, they are positoning the new Fiesta as a life style car I think.

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by rajivn

Ford believes that they have launched a wonderful product and hence probably decided to price it accordingly. Maybe, Ford is not aiming at garnering big numbers here. They wanted to launch a good well rounded product, which they did and they have put a price tag which they deem is worth it. Now, if people see value in the product, they will put their money on it.

Rajivn,

Like Sugeetha mentioned, very mature thought. Frankly after reading this even I felt guilty for a moment.

Now that I have cooled off, here is some cooled off view point from my side on what Ford should have done.

1. Competetive Analysis:
Overseas Fiesta is competing with products like Vento, Verna, City (to an extent) and Focus competes with the likes of Corolla, Sonata and Civic.
Of course, the remaining companies are selling stripped down version of thier models, whereas Ford has launched thier internation varient as it.
This is where I have isssue. They should have either launched it as stripped down or rather not launched it at all.

But on contrary what Ford has done is launched Fiesta in the Corolla, Civic teritory. Which is where the issue starts. Anyone who has slight knowledge of overseas market behaviour will not go for Fiesta at all.
Moreover, now Focus will end up in the Accord teritorry. Which will be another mistake.

2. Marketing campaign:
Second place where Ford did the mistake was thier marketing campaign, all the while they were giving out feelers as if Ford is going to be "competively priced". They should have right away during the launch mentioned that they are keeping quality in mind not the price etc etc. That would have reduced the number of disappointment.

Due to thier initial campaign even people with INR 7L budget started waiting for launch and needless to say they got pissed off, cheated. Had anyone given out feelers that its going to be premium, then only people with 10L budget would have waited for the car.
Take Hyundai, ask anyone before the pricing was announced. Everyone had a feeler that its going to be costly.

Marketing drives the was a customer positions a product in his mind. Its a delicate process to make sure only the right eyes are turned.

[Poitive]

After all this 'shock' which many of us are feeling, we may have a calmer period of really assessing the Fiesta. After a TD! Yes, we all are a bit taken aback, but we may think differently after a while.

When I think of it, it seems Ford had an option of going for the big market with a killer price. Or with a belief of a wonderful product, go with a premium price and hope to sell moderate numbers. Evidently they have taken the second option. Why? Well, I don't know. Maybe they don't want to position themselves as a sub-Hyundai brand in the longer run. That they'd rather take some hit in sales now, than take more time and money, building the brand for launches in the coming years. Surely questionable logic. But possible logic.

What does seem pretty clear is that they are confident about their product. Let us wait for a while and TD it and then form an opinion. I see myself a bit more settled after the initial shock. Guess it would be happening to other too.

~~~~~~~~~~

Had Fiat had better A$$ and reliability and a 1.6 on the Linea, it would have a killer of an opportunity now, with the Verna and Fiesta prices. At times, it seems like a strange world, where the Fiat's with their wonderful products is in the docks and Hyundai with questionable products sees the kind of rise it does as a company. Understanding what matters to a bulk of the customers and After Sales Service, I guess.

[anumod]

By looking at the price, I feel the localization may be lesser than 50%. So if that is the case then maintenance will be higher. I am feeling bad that I have made my friends to wait for this launch and they are blasting on me. I never expected this from Ford

[Surprise]

Ford India launches new Fiesta; priced up to Rs 10.51 lakh - Economic Times

"This month we will be assessing the response. I think the way we have priced the Fiesta, it will be very attractive to our customers," he said when asked about sales target. "Given the global response to the car, we will be capacity constrained," he added.

While the priority would be the Indian market, the new Fiesta would also be exported to other similar markets

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by suman

Few questions come to mind -

• What major "extras" does the top end Diesel Fluidic offer? A Start-Stop button ????

• Leather upholstery
• 5 alloy wheels (spare wheel is an alloy unike Fiesta)
• 16" wheels against 15"
• All wheel disk brakes (unlike front disk & rear drums)
• 6 air-bags
• Cooled glove box,

Did I miss something?

Originally Posted by Poitive

Had Fiat had better A$$ and reliability and a 1.6 on the Linea, it would have a killer of an opportunity now, with the Verna and Fiesta prices. At times, it seems like a strange world, where the Fiat's with their wonderful products is in the docks and Hyundai with questionable products sees the kind of rise it does as a company. Understanding what matters to a bulk of the customers and After Sales Service, I guess.

+++1You have snatched words from my mouth. Hope Fiat is listening.

[zulfi hansi]

When ever I go and check out a new launch of any car manufacturer I leave my number for them to call me for TD when ever the car is available. But invariably they never call for good 2 months, that is until the hype and crowds subside from the dealer place. Its only when the inquisitiveness and the rush of booking comes down the sales guys start searching for numbers of those guys who had shown interest in the car and would have come just before the launch, such guys do make good prospective customers for any sales guy.

That said, I never in my life have got a call from any car dealer to do the TD of a latest launch within 1 day from the date of launch. First time in my life I have got a call from the sales guy of Metro Ford for TD of new Fiesta on the very next day of the launch, that is today afternoon (the car was launched only yesterday). These very guys never bothered to even call me for Figo even 6 months after its launch.

And I couldn't help but sympathize with him after hearing such a low tone of his voice as though he had no will to live any longer. I felt in his voice he was crushed inside and was expecting even I would tell him "with a price like that .. go take a hike", I wanted to, but did not feel like doing it. Felt bad for the poor guy, he must have written-off his incentives for the next 6 months, and probably started searching for potential customers for the old Fiesta & Figo by now.