Looking at the impressive sales figure of its models, Ford India said that the company will attain high growth in the future due to an increasing demand for diesel cars. Moreover, this will also boost the automobile industry. According to N Raja, Vice President, (Sales) of Ford India, the company has witnessed positive growth due to sales of diesel models, even though there has been a downfall in the Indian automobile market in 2011.
Demand for diesel cars has been increasing constantly according to Raja and these contribute two-third of the total sales. "With more demand for diesel cars, the company expects to post a higher increase in the sales in the current year," he added. Even though there are rumours that excise duty would be imposed on diesel powered cars which enjoys subsidies presently, Raja states that these cars are responsible for only 6% of the diesel consumption.
However, removing the subsidy provided by Indian oil marketing firms or imposition of excise duty on cars has been ruled out by Indian Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy for the time being. "India is a big growth market. Nearly 70% of Ford's growth is coming from the Asia Pacific region where India and China are the dominant markets," Raja added.
