Ford Figo

Ford tried its best to offer a new product which may revive Ford’s image in India. But after closely analysing the vehicle I came to conclusion that the concept of Ford Figo is more of a World Car than an Indian Car.

Ford is trying to revive its image by launching world cars now. Probably they will come strongly with the launch of “Ford Focus” shortly.
Figo tried to satiate the needs of customer all across the world and was named as “Indian car” only because it was specially launched in India. The only parameter that satisfied Indian needs is “ex-showroom” tag of Figo.

Figo tried to minimize the cost by sticking to basic knowledge. It carried forward its age old platform, henceforth saved the Research and developmental costs. Figo shares its platform with Fiesta, Fusion and Ikon.

Figo inherits exceptionally good ride and handling from its siblings. One can cruise through potholes, brick roads easily and cornering at high speeds is just like child’s play.
But I guess customer might need little extra when it comes to engine. Though it carries 1.2L petrol power train, but the power delivery at lower rpms is questionable. One has to shift to first gear after crossing every speed-breaker, all thanks to taller gear ratio of second gear.
1.5 L diesel engine from Fiesta also fails to deliver the punch in FIGO.

After the engine even the exterior looks suggests that Figo is old man car. Lowest height in entire A2 segment, side looks similar to Fiat Uno, etc might not gel with youngster image.
Once seated inside the Figo, I was impressed by the space. Ample legroom, decent head room {despite of its low height} were the major positives of interiors. But, the plastic quality was the worst that ford could offer. Even one way height adjuster in top variant was an indication of cost-cutting measures. The audio comes with Bluetooth connectivity, but alas the USB feature is missing. Even the optional brick-red color of dash for top variant is worthy of being hated.
The boot opening lever on the left hand will surprise the driver everytime.

Before customizing the car for India Ford only judged one parameter namely cost which might be liked by Indian customer. It’s true that every car carrying attractive price tag will b evaluated closely by Indians, but at the same time Indians like cars like Swift or i20 which carry premium price tags.

Well, in the end lets see the positives and negatives of the car again:

Positives: Price Tag, ride and handling, interior space
Negatives: Low powered Engine, Interior build quality, exterior styling

Happy evaluating :)