Ford is ready to take on the competition head on with recently launched Toyota Fortuner. If Fortuner has been a runaway success for Toyota, Ford is not ready to step aside. It’s the new facelifted Endeavour coming to the Indian market next week. It will be an advanced version of the premium SUV from Ford which is a strategic step to cater to the rising demand of the vehicles, says a senior company official.
"We will launch the Ford Endeavour by next week. It will be an automatic version and we hope to achieve a significant market share after the launch," Ford India president and managing director, Michael Boneham. However, there are no detailed specifications or a price tag declaration of the new facelifted model coming from the Ford manufacturing unit near Chennai.
“It would be a slightly re-styled Endeavour with some new mechanical bits. The new Endeavour SUV is also expected to come equipped with Borg Warner’s Shift-on-the-Fly system. The active-Shift-on-the-Fly mechanism will enable you to switch between 2wd and 4wd up to 100kmph. There will be some cosmetic changes like changed headlights, grille, with the rear side likely to be the same,” says a Delhi-based Ford dealer.
Ford is also planning to hike prices of its Ikon model in India due to rising manufacturing costs. The diesel variant will be costlier by Rs. 8000 and the petrol variant will be dearer by Rs. 7500. Ford Ikon petrol will cost Rs. 4.73 lakh from September and the diesel variant will be priced at Rs. 5.32 lakh.
Ford Ikon is the flagship model and has sailed merrily even through the recession. According to industry pundits, Ford will manage to record healthy sales in 2009 as well.
