Ford Figo Aspire Launched in India (Coverage: Pg.21)

[1989rs500]

It does drive great & handles well and is packed with features. So what it misses out on is Ford's Trademark Build to aid efficiency. So some compromises are made to each & every car but what the car should & must have is substance. It should be good in Performance, Dynamics.

The Aspire is a very good product, and i can see it doing good numbers, wish people get rid of the expensive maintenance thing of their mind.

Sadly I dont think that will be the case, the Tata Zest is such a good car and yet its sales are just under 2000 cars a month,while the Dzire which is no way a good car compared to Zest and Aspire is still selling like 18000-19000 cars a month,
Indian perception is too difficult to change, within a few months I think Aspire too will fall to a common demand,like 3000 cars per month maximum, and the new Swift is coming by 2016 June, it is reported to have a new 1.5l DDis engine making 110 bhp and 300 NM, so the upcoming Figo hatchback and Tata Bolts success too seem short lived due to Indian perception.

 

[kasscon]

Sadly I dont think that will be the case, the Tata Zest is such a good car and yet its sales are just under 2000 cars a month,while the Dzire which is no way a good car compared to Zest and Aspire is still selling like 18000-19000 cars a month,
Indian perception is too difficult to change, within a few months I think Aspire too will fall to a common demand,like 3000 cars per month maximum, and the new Swift is coming by 2016 June, it is reported to have a new 1.5l DDis engine making 110 bhp and 300 NM, so the upcoming Figo hatchback and Tata Bolts success too seem short lived due to Indian perception.

I beg your pardon here.. I think MJD engine is the biggest advantage that dezire got and maruti already got bad mouthed regarding their diesel engine in celerio. People who were fan of Maruti now actually cursing for celerio diesel.. At least most of the people from my circle.

If they will use the same tech in 1.5l engine, we might see a shift. Not that maruti will fail but the nos can break and cars like zest and aspire take the advantage.

 

[Raaj]

It does drive great & handles well and is packed with features. So what it misses out on is Ford's Trademark Build to aid efficiency. So some compromises are made to each & every car but what the car should & must have is substance. It should be good in Performance, Dynamics....

Sure, one must looks for performance and dynamics in the cars. But at the end of the day, I must say, Airbags can't save life if the car has bad build quality.

And this time, Ford tried to impress masses. Actually, the earliear Classic was great deal with good features, great build quality and great petrol engine even lesser price. If you compare that, putting your money on New Aspire's petrol engine is just waste thing.

But, I liked its performance in it's diesel version. It's powerful, fantastic ride and good handling, good gizmos, all over airbags etc. But do I buy this one? Nope, I won't. 'Coz, its miserably compromised on the build quality.

Hopefully, they won't do same thing in forthcoming Figo hatchback too. If that's going to be the case, I would consider/recommend other cars such as Polo, Punto or Jazz.

 

[draneeshpm]

But at the end of the day, I must say, Airbags can't save life if the car has bad build quality.
its miserably compromised on the build quality

Do you work for NCAP? Or you have some special tools to assess the crash worthiness? I have seen a prominent businessman in Kerala getting killed in his 12 airbag RR Vogue, so a reckless behind the wheels of any good car can get killed.

 

[Safe Driving 007]

Sure, one must looks for performance and dynamics in the cars. But at the end of the day, I must say, Airbags can't save life if the car has bad build quality.

And this time, Ford tried to impress masses. Actually, the earliear Classic was great deal with good features, great build quality and great petrol engine even lesser price. If you compare that, putting your money on New Aspire's petrol engine is just waste thing.

But, I liked its performance in it's diesel version. It's powerful, fantastic ride and good handling, good gizmos, all over airbags etc. But do I buy this one? Nope, I won't. 'Coz, its miserably compromised on the build quality.

Hopefully, they won't do same thing in forthcoming Figo hatchback too. If that's going to be the case, I would consider/recommend other cars such as Polo, Punto or Jazz.

