Hey Figo lovers, we have been doing a number of activities with bloggers over the last couple of months. This time we thought, why not do an activity where Figo fans can also take part in. So starting today till the end of the week (July 31), we will have 3 key bloggers get behind the wheels of the Figo. They will publish their experiences, upload videos and pictures on their blogs and social media networks. You are invited to leave your feedback and comments to their postings and take the conversation forward.

At the end of the week, the blogger with the maximum number of comments on all the posts together will get to select 10 of his readers (based on quality and quantity of comments – we have left this to the bloggers on how they want to choose their winner commentors) and present them attractive Ford Souvenirs. So are you game?

So head off to the blogs and let’s have a good conversation going around our favourite Figo. Here are the three bloggers and blogs that you need to check out, in alphabetical order:

1. Ajit, Dance with Shadows
2. Dr. Javeid A. Khan, Motorbeam
3. Kartik Ganesh, Carwale

Rohan Charles has been driving the Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi over the last 4 and half years and is proud to own it. He has used his Fiesta for the smallest of errands in his hometown besides travelling long distances into other states.

Swearing by the handling and driveability of the Fiesta he says, “I was going to Pune once and was on the Bombay-Pune Express Highway when I had gone off to sleep. When I got up, I realised my wife was actually zipping at around 150-160kmph. I did not feel anything at all. The vehicle is very sturdy and the road grip is excellent. It’s a powerful vehicle and you know the great part is that it gives you a manly feeling”, he says.

Rohan feels that the Fiesta complements his macho demeanour as the car is sturdy and at the same time very agile and great to handle on-road. He adds, “This car gives you that power and that macho feeling. That’s very personal. It’s more like a guy car.”

Well, initially Rohan didn’t quite realise that the Fiesta would be a good purchase decision and so consulted many people he knew. Most warned him that a diesel car will be satisfying on fuel efficiency but might prove to be expensive to maintain. Rohan still bought the Fiesta and today when he looks back, he smiles, patting himself on the back to having made this wise decision of buying the Fiesta 1.4 TDCi. The car delivers an average of 17 kmpl in the city and 23/24 kmpl on the highway, which gives him peace of mind. So in a nutshell, he’s enjoying the fuel efficiency of a diesel car and the performance of a petrol in his Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi.

Rohan likes making friends and did so with one of the Ford service technicians. The technician now services Rohan by providing him with a temporary car until his car is readied at the service centre. Rohan was not only impressed with this treatment but also when he discovered that Ford has a uniform service approach at other dealerships and service stations as well. He has been to 6 service centers across 3 cities and found the service quality uniform across the board.

Here’s what he has to say:

Today Rohan is one of many Fiesta owners who would refer the car to his friends. Check out what he has to say about that:

This is Part 4 of the Ford Car Lovers Speak where we are highlighting first-hand accounts from just some of the many proud Ford owners in India. To get these stories, a special Ford team travelled across the country, listening to and recording Ford owners’ stories and experiences. And, after hearing what they had to say about their ownership experience, we were inspired to put it up on Driving Ford. Check out Part 1, 2, and 3.

This post is Part 3 of our ongoing Ford Car Lovers Series. After Anish Iyer (Part 1) and Manishi Dutt’s stories (Part 2), let’s hear it from Pune’s Veronica and Gilbert Quadros.

Veronica and her son Gilbert Quadros have had a Ford Fiesta for many years, and she sums up her experience in a single sentence, “I am in love with the car.”

The Quadros family’s journey with the car started when Veronica and her son Gilbert were trying to decide the right car to own from the multiple choices available. They visited Planet Ford in Pune in addition to other brand dealerships. Describing their experience at the Ford dealership Gilbert mentioned, “We got a good welcome there and the staff was very cooperative. We did not know anything technical about cars, but they explained the car’s features to us, and took us to the workshop. I was quite convinced that if something would go wrong with the car, the service would be excellent.” The car, too, drove beautifully. The choice was final – the Ford Fiesta. Veronica and Gilbert booked the car right away.

The post-purchase experience has been delightful and equally rewarding for the Quadros family. Gilbert is thrilled with the dynamics of his Fiesta and thinks the car’s handling is “awesome”. He says, “I have driven many other cars, but the Fiesta is seriously awesome. I really like the clutch, and the power of the car is just amazing.” Veronica adds, “It’s a pleasure to be driven in the car, I feel comfortable and relaxed as it’s quite spacious.”

As a normal practice, when we sought their feedback on the Ford experience, Gilbert reminisced. “I once went to Mumbai during the Ganpati festival. There is heavy traffic at that time, and driving in that traffic is usually very tiring. But I didn’t get tired at all, because the car’s handling and the power is good, and the car is very smooth. Also, the air conditioner cools very quickly, you don’t feel the heat at all!”

Gilbert says he hasn’t had to change any part in the Fiesta so far and Veronica has been really satisfied with the service by Ford dealers, “I have no complaints about the service. They make you feel at home,” she reiterates.

Gilbert rates Ford’s quality of service as high as 4.8 out 5, adding, “These guys are brilliant.”

