Ford Aspire Facelift Launched (Coverage Page-3)


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New Aspire looks nice , but Ford could have made this so much better. Things I like :
1. Decent sized touch screen
2. New Beige colour
3. Front Bumper
4. Start stop
5. 2 USB slots in addition to 12V charger
6. Beautiful alloys
7. Excellent Dragon petrol engine ( by all reports)


Things Ford missed out
1. LED tail lamps
2. Front LED DRL in top variant
3. Rear door bottle holders
4. ? Projector lights in top variant
Hopefully they have improved the power of the front head lamps because the current ones are almost unusable. And the keyfob looks kind of weird! Older one was decent enough!
Ford Key.jpg
 
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Things Ford missed out
1. LED tail lamps
2. Front LED DRL in top variant
3. Rear door bottle holders
4. ? Projector lights in top variant
Hopefully they have improved the power of the front head lamps because the current ones are almost unusable. And the keyfob looks kind of weird! Older one was decent enough!
View attachment 249534
I would like to add a few more items to the things missed out.
1. Cruise control - I think this is quite a big miss, especially on the automatic variant. Surprisingly Honda Amaze decided to give a miss to this on the automatic variant but offers this on the manual as that comes on the top variant.
2. TCS+HLA+ESP- The Ford Freestyle is offering this in the top variant but in Aspire these safety features are available only on the automatic variant which however misses out on 6 airbags.
3. Request button for driver side - With push button start, it would have been better for a request button, and a full keyless entry and drive experience. (though not a big miss in my opinion)
 
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Was looking through the New Aspire brochure , was pleasantly surprised to find automatic headlamps and rain sensing wipers in the top variant! I am not sure about the usefulness of cruise control in India , but I agree they should have given the 6 airbags in the AT version.

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Just noticed things have gone awfully quite after the launch, Santro for example Hyundai is showing 23500 bookings. Is the Aspire facelift also a flop? there seems to be no news or ownership or purchase of it.
 
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Just noticed things have gone awfully quite after the launch, Santro for example Hyundai is showing 23500 bookings. Is the Aspire facelift also a flop? there seems to be no news or ownership or purchase of it.
I would not be surprised to see this difference. While the Santro is an all new car with an old name, there is hardly anything updated on the Figo Aspire. The car was already slow on sales, and I don't think this update would give it much boost. It would be only the people who were considering the Figo Aspire earlier who would check out the car. The update does not have anything significant to pull crowds. The numbers already were on the lower side, and I think it would be an achievement if they sustain even those numbers. The petrol engine is a good update, but that has just got it in par with the competition.

Until they bring in a diesel automatic, I don't think there would be much change.
 
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Yes Diesel Automatic but went to check out the car, doors feel a bit heavier. Dont know about the Indian version, in Brazilian version the after facelift they have added more Boron steel the car now scores 3 stars with 2 airbags in Latin Ncap and the Body structure is now updated as stable. In latin NCAP the earlier version at first scored 3 stars but then after Latin Ncap was updated for frontal offset and side impact, pole tests it scored 0 stars. The earlier Indian version test done Global Ncap gave it 3 stars with body structure unstable. So the earlier model seemed to be the same version for India and Brazil. So I suspect that given Ford produces these components in the same factory that the new version along with the Ameo will be class leading in safety aspect, can get a touchscreen in trend variant onwards, if people actually check the car out and take a test drive it, more customers will prefer it over Dzire and Amaze.
 
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I would not be surprised to see this difference. While the Santro is an all new car with an old name, there is hardly anything updated on the Figo Aspire. The car was already slow on sales, and I don't think this update would give it much boost. It would be only the people who were considering the Figo Aspire earlier who would check out the car. The update does not have anything significant to pull crowds. The numbers already were on the lower side, and I think it would be an achievement if they sustain even those numbers. The petrol engine is a good update, but that has just got it in par with the competition.

