Ford’s Made For India Car Unvieled – It has been christened “Figo”
Ford has unveiled its new small car Figo today in New Delhi with Alan Roger Mulally, Ford's president and chief executive, making a lightening visit to the country for the unveiling. It is expected that Figo will be priced in the range of 3.5-5 lakh rupees and will compete with the likes of Maruti Ritz, Hyundai i20, Honda Jazz & Skoda Fabia.
Today's press conference in Delhi was the first public preview of the exterior design of the new Ford Figo. Ford is reserving further details about the vehicle until closer to its production launch early in 2010. Design-conscious Italy inspired the new Ford Figo's name. Figo is colloquial Italian for "cool."
Sharing key elements of Ford's kinetic design language with vehicles like the globally renowned Ford Focus, Ford Mondeo and the Ford Fiesta, Ford Figo features a fresh, contemporary shape that will be a distinctive alternative to traditional brands in this segment. The design language conveys a dynamic spirit of energy in motion.
Quality, substance and generous proportions are clearly evident in the design of the new Ford Figo, which features a solid stance, an invitingly large interior and a vibrant, youthful character. Its package is right-sized for the market, which is predominated by congested urban driving conditions.
From its modern headlamps, grille shapes and sculpted bonnet of its distinctive face to the subtle integrated spoiler and chamfered window shape at the rear, Ford Figo is filled with kinetic design touches. These also include sculpted shapes to the body side - chiseled front fenders, a "comet tail" undercut in the doors and additional light-catching sculpting in the lower bodyside - which combine to communicate the solidity, substance and protective safety of its design.
The bold graphic of Ford Figo's large side window shape is another key kinetic design feature hinting at the comfort and spaciousness awaiting occupants' front and rear. The side window graphic is executed with a blacked-out B-pillar, an elegant design touch that unifies the side windows into one shape visually.
With its wheels positioned at the four corners of the vehicle with minimal overhang, Ford Figo's bold wheel arches self-assuredly signal its agility and solidity.
New Ford Regional Production Centre
The introduction of the new Ford Figo marks a significant shift for India's role in Ford's strategy. Transformed with a production capacity of 200,000 units, the integrated Chennai manufacturing facility is now positioned as a Ford regional centre of excellence for small-car engineering and production.
Ford Figo models will be produced at the plant for export to international markets. The plant is also being groomed to produce diesel and petrol engines for local vehicle production and export within Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa region.
With more automation and high-tech new facilities, the new site reflects the latest Ford manufacturing processes globally and pioneers new technologies for Ford and India. Created with a "best of the best" approach, it has been benchmarked against other competitive facilities globally, as well as the current volume manufacturers in the Indian market, for quality and production efficiency.
The transformed plant introduces eco-friendly production techniques like its new Three-Wet High-Solids paint process. This approach produces beautifully painted vehicles with three wet coats - primer, base coat and clear coat - of high solids-content paint applied one after the other without oven curing between coats. A first for India, it produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions and reduces volatile organic compounds emissions by about 20 percent compared to current medium-solids solvent-borne paints. Use of high-solids content results in a paint finish with high levels of gloss and depth ofcolour which is more resistant to scratches and stone chips.