Ford India will not be launching the Focus or Mondeo D-segment sedans in India due to high CKD costs and supposedly lower demand.
Ford India is set to launch the Figo Aspire next month while the second generation Figo hatchback will be launched this festive season and the new Endeavour is set to arrive this fiscal. Thus, the automaker will have a hatchback, compact sedan, compact SUV, C-Segment sedan and a full-sized SUV in its product portfolio. The Mustang will also add to the brand’s image here. What the company doesn’t offer in India are products between the Fiesta and Endeavour, aka missing the D-segment completely. The Focus and Mondeo are very successful vehicles in the European and American markets but they won’t be launched in India.
The Focus is a D-segment sedan which sits above the Fiesta in the company’s line-up. If it is launched in India, it has to be brought down via the CKD route and even then it will cost way more than Rs. 16-18 lakhs. There won’t be many takers for such a D-segment sedan and hence Ford won’t be able to even justify the costs of starting new CKD operations. Same is the case with the Mondeo. The D-segment is facing a slowdown in sales since these vehicles cost upwards of Rs. 20 lakhs now (on-road) and many buyers are just preferring SUVs that come in the same budget. Getting these vehicles down via the CBU route is out of question thanks to the insane taxes.
What we feel is that this is very wise of Ford to axe their plans of launching the Focus or Mondeo in India. The company should instead introduce more products that will build their brand, a la Mustang, while also making sure that upcoming products are priced competitively. The American automaker also needs to invest in expanding their service reach in smaller cities while also creating a new brand image that assures customers that their vehicles are not expensive to maintain, unlike the perception that is made out to be.