Here’s what Gilbert has to say about his Ford experience:

DRIVOBLOG has come out with a Ford Figo Initial Ownership Review report and man, we must say it was a good read. Tirthankar Basu of DRIVOBLOG, an erstwhile SUV owner who bought the Figo in May and has driven the car for around 3200 kms so far, writes he gets around 10-15kmpl in city driving and 20-30kmpl on the highways.

‘Every Vehicle Brand has its own merits but what matters us how much engineering and detailing effort that has gone to it. And FORD struck the right chords at the opportune phase when what most hatchbacks aggressively pitch on Fit & Finish, Fuel Efficiency and Resale but compromising on engineering, performance and perfection. FIGO is the best hatchback available in India as of 2010,’ he adds.

These are some more excerpts from the report:

On engine, performance, & handling: At 150 kmph the NVH is still bearable and the car does not feel ‘running out of breath’. Even with 5 people the vehicle propels up a Fly-Over/uphill in-hesitantly, something which I have not found most of the vehicles I have driven before.

On comfort & ergonomics: As regards the front seats, I am 5’11” and seat myself 6 hours every-day on an average on a sustained basis devoid of any discomfort. The front seats are actually engineered to grip the body during C-Curve maneuvers and prevent one from swaying by perfectly contacting the shoulder-plate(s).

On service: I believe an ‘informed owner’ need not face issues with Ford Service if he communicates accurately with the Authorized Service Centre. Recently my vehicle’s Radiator Fan failed prematurely and it was promptly replaced on priority basis under warranty. No questions asked and minimal paperwork.

Without taking away much from the report here, we would like to urge our readers to head to DRIVOBLOG to check out the report for themselves. Thanks Tirthankar for such a detailed feedback. We love it and we are looking into your suggestions too. Keep writing.

Also don’t forget to check out the video:

We are happy to share with everyone that since the launch in March 2010, your favourite Figo has registered over 25,000 sales bookings, cementing its reputation as one of India’s most in-demand new cars. Ford Figo has also helped drive a sales volume of 235% for Ford India compared to year-on-year first half sales.

Michael Boneham, President & MD, Ford India commented on this development: Reaching the 25,000 sales booking milestone in close to 100 days continues the Figo’s remarkable rise and rise in popularity among Indian consumers. Figo’s success has exceeded expectations in terms of sales and target markets. Our debut compact car offering is being very well received by a wide range of customers and this response has been instrumental in our efforts to increase market share.

In the January-June period, Ford sales volume, on a year-to-year basis, doubled in Tier 1 markets including Mumbai (234%); Chennai (279%) and Delhi and the NCR region (223%). In terms of regional sales, there was a similar response – east (339%); west (277%), north (212%) and south (127%). Big gains – double, and in some cases, triple fold growth – were registered in Tier II markets such as Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi, Coimbatore, Indore, Bhopal and Jaipur and Tier III markets such as Dehradun, Trichy, Nashik, Aurangabad and Kanpur. In addition to strong internal demand, Ford India has also recently celebrated it first export order of 1,200 Ford Figos to Ford Motor Company in South Africa.

Based on the number of queries recorded by dealers nationwide and showroom visitors, the second half of the year looks equally promising. The Figo campaign is supported by a range of Ford India-led service and sales programmes that includes:
1. Ongoing development of the dealership network. There are currently 167 dealership outlets across 97 cities nationwide
2. Ongoing expansion of the after-sales service network nationwide
3. Consistently updating and enhancing the cost of ownership programme – for example, Figo is a market leader in terms of scheduled service over a 5 year/100,000 kilometre period. Other offerings include the Total Maintenance Plan (TMP) and Scheduled Service Plan (SSP) that allows customers to purchase extended service plans for regular maintenance items for up to 100,000 kilometres or five years, at reduced rates.

We thank everyone for making the Figo a dashing success. Keep driving Ford.

This is the second part of an earlier blog post.

After visiting the Ford India Engine Plant, the bloggers were showcased the company’s efforts to reduce the cost of owning Ford cars through its selection of child parts. These child parts reduce the cost of repairing or replacing spare parts by eliminating the need to replace large sections of the car. This is done by simplifying major assemblies into component-level parts. For example, a starter motor, which was previously replaced as a complete unit, has now been classified into several component-level parts such as the arm assembly, housing assembly, bushing, drive assembly and solenoid assembly. Similar child parts are also developed for engine components and transmission systems, to name a few.

“Ford has taken an awesome initiative to reduce costs at both the manufacturing as well as maintenance level. Owners of the Figo will experience very reasonable prices of spares. Add to that, the company has ensured that you don’t need to change the complete part should anything go wrong with a part being made of sub-parts and thus making it cheap to replace,” Faisal of Motorbeam wrote on his blog.

The last stop for the bloggers was the delivery yard, where the cars are stored when they are ready for delivery hundreds of Ford Figos stood waiting to be delivered to dealers. For the car-loving bloggers, it was a fascinating experience to watch the journey of a Ford car from bare metal to the finished product. It gave them all a glimpse into cutting-edge car manufacturing technology. Ford India is a 6-Sigma company, and every process and step is planned to perfection.

The much-awaited Ford Figo is almost ready. So we put together a video for all Ford fans who are dying to see the car inside-out! Here’s a never-seen-before look into the car, the roomy interiors, mobile connectivity and so much more. Watch the video and tell us what you think of the car!