Ford Figo Achieves One Lakh Mark

Ford Figo becomes a good selling car for Ford Motors in India as it crosses 1 lakh sales mark with domestic and export sales. Ford Figo hatchback car comes with good fuel efficiency. In Indian auto market hatchback cars have good selling. Ford Figo small car already made its impact in Indian market.

Ford Figo has most advanced features and fuel economical power plant which makes the car more popular in the small car segment. Ford Figo gives good competition to other hatchback small cars like Volkswagen Polo, Chevrolet Beat, Hyundai i10 and Maruti Swift.

Ford Figo is available in petrol and diesel variants in India.

Ford Figo Goes Abroad on First Anniversary

Like many proud parents on the subcontinent who hope their children gain international experience, Ford India is sending its over-achieving baby abroad now that it has come of age. The phenomenal Ford Figo, which celebrates the first anniversary of an extraordinary year today, will be exported to Mexico and more than 50 other international markets this year.

"Happy birthday Figo!" said Alan Mulally, president and CEO, Ford Motor Company, in a specially taped video message broadcast at events in Delhi and Chennai. "Since launching the phenomenal Figo last year, we've sold almost 80,000 vehicles and it has earned more than 20 awards, making the Figo one of the fastest selling and most awarded vehicles in the Indian auto industry. We are now delighted to export it to more than 50 markets internationally from our world class manufacturing facility in Chennai. I was honored to help unveil it in 2009 and am sending my very best birthday wishes to our customers, employees, dealers and suppliers."

The Figo was developed with a focus on value, quality and driving enjoyment for the subcompact segment in India and other international markets. It has dramatically transformed Ford India, reinforcing Ford's commitment to India and its future plans here.

"The Figo and its success are symbolic of Ford's ambitious expansion plans in India and throughout Asia Pacific," said Joe Hinrichs, president, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa. "We invested USD 500 mn in our Chennai assembly plant to double its capacity to 200,000 units and to build a new, state-of-the-art engine plant. Today, both plants are humming along as we continue moving forward with plans to bring eight new vehicles to India by the middle of the decade."

Since the Figo launch, Ford has continued to expand its dealer network and today has a retail presence in more than 170 outlets in more than 100 cities. Ford India is holding a celebration today in Delhi and with its employees at its manufacturing facility in Chennai to mark the Figo anniversary and to recognise the 50 markets where it will be sold this year.

Ford India's Chennai assembly plant has increased its output in order to keep up with domestic and international demand for the Figo. It can now produce up to 200,000 units annually, and in addition to making Figos and other vehicles, it is in the process of preparing to launch the allnew global Fiesta. The Chennai plant is a state-of-the-art facility equipped with Ford's environmentally friendly and energy-efficient three wet paint technology. Ford's Chennai engine plant can produce 250,000 gasoline and diesel engines per year.For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and video.

"The phenomenal Figo has taken Ford to a new level in India," said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India. "Our manufacturing operations have grown so much that we've doubled our workforce in the last two years. Overall, Ford's businesses in India now have 10,000 passionate employees. Today, on this auspicious anniversary, we are thankful to every one of them, and especially our customers, dealers, and suppliers for making this possible."

The Figo went on sale in South Africa and Nepal in July 2010 and October 2010, respectively. So far, almost 10,000 Figos have been exported from Chennai. The vehicle will be shipped to various international markets, including Mexico, Middle East, North Africa and Caribbean markets beginning April 2011, and will be on sale by mid-year.

The Figo has been one of the most successful launches for Ford India – it sold 25,000 vehicles in 100 days, and 50,000 in just six months. Customers and industry experts have been unanimous in saying that it is the best ‘value for money' product in its class.

As part of a recent "Discover Smart Drive" campaign across 10 cities in India in which four newlyweds drove and blogged about their experiences in the Figo, Ford dealers raised USD 44,000 (Rs 20 lakh) to renovate two schools in underdeveloped communities.

Between December and January, Figo and Ford India together earned 20 Indian auto industry honours for 2010, making Figo the most awarded passenger car in India.

