The completely owned Indian subsidiary of American car maker, Ford Motor, seems to have already begun the festivities with a strong client base of 2,00,000. With the arrival of Onam in Kerala, Ford India presented the natives of the state with a new Sales, Service and Showroom (3S) dealership, Kairali Ford. Located at Muvattupuzha, the new facility of Ford takes the whole service experience to a different level.
At the inauguration ceremony of the Kairali Ford, President and Managing Director (MD) of Ford India, Michael Boneham, quoted, “Festivities for Ford India have just begun. Our Chennai made Figo has now 200,000 proud customers in India and across 36 international markets. We go further to celebrate the spirit of Onam by opening our sixth full-fledged dealership in Muvattupuzha, a state-of-the-art 3S facility to support the ever-expanding base of loyal Ford India customers in the region.”
The new 3S dealership at Muvattupuzha is sprawls over a vast area of 50,000 square feet and has been designed exclusively keeping in mind the global standards of Ford to enhance the ownership experience. With its new unit, the company also assures that the customers form a long term association with the brand. Kairali Ford has a potential to examine around 1,000 cars every month and a team of hard-working professionals at the 3S facility will exhibit the car maker's commitment to deliver its best-in-class services.
Also, the car marque will offer a lucrative instalment scheme of Rs. 99 per day on its best-selling Ford Figo in a partnership with HDFC Bank. This move from the company is an extended effort to reach out to the potential customers in Kerala as part of its festive celebrations during Chingham.
At the inauguration ceremony, Director, Kairali Ford, Thomas Cherukara, stated, “The opening of new dealership is a testament to Ford’s growing base of loyal customers in Kerala and strengthening of our efforts to reach closer to them. Our new state-of-the-art dealership in Muvattupuzha is equipped to provide unmatched services and ambience to our customers. Additionally, a team of Ford-trained technicians will be at hand with the latest service tools and diagnostic equipment, state-of-the-art body repair shop and computerized facilities to attend to every need of Ford customers in the region.”
Presently, the car maker has maintained a strong sales and service network of 230 dealers across 123 cities with 40 per cent of the network concentrated in tier II and III cities. This pan India expansion strategy, being followed by Ford, assures world class products and services to its customers, coupled with top-notch ownership experience.
Adding further, Boneham stated, “From sales and service expansion and localization to affordable spares and child parts strategy, Ford has truly redefined what consumers want and desire – offering peace of mind and convenience. As we broaden our portfolio, we are committed to growing closer to customers through our sales and service network to create delightful experiences and deliver on our Cost-of-Ownership promise. Ford India has introduced more than 13 Mobile Service Fans across the country and with the expansion of Ford’s Road Side Assistance beyond 39 cities and plans to cover 80% of Ford India's consumer base nationwide.”
The extremely aggressive stance being adopted by the car maker to expand its sales and service network is in accordance with the global strategy of Ford to drive in the volumes by 50 per cent. The auto maker aims to achieve this feat by 2015 by enhancing the sales to 8 million units a year. Car maker has pinned high hopes from the Asia Pacific and African region as it expects around 60-70 per cent of the anticipated sales to come from these markets. Ford is also very optimistic about Indian automotive industry, buoyed by the anticipation being faced by its upcoming Ford EcoSport, which is the second model in the planned line-up of eight new products announced by the company to be launched by 2015.
