Ford Motor Company in India: Developing the Ford Figo

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Ford Motor Company (Ford), one of the global leaders in the automotive industry found itself trailing in terms of sales volumes in the Asian region, especially India since its inception. Though it had entered the Indian auto market in 1995 and introduced mid-sized car models that were doing well in respective niche segments, its sales growth had not kept pace with the growth in the market. Unlike the US market, the Indian market for passenger cars was dominated by small cars and Ford India was not present in that segment. To capture a significant share of this high-volume, high-growth segment of small cars, many companies - both multinational and Indian - were gearing up with new product launches.

Ford realized that a strategic decision was required through its wholly-owned subsidiary Ford India Pvt. Ltd (Ford India) for the Indian market. Ford India undertook marketing and consumer research to understand the Indian customer and to find a potential target customer for its new products. Based on the research findings, Ford India started developing the Ford Figo in partnership with global and regional Product Development teams..

By the end of 2009, the team at Ford had developed its first small car through which Ford sought to gain a foothold in the emerging Asia Pacific and Africa markets. The Figo was targeted at the growing market of young buyers in India. The company felt that it had done a good job of understanding the pulse of the market, the consumer mindset and was ready with a product that would appeal to the target segment. According to the company, Figo offered more features, interior space, technology and durability than other vehicles in the same price range. Ford Motor Company's President and CEO Alan Mulally (Mulally) said, "We are confident the Ford Figo will be a product that Indian consumers really want and value." However, the challenge before the team was how to launch this new car in the highly competitive Indian small car market and how to market Figo in a way that it would appeal to the target segment.

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