The Ford Figo was voted Indian Car of the Year 2011 – the most prestigious auto award in India – by a jury panel of leading automotive magazine editors. It also won four 'Car of the Year' awards, as well as Small Car of The Year, Compact Car of the Year, Design of the Year, Viewers' Choice and Readers' Choice from various other media organizations.

It was named among the leaders in customer satisfaction in the Upper Premium Compact segment according to the latest 2010 Total Customer Satisfaction (TCS) study by TNS, a leading market-research agency.

Source: Ford

Ford Figo in India; Ford Figo Most Awarded Car in India

Between December and January, Ford India and its popular sub-compact car Figo, together lifted 20 Indian auto industry honours in 2010, making Figo the most awarded passenger car in the country.

Ford topped up the three 'Car of the Year' titles with the prestigious 'Manufacturer of the Year', from a leading, jointly held broadcast and print media house. The definitively popular compact car's laurel journey began with the 'Indian Car of the Year 2011' award – considered the most revered auto industry award in India.

Figo has the largest boot in its segment but is not proving large enough to hold all the trophies that the car has recently won. These treasured honours have come from across the automotive media industry which runs across print, broadcast and web-based mediums.

They soon became infectious and garnered tremendous popularity for the brand, building serious recognition and acknowledgement of the Figo's class leading attributes such as space and aesthetic design, best-in-class technology features, fuel efficient powertrains and value for money substantial package - all incorporated to address discerning customers' practical as well as lifestyle needs.

Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India said, "We always believed that Figo would be our game changer but this car has performed beyond expectations. We appreciate that our customers had a wide choice in the market but they chose to buy the Figo. It is they who have immensely contributed for us to win these honours."

Figo attracted thousand of customers, 40% of them, were in fact, first time buyers. Figo saw support and gained tremendous popularity in social networks. Many well-known automotive blogs and websites conducted their independent polls and visitors and customers voted Figo as 'Car of the Year'.

More than 60,000 Figos have been sold since March and Ford India recorded an impressive annual sales increase of 184 percent as compared to 2009.

Ford India saw a favourable growth across nameplates with the Fiesta, Ikon and the Endeavour faring well in their respective segments in the year 2010, the company sold 83,887 units and nearly tripled it sales volume against a total of 29,488 cars sold in 2009.

"It gives us great pleasure to imagine those who bought the Figo would be proud to have made the purchase decision. With such a massive boost in morale, we are confident of crossing more significant milestones in 2011 – something that we are already known for", concluded Boneham.

Ford India and Figo won the following awards:

- All magazine Editor Jury - ' Indian Car of the Year 2011 '

- Bloomberg UTV-Autocar India - 'Car of the Year 2010'

- Bloomberg UTV-Autocar India – 'Value for Money Car 2011'

- Bloomberg UTV-Autocar India – 'Premium Compact Car of the Year 2011'

- Bloomberg UTV-Autocar India – 'Viewer's Choice - Car of the Year 2011'

- Bloomberg UTV-Autocar India – 'Ford India - Manufacturer of the year 2011'

- 2010 ET Zig Wheels 'Car of the Year'

- 2010 ET Zig Wheels 'Premium Hatchback of the Year'

- 2010 ET Now 'Viewers Choice Award'

- BBC Top Gear – 'Small Car of the Year'

- CNBC TV18-Overdrive – 'Compact Car of the Year'

- CNBC TV18-Overdrive – 'Viewers Choice Award'

- NDTV Car & Bike 2011 – 'Small Car of the Year'

- NDTV Car & Bike 2011 – 'Design of the Year'

- Business Standard Motoring – 'Special Jury Award 2011'

- CAR India - 'Readers' Choice Car of the Year 2010'

- Motor Vikatan – 'Best Car of the Year'

- Motor Vikatan – 'Manufacturer of the Year'

- Motorbeam.com - '2010 Car of the Year'

- TeamBHP.com - 'Car of the Year 2010'

Source: Ford

Small Car Ford Figo Becomes Indian Car Of The Year

JK Tyre, in association with the top auto magazines in India, today presented the most prestigious awards in the automotive industry - the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2011 and the Indian Motorcycle of the Year 2011 (IMOTY). In line with the American Car of the Year, European Car of the Year and Japanese Car of the Year, these awards are at par with international standards and are the most prestigious auto awards of the country.

