Ford’s over optimistic pricing with the all new Fiesta has not worked and the company is resorting to discounts on the petrol variant yet again. When Ford launched the all new Fiesta in July 2011, everyone was waiting for a cracker of a pricing, believing Ford would do a Figo in the C-segment. However Ford chose otherwise and priced the all new Fiesta over and above the best seller, Honda City. Now Honda City is not only a more powerful car but also commands huge brand value, being the segment leader for most part of the last decade. In October, Ford announced a discount of Rs. 50,000/- on the petrol Fiesta, which did not do the trick. Now the American automaker is offering a discount of upto Rs.75,000/-. This discount is not completely cash though and involves free insurance, free accessories, exchange bonus and EMIs holiday.
The all new Ford Fiesta petrol is now cheaper than the Honda City with the discounts. However offering discounts is not the best way to ensure long term brand equity, as this tends to hit the resale of the car big time. One of the reasons why Toyota has managed to ensure fantastic resale value on its product is its no discount strategy. That is another thing altogether, that the Japanese automaker has got its pricing bang on all the time (not with the Etios though). The Fiesta Automatic will be arriving early next year and will be priced at a premium of Rs. 75,000/-. If Ford corrects the pricing of the Fiesta soon, they can price the Automatic Fiesta at the current non-discounted Fiesta petrol prices. This will not only help Ford in boosting its sales but will also help it position the Focus and Mondeo at the right prices.
The new Ford Fiesta’s poor sales can’t be blamed at the product. The car is very competent and is one of the best when it comes to styling, technology and driving dynamics. Power for the Fiesta petrol comes in from a 1.5-liter, TI-VCT motor which produces 109 PS of power at 6045 RPM and 140 Nm of torque at 4500 RPM. Mated to a 5-speed manual trasnmission, the Ford Fiesta petrol reaches 100 kmph in 11 odd seconds and has a top speed of around 170 kmph. With an ARAI certified mileage of 17 kmpl, the Fiesta just needs a price correction to ensure it flies out of the showroom as quickly as its engine is capable of flying on the road!
