It’s anything but small- it’s substantial. It’s a Ford. And it’s finally revealed!

Say hello to the newest member of the Ford carline in India– the Ford Figo!

Figo is colloquial Italian for “cool”, and our new car personifies the vibrant spirit and youthful character of its name, plus the quality and substance car buyers expect from a Ford.

Our president and CEO Alan Mulally introduced Figo to the foreign and Indian media at a press conference in Delhi a short while ago. It was a fascinating sneak peek at our future in India.

“We know the high importance Indian consumers place on value for money. We know you want quality, fuel efficiency, technology, and safety. And Ford is going to give it to you,” Mr. Mulally said at the conference.

We like Figo’s kinetic design, which shares key elements with the Focus, Mondeo and Fiesta.  Its contemporary touches include expressive headlamps and grille, and sculpted bonnet. Also check out a host of other design details, such as:

• Chiseled front fenders and strong shoulders
• ‘Comet tail’ undercut in the door
• Chamfered window shape at the rear
• Light-catching sculpting in the lower bodyside
• Sporty integrated spoiler
• Contemporary singular side window graphic, a strong graphic via the use of a blacked-out centre pillar

Generous proportions are evident in the Figo design. And being a Ford, we ensured the Figo has a solid stance with a spacious interior.  The car’s profile and bold graphic large side window shape strongly hint at the comfort and spaciousness of the car.

We’ve made the Figo nimble and agile, another core Ford characteristic. The pronounced wheel arches signal both agility and solidity, and the body shape has minimal overhang with a wheels-at-the-corners look.

Our team has leveraged Ford’s small-car platform architecture to create the Figo. It shares underlying technology with the Ford Fiesta, already familiar to Indian drivers.

We have designed the Figo for driving on congested city roads, fully geared to take on the competition in India’s small car segment. As Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India, said at the conference: “We’re confident that the new Ford Figo will be extremely attractive to Indian car buyers. It’s going to be very competitive with the current market leaders and offer a tremendous value story for our consumers.”

The car will be produced at our Chennai plant, which has undergone a $500 million transformation to become a regional centre of excellence for Ford small car production.  The Figo will be exported to international markets as well. Volume production is scheduled to begin in early 2010.

Keep track of our blog for more information about the car and Ford in India. Meanwhile, we leave you with first glimpses of the car. Enjoy the pictures, and do let us know what you think of Figo.

-By the Ford Figo Team