Well Said !
I totally agree with you.. I even emailed ford India asking the details about usage of ''boron steel'' in aspire.. and i am really surprised with the reply which i received from Ford India

Reply from Ford India -
Dear Sir,
We are in receipt of your mail and noted down the contents of the same.
We wish to reiterate that we would not be able to share some proprietary and internal documents/ details, however we assure you that we do not compromise on any safety standards . Trust your understanding on this.
Assuring you of our best services and continuous support at all times.
Thanks and Regards,
D. Saranya

FIL – Customer Relations,

Toll Free : 1800 425 2500 | 1800 419 2500

According to them asking about usage of Boron steel in aspire is confidential'' ford India has clearly mentioned eco sport and fiesta in their website which has used boron steel, then y not aspire ???? feeling suspicious.. so we could assume that no boron steel has been used, built quality is same like the leader in this segment.

guys as upcoming hatch is also built on the same platform, what do you think.. how safe it would be

 

[1989rs500]

Well Said !
I totally agree with you.. I even emailed ford India asking the details about usage of ''boron steel'' in aspire.. and i am really surprised with the reply which i received from Ford India

Reply from Ford India -
Dear Sir,
We are in receipt of your mail and noted down the contents of the same.
We wish to reiterate that we would not be able to share some proprietary and internal documents/ details, however we assure you that we do not compromise on any safety standards . Trust your understanding on this.
Assuring you of our best services and continuous support at all times.
Thanks and Regards,
D. Saranya

FIL – Customer Relations,

Toll Free : 1800 425 2500 | 1800 419 2500

According to them asking about usage of Boron steel in aspire is confidential'' ford India has clearly mentioned eco sport and fiesta in their website which has used boron steel, then y not aspire ???? feeling suspicious.. so we could assume that no boron steel has been used, built quality is same like the leader in this segment.

guys as upcoming hatch is also built on the same platform, what do you think.. how safe it would be

I hope this link will clarify the doubts, read the safety section,
See no Indian is concerned about High strength steel chassis, we all know that exactly if they were these pathetically unsafe Dzires might not have hit those scorching sales numbers, so I dont think Ford should be advertising it either nonetheless, since we are concerned here about safety in TAI, we*at least should buy cars that are safe and smart.
Ford Figo Aspire Titanium Diesel - First Drive Review

I think the usage of high strength steel was discussed earlier in this thread as well, Ford claims they have used 45% of its structure using high strength steel, there was pictures of chassis with yellow markings showing use of high strength steel, while the car was launched at Udaipur, during the presentation, also someone duromg presentation also stressed about why 6 Airbags despite the high strength steel and some Ford reps answer was "simply because we can make the safest car south of 10 lakhs Rs with no competition even coming close" on further questions the rep there also stated that Ecosport top has 6 Airbags, and Aspire and Ecosport both are derived products of a chassis thats supposed to be a hatchback Fiesta, which is already one of worlds safest mass produced hatcg back.
These answers and questions were coming live on Twitter on the launch date, I have no idea what to search for to get these questions and answers,
There were lots of other questions too like, how the new TDCi makes 100 now from 90, the answer was new injectors,new FGT mapping and tune, and all this for the first time using Indian engineering skills,at Sanand, this tune is available only in India.
Another question asked was why no ecoboost engine for Aspire, answer was higher cost,low volume, and the Ecosport already has it, so not much in need to import an engine thats already having high demand in Europe
There were lots of questionaires at Twitter, and even facebook during that day, I followed lot of those that day since I was excited about the launch.

 

[Safe Driving 007]

I hope this link will clarify the doubts, read the safety section,
See no Indian is concerned about High strength steel chassis, we all know that exactly if they were these pathetically unsafe Dzires might not have hit those scorching sales numbers, so I dont think Ford should be advertising it either nonetheless, since we are concerned here about safety in TAI, we*at least should buy cars that are safe and smart.
Ford Figo Aspire Titanium Diesel - First Drive Review

I think the usage of high strength steel was discussed earlier in this thread as well, Ford claims they have used 45% of its structure using high strength steel, there was pictures of chassis with yellow markings showing use of high strength steel, while the car was launched at Udaipur, during the presentation, also someone duromg presentation also stressed about why 6 Airbags despite the high strength steel and some Ford reps answer was "simply because we can make the safest car south of 10 lakhs Rs with no competition even coming close" on further questions the rep there also stated that Ecosport top has 6 Airbags, and Aspire and Ecosport both are derived products of a chassis thats supposed to be a hatchback Fiesta, which is already one of worlds safest mass produced hatcg back.
These answers and questions were coming live on Twitter on the launch date, I have no idea what to search for to get these questions and answers,
There were lots of other questions too like, how the new TDCi makes 100 now from 90, the answer was new injectors,new FGT mapping and tune, and all this for the first time using Indian engineering skills,at Sanand, this tune is available only in India.
Another question asked was why no ecoboost engine for Aspire, answer was higher cost,low volume, and the Ecosport already has it, so not much in need to import an engine thats already having high demand in Europe
There were lots of questionaires at Twitter, and even facebook during that day, I followed lot of those that day since I was excited about the launch.

