Monday, June 20, 2011
By Pranjal Gera
Ford Asia to launch a series of small cars in Indian and Chinese market
Ford Asia is all set to launch a number of smaller cars in the Indian and Chinese car market based on the trends of past few years where a great increase in the sales of smaller cars can be seen.
Joe Hinrichs, Ford executive said that the decision of making smaller cars will reduce the profit that company makes on every piece, but this move will still be financially profitable as they will be able to sell the cars in high volumes which will in turn increase the profit.
In the present plan, Ford will be increasing their product catalogue to 15 cars by 2015, where presently it is of 6 cars in the Chinese market.
The decision to make smaller cars is due to the fact that the market for smaller cars accounts for about 70% of total sales and thus the Ford Asia will be launching a series of high valued small cars.
The cost also being a major factor, the company has decided to keep the prices of these cars similar to other hatchbacks and midsized cars to ensure better sales.
A similar cost cutting move was taken by the company when they reduced the price of Ford Figo, a very popular car in the Indian market by about Rs 40,000.
Presently Ford has a market share of 2.6 to 2.7 % in India and China.
Some of the popular hatchback models in the Indian auto market are Ford Figo, Maruti Swift, Hyundai i10, Chevrolet Beat and Volkswagen Polo. Apart from these popular models, cars going to hit the Indian roads this year are Toyota Etios Liva, Maruti Cervo and New Ford Fiesta.
