Ford has been proving that it is a myth that their cars are expensive to maintain.
Ford Service Costs
Ford explained about the transparency in their service process at the Technical Centre
“All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions” – Leonardo Da Vinci. For most of us, our perception about a certain thing is assumed to be the truth. However, in most cases the fact is far from it. Let’s take the case of Ford’s cost of spares and service. Most people believe it to be expensive while the truth is completely on the other side. A few years ago when I picked up the EcoSport, my close circle of friends warned me about the unknown territory I was treading when it came to service costs.
Being a part of the automobile industry for nearly a decade, I knew that it was nothing but a myth. Ford is going one step further to break this myth and educate the masses that the American brand is the most cost effective when it comes to service costs. To gain more insight onto this, we visited Ford’s Technical Training Centre in Manesar to find out what goes in to make Ford cars more affordable than it’s competitors.
To ensure complete transparency in the service experience, Ford has introduced a ‘Service Price Promise’ calculator on its website which enables customers to know the cost of servicing and parts even before they have visited the dealership. Another major step in reducing the cost of spare parts is the ‘Child Part’ strategy. This allows for a substantial saving in the overall ownership cost as parts are broken into sub components. Therefore you need not change the entire part if it has failed, you can only change the failed sub-component making it much more cost effective. For example, if there is a dent on your door, you just need to change the door skin and have it painted. Denting of the main door may be required but it will much cheaper than changing the entire door.
Spare parts of Ford cars are actually cheaper than their immediate rivals!
In order to make service more cost effective, Ford has heavily localised the parts. Parts are manufactured in India which helps keep prices in check. Also, the volume of manufacturing is very high as Ford exports cars to numerous countries. This high volume of manufacturing along with the localisation keeps prices very competitive. In fact we saw that Ford spares are most cost effective than its competitors. Some parts were cheaper by quite a margin. Moreover routine maintenance costs for 1 lakh kms for the Figo, Aspire and EcoSport are the most competitive in the market.
Ford is rightfully educating people on the difference between truth and myth when it comes to after sales. This will enable people to make an informed choice based on facts rather than just trusting a whole lot of gossip. Not only that, there is a strong focus on enhancing the service experience for customers and this can only be achieved with transparency in the system. So if you are planning to pick up a Ford car, you can know exactly how much you will be spending on periodic maintenance even before you have bought the car.