I totally agreed for all what you have said.. and even i checked the site which you have mentioned.. it states that 45% boron steel.. but let me ask you, Why FORD INDIA is not giving a comment on it, i hope you have seen the reply from FORD India. spreading the message of usage of boron steel will do good for FORD, but why are they reluctant in sharing it, at least in their website. cant understand the logic behind it.

 

[Raaj]

I totally agreed for all what you have said.. and even i checked the site which you have mentioned.. it states that 45% boron steel.. but let me ask you, Why FORD INDIA is not giving a comment on it, i hope you have seen the reply from FORD India. spreading the message of usage of boron steel will do good for FORD, but why are they reluctant in sharing it, at least in their website. cant understand the logic behind it.

Ford Indian website states Only Ecosport and Fiesta boasts Baron Steel.

BTW, the other site i.e. Indian Auto Blog states its a High Strength steel Only and Not mentioned it was Baron Steel. Even the Aspire user manual doesn't say anything about it. Since Ford guys refused to answer, they must have used different type of steel in this Aspire.

 

[Safe Driving 007]

Ford Indian website states Only Ecosport and Fiesta boasts Baron Steel.

BTW, the other site i.e. Indian Auto Blog states its a High Strength steel Only and Not mentioned it was Baron Steel. Even the Aspire user manual doesn't say anything about it. Since Ford guys refused to answer, they must have used different type of steel in this Aspire.

I too agree with you for for your findings!!!

 

[Raaj]

Ford Figo Aspire and Forthcoming Figo Hatchback User Manual.

http://www.fordservicecontent.com/F...anual_India__Print_ready_12June2015_India.pdf

 

[1989rs500]

I totally agreed for all what you have said.. and even i checked the site which you have mentioned.. it states that 45% boron steel.. but let me ask you, Why FORD INDIA is not giving a comment on it, i hope you have seen the reply from FORD India. spreading the message of usage of boron steel will do good for FORD, but why are they reluctant in sharing it, at least in their website. cant understand the logic behind it.

Ford Indian website states Only Ecosport and Fiesta boasts Baron Steel.

BTW, the other site i.e. Indian Auto Blog states its a High Strength steel Only and Not mentioned it was Baron Steel. Even the Aspire user manual doesn't say anything about it. Since Ford guys refused to answer, they must have used different type of steel in this Aspire.

See dont trust Ford India website and Ford chat system and the web based systems, they know nothing about Ford, Ford India website used to display diesel engines pictures where it should have shown petrol engine,
I also remember when Ford first launched Fiesta sedan the website told the Fiesta has no ABS as standard infact it had ABS and 2 Airbags as standard, just look at what they are doing now, They have discontinued Figo and Classic and new Fiesta, but there is still images and brouchre etc available on the website, seems Ford Indias website is lame and useless at best,
Just look at their new Aspire page, its takes too much time to load up and is a complete mess, no one will never understand what they mean with that website other than those who designed it.

About Boron steel and High strength Steel, High strength steel too has different grades, the highest grade has different composition of Boron and addendums ro make it stronger and yet lighter, Fiesta and Ecosport use the highest quality Boron steel, Aspire,upcoming Figo the Chinese Ford Taurus,Ford Escort etc use High strength steel, thats similar in purpose to Boron steel but not as tough as the fully fledged Boron Steel,
Ford India isnt even making one advert of Figo Aspire in TV then how come they advertise it on website, see the car is strong, sure it mightnot be as strong as the Zest but its very close and all the others in segement are way inferior to Zest and Aspire in built quality. If the concern is whether the Aspire is as safe as its older brothers Classic and Figo, the answer is YES, itvis safe or safer than them despite being lighter, and the addition of Airbags even in base variant makes it extra safe as per me, the is definitely the second most safe compact sedan in India,
If someone has checked the Chevy Sail sedan it feels well built but its not safe, since its structure aint strong, as of now I trust Ford on what they have claimes before hundreds of journalists at Udaipur, on that count I believe the Aspire is safer than one might feel of it.
Hyundai has been boasting about High strength steel in their Creta adverts, Ford too should so that,but they dont even advertise their new product then how come safety.
Its a big flaw by Fords maketing department.
In case if some one has doubts about High strength steel and Boron steel, here is a link toake things clear.
Ford ultra-high-strength boron steel put to the blender test

