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.

New Honda Compact Car to be Priced Below Rs. 5 Lakh in India

Small cars or compact cars go pretty well with the populace here in India and Honda gauging this aspect, decided to introduce the Jazz here. However, many prospective buyers of the car have been put off by the high price of the car, which has not even launched as yet.

But if you remember, the Japanese car maker was working on two, not one, small cars for the country. Now Indian newspaper, The Times of India, is reporting that Honda Siel Cars India (or HSCI) is planning to get their other small car with a price tag that would be below the Rs. 5 lakh mark. In fact, officials from the company have pointed out that a new team focused on research and development would be in place from next month.

Elaborating more on the team, an official from Honda India explained, “The R&D team will be headed by a senior Honda official from Japan. The expected size of the team is around 25 members and it will also have people from Honda’s India operations from departments like manufacturing and purchase.”

The new compact car by Honda India is expected to be priced somewhere around Rs. 4.5 lakh. Though there is no word on the release date, it is expected to be out within the coming three years. The R&D team will not only work on the indigenization of the car but also on the localization of the production of key components, which will keep the costs low.

New Honda Compact Car to be Priced Below Rs. 5 Lakh in India

Small cars or compact cars go pretty well with the populace here in India and Honda gauging this aspect, decided to introduce the Jazz here. However, many prospective buyers of the car have been put off by the high price of the car, which has not even launched as yet. But if you remember, the Japanese car maker was working on two, not one, small cars for the country.

Now Indian newspaper, The Times of India, is reporting that Honda Siel Cars India (or HSCI) is planning to get their other small car with a price tag that would be below the Rs. 5 lakh mark. In fact, officials from the company have pointed out that a new team focused on research and development would be in place from next month.

Elaborating more on the team, an official from Honda India explained, “The R&D team will be headed by a senior Honda official from Japan. The expected size of the team is around 25 members and it will also have people from Honda’s India operations from departments like manufacturing and purchase.” The new compact car by Honda India is expected to be priced somewhere around Rs. 4.5 lakh.

Though there is no word on the release date, it is expected to be out within the coming three years. The R&D team will not only work on the indigenization of the car but also on the localization of the production of key components, which will keep the costs low.

Hyundai packs i10 with Kappa punch

HYUNDAI Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Tuesday rolled out a new model of the i10 compact car fitted with its latest and more powerful 1.2 litre Kappa engine that is expected to give five per cent more mileage than the existing 1.1 litre engine fitted in the car.The new engine also emits less exhaust fumes. The i10 will also have a 4-speed automatic transmission variant, which will be more convenient for women especially in heavy city traffic as they will not have to press the clutch and change gears, HMIL managing director HS Lheem told journalists.

The Kappa i10 is available with Hyundai dealers at an entry level price of Rs 3.9 lakh. This compares with the existing i10 which costs Rs 3.37 lakh. The car is being launched in three variants —the Magna, Sportz and Asta with the high-end automatic transmission model with a sunroof priced at Rs 5,43,644.

This variant will also be fitted with front airbags and an anti-lock braking system. Lheem said the new engine and transmission plant at Sriperumbudur near Chennai has the capacity to produce 2,50,000 units of the new Kappa engine every year for powering the i10 cars to be sold both in the domestic as well as European markets. “The engine has been developed at a huge cost of $450 million over 41 months and will be produced in India for the world market,” he added. Lheem said the existing 1.1 litre engine has been a success and will therefore, continue to power both the Santro and the i10 “but the new Kappa engine will significantly raise the bar in the segment.”

The Kappa engine has an aluminium block, which makes it much lighter than the other engines, improves the power- weight ratio as well as fuel efficiency. It also helps cool the engine more quickly. The engine is fitted with a double overhead cam shaft, 16 valves and 32 bit microprocessor, which enables it to deliver more power with less noise and vibration.

The engine meets the latest Euro5 emission norms and emits only 119 g/ km of carbon dioxide, which is the lowest for this class of cars, Lheem claimed. He said the i10 has been doing well in both the Indian and European markets. The company had sold as many as 7,500 units of the i10 in the domestic market in the last eight months and had an order book of 1.1 lakh units in exports over the last seven months. Over 70 per cent of the car market in India comprises of compact cars.

The fast growing sales of i10 have taken Hyundai’s market share in the country from 19.5 per cent to 25.4 per cent and cover part of the gap with market leader Maruti. Lheem said the company was also working on a diesel variant of the i10, which is currently being exported. However, the cost at the moment was too high for the Indian market. “We are working on ways to reduce the cost of the diesel engine and making it more affordable for the Indian customer, but this, however, will take some time,” he added. HMIL has emerged as the largest exporter of cars in the country. Lheem said that about 40 per cent of the products were being exported from the Indian plant while 60 per cent was sold within the country.