Ford India is all set to step up production of its compact SUV, EcoSport which is being produced at the company’s Chennai manufacturing plant. Ford plans to commence 24-hour shift in order to meet the growing demand for EcoSport SUV. The round the clock manufacturing will start effective mid 2014, this will hopefully help to reduce long waiting period for EcoSport. Currently, Ford is producing 350 units a day which it envisages to increase to 450 units a day by June 2014. The units produced daily could further rise to 750-850 units by the month of October this year which will help to suffice export requirements of the company. Ford is eyeing to produce 1,60,000 units in 2014 itself which it aims to further expand to 2,00,000 units a year.
EcoSport received an unprecedented response and was ushered with over 60,000 bookings, however the company could deliver 35,000 units only by January 2014. With such long waiting periods customers usually tend to opt for another alternative, therefore it became necessary for the American car maker to enhance production of the compact SUV.
Apart from EcoSport, Figo is yet another product from the car maker that has created a niche for itself in the domestic market. It took Ford a while to tighten its grip in India, Figo and EcoSport are doing well, however, its C segment sedan, Fiesta could not garner as good response as the company had hoped. Despite possessing appealing looks and advanced comfort and security features, Fiesta could not take off in the right manner. A high price tag could be blamed as the culprit behind low response for Fiesta. A tweaked version is under development which was also displayed at the recently concluded Auto Expo. Some cosmetic changes are expected, engine line up is likely to be unchanged. Ford is expected to launch new Fiesta in 2014 only, however there is no confirmation on the launch date as of now.
