From Ikon To EcoSport, Where Did Ford Go Wrong In India?

Ford's India innings actually started nearly 100 years ago when in 1926, Ford India Private Limited started production as a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, Canada.

Ford Logo. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: By now the news has spread like wildfire and it is indeed a surprise for some but for many within the auto industry, the writing was on the wall for a long time. It was not always like this with Ford India. There were happier times when the EcoSport was launched in 2013- arguably the finest hour for this American automaker.

The EcoSport has been its biggest hit till now in India with a loyal customer base still buying it till yesterday. While there was a rumour that Ford will launch a facelifted EcoSport, that has all been laid to rest.

So where did it all go wrong? Ford's India innings actually started nearly 100 years ago when in 1926, Ford India Private Limited started production as a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, Canada. However, it was in 1995 with Mahindra, where it first properly set foot in India. The first product was the Escort which was launched in 196 but while radical, it was not a success.

The first proper successful car was the Ikon which established the Ford name in India (by now it was Ford Motor India Limited). The Ikon was the car that went on to sell in big numbers along with having the tagline 'the josh machine'. It went on sale till 2011.

Ford after that was successful and the Ikon taught Ford about the Indian market. The Fiesta sedan which replaced the Ikon sort of was a successful car too. Ford cars were about performance, efficiency with their diesel engines and solid build quality. In between, they also experimented with cars like the Mondeo sedan which flopped in our market. Later Ford brought in more models like the Endeavour and the Fusion. The Fusion did not set the sales charts on fire but the Endeavour was a constant seller.

However, it was the radical EcoSport that changed Ford India. Way before other carmakers, Ford first brought in its futuristic EcoSport which impressed the Indian car buyer.

The launch of the new Endeavour plus Figo also strengthened the Ford India line-up. It was the lack of the next step which stopped Ford from progress. The dominance of Hyundai and Maruti meant Ford could not keep up with the products or technology to fight with these rivals or bring in new cars. The failure of the Aspire sedan further knocked Ford down. The real issue was the lack of fuel-efficient engines, technology and new products to fight rivals including newcomers like Kia.

With Ford globally restructuring operations and concentrating on major markets for them like the US meant that India was fast losing in importance to Ford.

The last attempt was the JV between Ford and Mahindra, yet again after their 1995 entry but fate again had other ideas and well into the JV with apparent products being developed, it was cancelled. That proved to be the final call that resulted in Ford stopping manufacturing in India due to the heavy losses ($2 billion operating losses over the past 10 years).

Ford India will stay on as a seller of imported cars like the Mustang but its exit from the mass market will end a long journey of hits and misses no doubt!