The nominees were judged by a panel of senior automobile experts who got together to vote for the most impressive car and motorcycle of the year. Using their analytic skills and competence, the expert jury evaluated and tested the cars and motorcycles nominated. The voting system is very fair and transparent which makes the ICOTY and IMOTY amongst the most credible and coveted awards.

Ford Figo was conferred with the Indian Car of the Year 2011 and Honda CB Twister bagged the Indian Motorcycle of the Year 2011.

Congratulating the winners of ICOTY & IMOTY, Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. said, "We are here to celebrate the achievements of the Indian automobile industry and to honour the focused and rigorous efforts made by auto makers in the areas of Design excellence and innovation and R&D. The 'Indian Car of the Year' and 'Indian Motorcycle of the Year' awards recognize the auto manufacturer with the highest level of performance in terms of product development, quality, timely delivery, competitive pricing, project management and customer service."

The cars and motorcycles nominated were judged on various parameters such as price, fuel efficiency, design, comfort, safety, manoeuvrability, performance, functionality, environmental responsibility and driver/rider satisfaction among others. In addition, technical innovation and value for money were particularly important factors while deciding on the winner.

Cars and motorcycles that have had cosmetic facelifts or small mechanical changes like different power or drive trains, do not qualify for these awards. The country of origin does not matter, but they have to be sold in showrooms in India before 30th November of the previous year and should have been homologated for Indian type approval.

"The Indian Car of the Year award reflects India's standing in the global automotive market. It recognizes the efforts made by manufacturers to give us Indians the cars that have been engineered with us in mind. Over six years, the ICOTY award has grown in stature and today, it's something that all car manufacturers in India aspire for," said Srinivas Krishnan, Editor, Business Standard Motoring and Chairman, ICOTY 2011.

On winning the ICOTY award Michael Boneham, President& MD, Ford India said, "Coming close on the heels of the Figo's immense popularity with over 58,000 units sold in past eight months, this industry-wide recognition truly establishes it as a performance car. The critical acclaim from the experts reinforces the faith in Figo as one of the best products in its class available today."

The esteemed jury for ICOTY comprised Bob Rupani and Gautam Sen from Auto India, Sirish Chandran and Bertrand D'Souza from Overdrive, Girish Karkera and Sriram Narayanan from Top Gear, Aspi Bhathena from Car India, Srinivas Krishnan and Pablo Chaterji from Business Standard Motoring and Yogendra Pratap and Vikrant Singh from Auto Bild.

The jury of IMOTY included Bertrand D'Souza and Shubhabrata Marmar from Overdrive, Girish Karkera and Debabrata Sarkar from Top Gear, Aspi Bhathena from Bike India, Pablo Chaterji from Business Standard Motoring and Vikrant Singh from Auto Bild. This 13-member specialist jury consisting of senior Indian automotive journalists is the best from the industry and together they have over 300 years of experience.

In the ICOTY Category, while Ford Figo emerged as the clear winner with 83 points, Volkswagen Vento came second with 57 points. There was a tie for the third spot between Volkswagen polo and Skoda Yeti with 37 points.

There was a close clash between the top three motorcycles in the IMOTY category. Honda CB Twister won with 66 points while giving close competition was Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS with 63 points. TVS Jive was in third position with 48 points.

The finalists for the ICOTY category this year were Chevrolet Beat, Ford Figo, Maruti Suzuki Wagon R, Nissan Micra, Skoda Yeti, Tata Aria, Volkswagen Polo and Volkswagen Vento. The finalists for the IMOTY category were Bajaj Pulsar 135LS, Bajaj Discover 150, Honda CB Twister, Mahindra Stallio, TVS Jive and TVS Max4R.

India's youngest F1 driver Karun Chandhok and India's youngest karting champion Jehan Daruvala were also present at the award ceremony. Famous celebrity, Sophie Chowdhury added glitz and glamour to the award ceremony and enthralled the audiences with her mind-blowing performance.