Ford launches its first compact sedan Figo Aspire at Rs 4.9 lakhs

Ford India launched its first compact sedan Figo Aspire in India today at a starting price of Rs. 4.89 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

With several segment-first features such as 6 airbags, 6-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, leather seats, etc, the Ford Figo Aspire takes on the likes of Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire, Hyundai Xcent, Honda Amaze, Tata Zest and others in the sub-4 metre sedan segment. The Ford Figo Aspire has become the first car in its league to offer driver and front-passenger airbags standard across all variants.

It will replace the company's ageing Fiesta Classic sedan in the Indian market, which had seen sluggish sales due to a proliferation of compact sedans like Maruti Swift Dzire, Honda Amaze and Hyundai Xcent in the last three years. Sub-four-metre sedans due to their shorter length get excise duty benefits and are priced significantly less than full sized bigger sedans.

The new sub-compact sedan is offered with three engine options - a 1.5-litre Ti-VCT petrol (110bhp), a 1.2-litre Ti-VCT petrol (87bhp) and a 1.5-litre TDCi diesel (99bhp). While the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel-engined variants will get a 5-speed manual gearbox, the 1.5-litre petrol model will come equipped with a 6-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox.

"There are many high end features that we are offering with the Figo aspire like six airbags and leather seats that are not on offer in this category," said Nigel Harris, president and managing director, Ford India. "It will also be exported out of here world over and Sanand will be a world class export hub. This is not a compromised car."

Figo Aspire is powered by a 1.2 litre petrol engine that belts out 88 PS power and 112 NM of torque and has a rated fuel economy of 18.2 kpl. The 1.5 litre diesel engine gives 100 PS power and 215 NM of torque with a fuel economy of 25.83 kpl. For a first, Ford is offering dual airbags as a standard feature in the Figo Aspire. The top end variant of the car is also equipped with six airbags - a first in this segment. 

The company will follow up the sedan with a hatchback version in the next few months that will replace the existing Figo small car. Compact cars is the largest segment in the Indian market accounting for 45% of overall sales or almost 1.1 million cars per annum. The segment is expected to grow to around 1.8 million cars per annum by 2018. Globally small cars are expected to account for 60% of overall sales in the near future.

In India, around 350,000 units of compact sedans are sold every year with Maruti Dzire the dominant leader with around 200,000 unit sales annually.