All new Ford Fiesta to hit the road

The cute Figo dramatically changed Ford’s fortunes in India and the company is determined to accelerate its market velocity by launching a new Fiesta saloon. It has already made space for the new model by relaunching the successful old Fiesta at a competitive price after naming it Fiesta Classic. The new Fiesta will soon come to India after clocking an impressive sale of over a million in the sophisticated markets of Europe and elsewhere.

The new Fiesta will be positioned at the top of the compact saloon market where it will compete with the Honda City, VW Vento, Hyundai Verna and Maruti SX4. Though it is almost the same length as the old Fiesta, it is taller and wider to make it as spacious like the City and Vento. But it is the foxy-eyed looks that customers will first respond to as the sleek lines sweep upwards from the big aggressive ‘mouth’ with delicate creases to a high (and spacious) boot. The interiors are no less dramatic than the exterior with a chrome-trimmed steering wheel and centre console. The latter has a most impressive array of voice activated electronic gizmos that will appeal to the young and be convenient for older drivers too.

Ford is being very coy about their engines, but one can place a safe bet that they will provide upgraded versions of their successful 1600 cc (101 hp) DURATEC petrol and 1400 cc (68 hp) DURATORQ engines being made in India. My guess is that with the new Twin Independent Variable Cam Timing (TiVCT) technology, the power of the petrol mill will be boosted to 120 hp while a bigger 1600 cc diesel will deliver about 90 hp with big torque for quick acceleration and fuel economy.

With the Figo, Ford has learnt that good pricing is the key to market success in India so we can expect a number of model variations from quite affordable base models to more pricey top models laden with all the goodies that a buyer could aspire for. The car will be priced reasonably and will look at capturing the mid-segment market easily with the value-adds in this model.

The writer is an automotive expert and the former editor of a national magazine.