Higher interest rates on auto loans and competition from new entrants are eating into sales of some established players in the car industry.
Ford India Private Ltd is one such player which experienced a 10 per cent drop in its car sales in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year. According to data supplied by SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) Ford India sold 8195 cars, all in A3 segment, in the April-June quarter against 9185 cars in the same quarter last year.
Surprisingly, the drop came at a time when the industry’s sales in A3 segment grew 5.5 per cent in the first quarter. Moreover, the slowdown happened after Ford India witnessed 47 per cent growth in car sales at 39,822, last financial.
To arrest the sagging sales, Ford India, on Tuesday, launched its crossover car Fusion with a common rail diesel engine.
Refined engine
The Fusion Diesel is fitted with a 1.4 litre TDCi engine, the same used in Ford’s most successful model Fiesta.
Fusion is a contemporary and powerful car designed to meet wide range of customer needs and will be available in  different colours such as brush steel, mystic wine, to begin with.
This engine delivers 68 PS of power at 4000 rpm and a 160 NM torque at 2000 rpm. Fusion will continue to be available with a 1.6 litre petrol engine.
The Fusion Diesel, which was simultaneously launched at New Delhi on Tuesday, is priced at Rs 6.59 lakh, ex showroom Bangalore. At this price, the diesel version is Rs 90,000 more expensive than the petrol version.
Greater mileage
The company’s justification of the higher price is that common rail diesel engines are more expensive and, importantly, customer will benefit from the superior mileage of diesel.
Briefing reporters, Ford India Vice President (Marketing) Scott McCormack “The tremendous success of diesel Fiesta encouraged us to offer Fusion in diesel. Ford’s own TDCi technology makes its diesel cars more fuel efficient than competition, making our customers very happy.” In reply to a question Mr Scott also said that Ford India has plans to launch a small car for the Indian market, but he did not specify any time frame.
“Ford cannot ignore the small car segment in India, which constitutes around 50 per cent of the market” he said. At Ford’s manufacturing facility at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai, the company’s production plant has capacity to produce 65,000 vehicles and with minimal investment the capacity could be expanded to 100,000, Mr Scott pointed out.