Ford Fusion shall be phased out soon from the Indian car market. The model has shown a decline in sales since past several months. The company plans to phase out the model owing to its poor sales performance. The model was launched in early 2004 but has received a very poor response from the Indian auto market.
"Every car launched is phased out over a certain period. Fusion is not doing well in a slowed down market. Hence, we will take a call at the right time," said Michael Boneham, President, Ford India. He also added that the car will be phased out gradually and certainly not with immediate effect. “The model is selling, but the response is not as expected... But we do not have a fixed schedule by when that would happen,” he said.
He said that Ford plans to launch its small car by 2010 and will stick to its $500 million investments in India. "We would also roll out the proposed small car with both petrol and diesel variants in 2010," he added. The company will double its assembly line capacity from 1 lakh unit to 2 lakh units and will also set up an engine manufacturing facility for 2.5 lakh units in Chennai.