 

[kasscon]

I own sail sedan and believe you me it's pretty safe than dezire or others. I got two Sails and one met with an accident with innova and believe you me inovva got more serve damages. People who saw both the vehicles were amazed that how come vehicle like inovva got damaged by a sedan like this. Mine bill was 52 k and inovva costed 1.35. Unfortunately innova was my cousin's. We were coming from delhi to punjab

 

[Safe Driving 007]

Hi all, i have received the kerb weight details of Ford Aspire and the upcoming hatch

ASPIRE
1.2L TiVCT
(5 Speed Manual Transmission)
995 kg to 1,015 kg

1.5L TDCi
(5 Speed Manual Transmission)
1,023 kg to 1,048 kg

1.5L TiVCT
(Automatic Trans- mission)
1,038 kg to 1,047 kg


HATCH

1.2L TiVCT
(5 Speed Manual Transmission)
977 kg to 1,009 kg

1.5L TDCi
(5 Speed Manual Transmission)
1,008 kg to 1,041 kg

1.5L TiVCT
(Automatic Trans- mission)
1,030 kg to 1,037 kg

 

[1989rs500]

I own sail sedan and believe you me it's pretty safe than dezire or others. I got two Sails and one met with an accident with innova and believe you me inovva got more serve damages. People who saw both the vehicles were amazed that how come vehicle like inovva got damaged by a sedan like this. Mine bill was 52 k and inovva costed 1.35. Unfortunately innova was my cousin's. We were coming from delhi to punjab

Yes, Sail is definity better built than Dzire,Amaze,Xcent,
I believe Sail and Aspire will fare well in terms of structural strength, but Aspire has more like dual Airbags as Standard, so it gets the edge, see what I mean is overall after Tata Zest the Aspire felt to me the safest, the doors and boot opening were the only let downs,

The bigger news is it seems Figo hatch is getting same spec engines and features as of Aspire also an AT dual clutch transmission as well, seems Figo hatch with 100 HP is most powerful hatch under 8 lakhs , again lot of segement firsts by Figo hatch.
Now price the hatch right and enjoy success Ford Mo Co.

 

[Karthik Chandrasekar]

Sure, one must looks for performance and dynamics in the cars. But at the end of the day, I must say, Airbags can't save life if the car has bad build quality.

And this time, Ford tried to impress masses. Actually, the earliear Classic was great deal with good features, great build quality and great petrol engine even lesser price. If you compare that, putting your money on New Aspire's petrol engine is just waste thing.

But, I liked its performance in it's diesel version. It's powerful, fantastic ride and good handling, good gizmos, all over airbags etc. But do I buy this one? Nope, I won't. 'Coz, its miserably compromised on the build quality.

Hopefully, they won't do same thing in forthcoming Figo hatchback too. If that's going to be the case, I would consider/recommend other cars such as Polo, Punto or Jazz.

I guess you are a little harsh on the aspire mate . The build quality is acceptable by segment standard. Build quality is important, but see what happens, the same engine is used in the punto and Swift but 15k people buy swift against only 600 people who buy the punto month after month(of course there are various other reasons too), one of the main reason is FE because of swift's light weight relating to build quality. A moron can get himself killed even in an S class, IMO the driver is the best safety feature in a car however strong the build quality is. Not everyone cares about build quality and safety features.
BTW my first car was Fiat Palio and the decision was against my family's wish for a swift.

Do you work for NCAP? Or you have some special tools to assess the crash worthiness? I have seen a prominent businessman in Kerala getting killed in his 12 airbag RR Vogue, so a reckless behind the wheels of any good car can get killed.

Good point, as I had mentioned in my previous post the driver is the best safety feature in a car