Ford unveils much awaited small car, Figo

[Sridhar]

Ford unveils much awaited small car, Figo

23 Sep 2009, 1430 hrs IST, AGENCIES




NEW DELHI: US auto giant Ford Motor Co on Wednesday unveiled its first small car for the Indian market, "Ford
Figo".

The Figo, which is colloquial Italian for "cool", will be manufactured at the company's Chennai facility and launched in markets by early 2010.

The Chennai unit is undergoing a $500-million upgrade as Ford seeks to make India a global production hub for its small cars.

"The Figo is designed to compete in India's small car segment, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the market," said Ford's global president and chief executive Alan Mulally, who unveiled the car at a function here. \

“Our exciting new Ford Figo shows how serious we are about India,” Mulally said. “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.”

Figo leverages Ford's small-car platform architecture, sharing underlying technology with the Ford Fiesta. The press conference was the first public preview of the exterior design of the new Ford Figo.

Ford unveils much awaited small car, Figo - Automobiles-Auto-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

 

[Sridhar]

Ford CEO unveils small car "Figo" for India

BS Reporter / Mumbai September 23, 2009, 13:19 IST
Ford Motor Company, president and CEO, Alan Mulally today revealed the much anticipated new compact car to be produced in India. Called the Figo, the car was unveiled to the press today in the national capital.
Ford Figo is designed and engineered to compete in India’s small car segment, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the new vehicle market. It leverages Ford’s small-car platform architecture, sharing underlying technology with the Ford Fiesta, a sedan from the company.
“Our exciting new Ford Figo shows how serious we are about India,” Mulally said. “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," he further added.
Ford is reserving further details of the Figo, which is colloquial Italian for "cool" until it is closer to the production launch of it in early 2010. Pricing details are still awaited from the company, however, sources say that the car will compete against the likes of Maruti Swift, Fiat Punto, Maruti Ritz and Chevrolet U-VA.
In addition to serving the domestic market the car will be also serve the export markets. Ford's plant in Chennai where the company is pumping $500 million towards expansion and modernisation and upgradation is also being groomed to produce diesel and petrol engines for local vehicle production and export within Ford’s Asia Pacific and Africa region.
The plant will become a regional centre of excellence for Ford's small car production, stated a company release.

Ford CEO unveils small car "Figo" for India

 

[Sridhar]

http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/...PGU00_RTROPTP_0_RETIRE-US-FORD-INDIA-SMALLCAR

Ford to produce India small car from early 2010

Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:10am EDT

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) will launch production of its Figo small car in India in early 2010, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
The car was showcased at a news conference in the Indian capital.
Ford has invested $500 million at a plant in southern Indian city of Chennai and has said the plant was gearing up for production of a small car.
India's domestic auto market is relatively small, especially considering a population of more than 1.1 billion, with about 1.5 million passenger vehicles being sold last year and small cars account of nearly two-thirds of annual unit sales.
(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy)


Ford to produce India small car from early 2010 | Reuters

 

[Interceptor]

Its quite a decent size for small I would have thought small would be like Toyota iQ, but that car would probably compete with many others on the market, unless its the price.

 

[IBM]

From the pic its evident that this is nothing but ford fusion with cosmetic changes. Any auto enthusiast will agree with me.