Ford India launches new variant of Fiesta Classic, starting around US $12,500

By Ketan Thakkar – Economic Times

MUMBAI – To penetrate deeper in the fast growing entry level sedan market, US car major Ford India on Monday launched a new variant ‘Titanium’ of its entry level sedan Fiesta Classic.

Priced at Rs 6.86 to 7.82 lakh showroom New Delhi (around US $12,500 to $14,200 using conversion rate of 55 rupees to a U.S. dollar) Classic is available in both petrol and diesel options and is loaded with features like Bluetooth, speed sensing volume controls, drive away locks, all new beige interiors, alloy wheels etc. The price of the top-end variant of Classic has been slashed by up to Rs 70,000.

“By bringing in Bluetooth telephony in this segment and integrating eight other outstanding features, we have delivered on our promise to democratize technology and add unmatched value to a reliable, fun-to-drive Ford Classic“, said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India.

The Classic will be pitted against the variants of Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire and Toyota Etios and it is positioned a segment which sees sales of close to 6,000 units a month. And this is part of 28,000 to 30,000 units sales a month of entry level sedan in the country.

Ford India has managed to sell 3,675 units of sedans (Ikon, Classic, Fiesta) in April to June quarter of FY-12, which is 6% higher than 3,435 units it sold for the same period in FY-13. Ford India is pinning its hopes on the new Classic Titanium to bring in the incremental numbers.

Anurag Malhotra, vice president, marketing told ET, “The entry level sedan segment is doing well and is growing faster than the market at 30-40% per annum. We want to capitalize on the growth in that segment and draw our fair share.”

The company also took the opportunity to rechristen the Ford ‘Fiesta Classic’ range to Ford ‘Classic’. Post the launch of the new generation of Fiesta in April 2011, Ford had changed the name of earlier generation ‘ Ford Fiesta’ to ‘Ford Fiesta Classic’ and now it has renamed the car to ‘Ford Classic’.

And the company says, while the name might have changed the DNA of Fiesta of good drivability and mileage still remains intact. Under ARAI test conditions, the diesel variant delivered a mileage of 32 kilometers per liter and the petrol at 21.26 kilometers per litre.