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Ford Figo reaches 25,000 sales booking milestone in close to 100 days

· With more 25,000 sales bookings registered in close to 100 days, Figo is cementing its reputation as one of India’s most in-demand new cars

· Ford Figo has transformed Ford India’s sales performance – helped drive a sales volume of 235% compared to year-on-year first half sales

· Ford Figo a hit with target customers nationwide in Tier I, II and III markets

Ford

With more than 25,000 sales bookings registered since its launch in March, the Ford Figo has cemented its reputation as one of India’s most in demand new cars.

“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,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India.

“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.”

Targeting more than 70 percent of the country’s prospective new vehicle buyers, the popular Figo has helped drive growth in all markets (Tier I, II and III) across India.

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.

Overall, the Figo has helped Ford India record more than double the volumes of 235% year-on-year in half year sales, selling a total of 32,755 vehicles compared to 13,897 units last year.

Based on the number of queries recorded by dealers nationwide and showroom visitors, the second half of the year looks equally promising.

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FORD INDIA CELEBRATES ANOTHER MILESTONE OF ITS ENGINE EXPORT PROGRAMME

Fiesta Engine exports to Thailand

Ford India today celebrated another milestone in its engine export programme with the first batch of 1.4L and 1.6L high compression petrol engines manufactured at Ford India’s Maraimalai Nagar engine facility being shipped to sister manufacturing plant, AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT). Ford has been exporting diesel power trains to South Africa since 2008.

“The first shipment of 1,000 petrol engines is a significant first step in our goal to become a major production and export hub of diesel and petrol engines,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India. “We are excited about the significant growth opportunities for our engine export programme, and proud of Ford India’s contributions to the further development of the local auto industry and economy overall.”

The number of engines exported will increase to 2,500 per month, and will continue to build as projected export demand gradually increases through the year-end and into 2011.

In addition to the AAT facility, Ford India will export engines to other Ford plants in Asia Pacific, including those already being sent to South Africa. Ford India is also currently discussing and reviewing export opportunities for vehicles and power train components to markets within Ford’s Asia Pacific and Africa region.

“The export expansion is another endorsement of the integrated ONE Ford vision that has driven the creation of global centres of excellence like our Chennai plant, to enhance efficiencies, consistency, skill sharing, cost competitiveness and new growth opportunities,” said Boneham.

“It also supports our ‘best of the best’ approach in which we benchmark ourselves against other facilities globally, as well as volume producers in India, for quality and production efficiency,” he added.

Part of Ford Motor Company’s US$500 million investment at the Maraimalai Nagar site, the recently opened engine plant is designed to meet the growing needs of the Indian vehicle market and export opportunities.

Covering more than 40,000 square metres, it is an advanced manufacturing centre that has been created with the global best practices for engine manufacturing and has the capacity to produce 250,000 engines per year.

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Ford India posted 272% year-on-year Sales Growth in May

Ford India Sales

Ford continued to keep tremendous sales momentum with Ford India registering 272% growth in year-on year sales compared to May last year.

Figo continued to impress customers for a third month in a row, being the top seller in the portfolio

Ford India begins second product shift to meet growing demands in July.

Ford Figo continued to drive record sales for Ford India for the third consecutive month since its launch in the Indian market.

Ford India posted yet another tremendous record sale this month, witnessing a 272 per cent growth in year-on year sales for the month of May when compared to May 2009.

The Ford Figo continued to be the top seller as Ford India sold a total of 8,080 units (all models) during the month of May as compared to 2,168 units sold during previous year.

Ford India also saw an increase in its month-on-month sales with May posting higher sales than April, achieving a 7.6 per cent high against last month’s sale of 7509 units. Other Ford brands also saw a rise in demands which added to the overall volume for May with all the brands performing well. Ford India will commence its second production shift at its manufacturing plant in Maramalainagar from July, with training of new employees already underway, to meet strong demands for its products especially the Figo.

Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India said “We have achieved more than 20000 bookings since launch and are happy to see more and more Ford Figos gaining visibility and presence on road. It’s great to see building positive sales results month after month, and bettering our sales performance from last month.”

Ford India has been continuing its efforts to increase the network of its world-class after sales service programs throughout the country in order to strengthen ties with its customers and compliment to the response for the Ford Figo. Ford India has more than 165 outlets across 97 cities.

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100,000th Fiesta rolled out of Ford's Chennai Plant

Ford Fiesta creates yet another milestone, 100,000th Fiesta rolled out of Ford’s Chennai Plant

It was ‘Fiesta’ time at Ford India’s Chennai manufacturing facility today as the 100,000th Ford Fiesta rolled out in style to mark a new milestone in the Fiesta ‘Go Fida’ story.

The 100,000th Fiesta was driven off the assembly line by Ford India’s president and managing director Michael Boneham in the presence of executive director,  Marketing, Sales and Service, Nigel Wark; Sandip Sanyal, executive director of Operations and hundreds of Ford India employees at the final assembly cheering enthusiastically to this proud moment.

”After a terrific sales record in March and April, the rolling out of the 100,000th Ford Fiesta is a truly special moment for Ford India.  The event marks a new milestone for us”, said Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India.

The Ford Fiesta has been Ford’s premium-sedan that has enthralled audiences in India for half a decade. The Ford Fiesta was designed specifically for India and has been the most sought after sedan in its segment for delivering high on attributes such as drivability, styling,, fuel efficiency and value for money.

Fiesta has won several accolades and awards since its roll-out in the Indian market. Powered by the TDCi common-rail technology powertrains, Fiesta has been widely recognized for its fuel efficiency and superior ride and handling. The special edition Fiesta 1.6 S was adjudged the Best Drivers’ Car amongst top 10 cars by Formula-1 driver Narain Karthikeyan in 2008. More recently Fiesta was also ranked No. 1 in ‘Total Customer Satisfaction in the Diesel Midsize Segment’ in the TNS Automotive 2009-TCS Study.

Fiesta solid build-in quality and customers’ long-term ownership experience resulted in consumer satisfaction, contributing significantly in Ford Fiesta’s remarkable performance since the launch, and resulted in growing Company’s sales and strengthening the Blue Oval promise for its customers. In addition, Fiesta was the first car exported out of India’s manufacturing facility as a CBU to South Africa, establishing Ford India’s capability to produce world-class vehicles for customers beyond the border of India

”Ford Fiesta continues to make us feel proud and is a significant product in our portfolio. The popularity of the Fiesta testifies that more and more customers have been reassured by its quality, features and performance. The sale of the 100,000th Fiesta is testimony to our strong customer appreciation for the Fiesta,” added Boneham.

Ford Fiesta has had great success since its launch in 2006 and no surprise that it has now attained a new milestone.

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