The Hindu : Business : Ford fixes Fiesta prices

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 16, 2005

Business

Business

Ford fixes Fiesta prices

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Ford Motors, with an eye on emerging as a market leader, on Tuesday announced competitive prices for its latest offering in the Indian market, Fiesta, fixing the price tag for the entry-level variant at Rs. 5.59 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), and asserted that nearly half of the production will be in the diesel version.

Fiesta's retail sales will begin by mid-December and the car will be available in three petrol variants and one diesel version.

Apart from the 1.4-litre petrol engine base model, the other two petrol variants have been priced at Rs. 6.29 lakh (1.6-L ZXi) and Rs. 6.89 lakh (1.6-L SXi). The lone diesel model, the 1.4-litre ZXi, which sports a common rail engine, has been priced at Rs. 6.99 lakh.

70 p.c. indigenous content

Ford Motor India Managing Director and President, Arvind Mathew, declined to spell out expected sales from the new model entering the market to primarily compete with Honda's City model. It has an indigenisation level of 70 per cent. While the petrol engines for the car are being sourced from Hindustan Motors, the company is importing the diesel engines.

Ford India Vice-President, S. Sivaramakrishnan, said the company planned to have 50 per cent of the production on the diesel version, as efficient fuel economy and other features made it an attractive offer. "We expect a great potential in this segment," he said.

In the context of the company having witnessed declining sales numbers this fiscal, Mr. Mathew expressed optimism: "While overall car sales are likely to grow by about seven-eight per cent this year, the mid-size segment is likely to grow two-three times this figure; We expect the numbers to come in."

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