After our double celebrations barely a fortnight ago, today has been another exciting day for us. For today, Ford India opened not one or two or a dozen, but a whopping 28 new authorised Ford dealer facilities across 24 cities in India! Opening these facilities at the same time in across 28 locations – that’s a first of its kind news in the history of Ford globally.

This significant step makes it easier for people to see, touch, test drive, buy and service Ford cars, including the Ford Figo that will be on dealership floors shortly.

“Growing our dealership base, building strong business fundamentals and getting closer to our customers are areas of high priority as we gear up to launch our new Figo and enter this high volume segment in 2010,’’ said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India at a dealership launch in New Delhi.

Title: Michael Boneham with the Harpreet Ford team in New Delhi

Our expanding dealership base is part of our aggressive growth strategy, particularly in Tier II and Tier III cities. ”Tier II and III cities are significant for Ford. We have opened new facilities in 13 Tier III cities today, and more than 40 percent of Ford service outlets are now located in secondary markets,” added Boneham.

With the new stores, we now have 164 facilities located in 97 cities across India. Half of the 28 new outlets offer what we call full 3S (Showroom, Sales and Service) facilities, while seven are service workshops, and the remaining are sales showrooms.

Title: Nigel Wark, executive director (marketing, sales and service), inaugurates the new Chennai dealership

Michael also spoke about our efforts at lowering cost of ownership for Ford vehicles. “Ford India has been working hard and has been aggressive to lower cost of ownership experience across its product range,” said Boneham

Our success with the cost of ownership initiative has been a result of several strategies, such as:

• Adopting the ‘One Ford’ philosophy across product development and manufacturing processes to develop high-quality products of global standards. Our consistent advances in quality indicators like JD Power’s Dependability and Quality surveys are evidence of our efforts.

• Our growing dealer base and getting closer to our consumers. Covenience is all that matters – an example of a new showroom in the East Delhi metro rail station, the first Ford showroom in a metro rail station in the Asia Pacific. (If you’re in Delhi and travelling by metro rail, do drop in to check out Ford cars displayed at the East Delhi metro rail station soon!)

• World class facilities and innovative sales and service experience, like the Quick Service bays that perform routine service in less than 90 minutes, now across 45 dealer outlets.

• Offering best in class warranty packages and host of competitive maintenance and service plans for a stress free vehicle ownership and motoring experience—from 24-hour roadside assistance to scheduled service plans and extended warranty packages.

We’re looking forward to seeing our “game changer” in the dealerships soon! Are you?

February 5, 2010 was an exciting and memorable day for everybody at Ford India. It was a day when we achieved not one, but two milestones – a day of double celebrations!

Firstly, it was a proud moment as our Figo’s first production model was driven off the assembly line at the Maraimalai Nagar plant in Chennai. What made it all the more special was the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr. M Karunanidhi and Deputy Chief Minister Dr. M K Stalin. Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India; Raj Nair, vice president of operations, Asia Pacific and Africa; Sandip Sanyal, executive director of operations, Ford India and nearly three thousand employees of the newly expanded Chennai facilities were all on hand to join in the Job 1 ceremony.

“Michael Boneham (Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India), Raj Nair (VP, operations- Ford APA), sitting in white CM Dr. M Karunanidhi, standing in white is Deputy CM Dr. M K Stalin.”

“Figo is a great example of the role Ford will play in the future of India,” Dr. Karunanidhi said during the ceremony.

Michael restated the vision for Ford in India, saying, “Less than six months ago, Ford Motor Company reaffirmed its commitment to transform the plant located here outside Chennai into a regional manufacturing centre of excellence.”

“It’s a great honour to have you with us as our projects and investments are turning to reality and the completion of our first Ford Figo off this assembly line,” he told our special guests.

Secondly, the Job 1 ceremony was followed by the inauguration of the new engine facility that manufactures the exclusive 1.2L petrol engine for Figo. Dr. M K Stalin congratulated the Ford India team for the new engine plant facility and wished us all the best for the Figo launch.

“Left to right: Dr M.K Stalin (standing in white) Deputy Chief Minister; Sandip Sanyal President & MD, Ford India Ltd,; Tom Chackalackal, VP, Vehicle operation, Ford; Michael Boneham, President & MD, Ford India Ltd; Raj Nair-VP, Operations-APAC, Ford Motor Company”

It was difficult to contain our joy at seeing years of hard work coming to fruition. “It’s exciting to see the first Figo coming to life,” Raj said. “We’re confident that the Figo will be extremely attractive to Indian buyers,” he added.

New Engine Plant

Our new engine plant, with a capacity of 250,000 engines a year, will lead the way in transforming Chennai into a major hub for diesel and petrol engine exports in the coming decade. The plant will quadruple production capacity of the engine manufacturing facility.

Explaining the story behind the plant, Michael stated, “This engine plant was created with a ‘best of the best’ approach. We benchmarked against other competitive facilities globally, as well as the current volume manufacturers in India for quality and production efficiency.”

Initially, the plant will focus on the assembly of both the common rail 1.4L diesel engine and the new 1.2L petrol engine—both to be fitted in the Figo. What’s more, the new line is completely flexible and will have the ability to handle both diesel and petrol engines simultaneously.

With this red-letter day behind us, we’re looking forward to the Figo launch! Stay tuned.

After an evening of great insights into the Figo and a good look at the car, the bloggers were eager to drive the Ford Figo.

So, the next morning, we handed over four Figos to a group of automotive bloggers for their test drive (both petrol and diesel versions), with Michael Boneham flagging them off. The Squeeze and Sea Grey Figos lit up the 21.8-kilometre scenic drive from Cansaulim to Cavelossim in Goa as they zipped by. The “Figo twins” negotiated the winding streets, narrow paths and the sharp turns with ease, even over the trickier bits.

While the bloggers tested the car, Ford’s engineering and management teams were on their toes, ready to answer questions, and listen to the bloggers’ first drive impression about the car.

The drive went off without a hitch, and the bloggers loved the car. Shrawan Raja of Indian Autos Blog said he just loved that the car was completely driver-centric. Kartik Ganesh of CarWale.com agreed. “The Figo’s got the traditional Ford DNA —great handling, decent ride quality and stability through corners.” Motorbeam.com’s Faisal Ali Khan didn’t hesitate to say, “The Figo handles like a big car!”

The love for the Figo was echoed by other bloggers as well. Subhash Kamath from Mumbai enthusiastically said, “Figo’s a great car. And it’s not a B-car at all, because it has a premium hatchback feel.” Karthik of Vicky.in summed it up well when he said, “Nice car. Now I’m looking for a killer price.”

Ahh, the price. Watch this space for more!

Coming soon: A woman drives the Figo