Until they bring in a diesel automatic, I don't think there would be much change.

I dont think there is hardly any change in Aspire, in fact the chnage is HUGE,
See the new 1200, cc Dragon i3 petrol engine is a revelation, just observe the sales number if Maruti Swift and Dzire, its nearly 54% diesel and 46% petrols, in case of Aspire and Figo it used to be 90% diesep and just under 10% petrol, so a new petrol engine that too easily one of the best of any small capacity petrols available in our market is great. The market shifting towards petrols should apso give enough foot hold for Ford.
Despite all this sales wont be good for Ford in. INDIA, thats entirely not their fault, our market is clearly biased and many dont look past the Maruti/Hyundai brand in India.
If at all Ford made a mistake with new Aspire it has to be the lack of diesel automatic which the Xcent too lacks but despite that sales seem to be pretty strong there showing less sign of slowdown despite the strength of Dzire and Amaze CVT.
To improve sales Ford badly needs 4 things
1. More sales and service across the nation.
2. A premium hatch back to rival Baleno i20,
3. A premium compact SUV to rival likes of Captur,Creta,
4. Diesel automatic option on all of their products.
 
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Ford could have nailed if the launched a diesel automatic, also it could have been a test car - If it succeeds , the same transmission can be tweaked and introduced later on with Ecosport.

A cautionary to Ford India directly- Say 3 months from now , Ecosport sales is gonna come down slowly , their only rival at present is Creta (Which is slightly above also by price mark). (Comparing only Ecosport S and signature)
Duster facelift is expected soon , also Brezza as well as Vittara is around the corner.
Maruti will bring in AMT in all models , and for namesake , an automatic.
Duster already has auto , thing is it doesn't have the features of present gen.
Creta - The budget is above a slight mark
TCross- Pricing isn't sure , but VW has the DSG for sure.

If Ford strategically can play here , sure they can revolutionise themselves just like when they did their first ecosport launch. Diesel auto needs to be introduced.

Regarding Aspire - They should play Maruti and Hyundai's game - Introducing Tour / Taxi variants , thereby the sale chart obviously increases . There's a general talk always among taxi drivers- If one driver uses and feels it worthy , obviously certain number surely follows.
Aspire petrol , i don't think its worthy .
Cons-
1.Ford petrol maintenance is comparable to its diesel , thereby diesel itself will be preferred(Its like one engine kills the other)
2.Underpowered petrol engine when compared to rival Maruti and Honda .
 
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Ford could have nailed if the launched a diesel automatic, also it could have been a test car - If it succeeds , the same transmission can be tweaked and introduced later on with Ecosport.

A cautionary to Ford India directly- Say 3 months from now , Ecosport sales is gonna come down slowly , their only rival at present is Creta (Which is slightly above also by price mark). (Comparing only Ecosport S and signature)
Duster facelift is expected soon , also Brezza as well as Vittara is around the corner.
Maruti will bring in AMT in all models , and for namesake , an automatic.
Duster already has auto , thing is it doesn't have the features of present gen.
Creta - The budget is above a slight mark
TCross- Pricing isn't sure , but VW has the DSG for sure.

If Ford strategically can play here , sure they can revolutionise themselves just like when they did their first ecosport launch. Diesel auto needs to be introduced.

Regarding Aspire - They should play Maruti and Hyundai's game - Introducing Tour / Taxi variants , thereby the sale chart obviously increases . There's a general talk always among taxi drivers- If one driver uses and feels it worthy , obviously certain number surely follows.
Aspire petrol , i don't think its worthy .
Cons-
1.Ford petrol maintenance is comparable to its diesel , thereby diesel itself will be preferred(Its like one engine kills the other)
2.Underpowered petrol engine when compared to rival Maruti and Honda .
What I dont understand is why does Ford pose the basic knowledge that even consumers and common man like us are able to analyze?
Diesel Auto is the market trend right now, success of AMT and the success of Honda Amaze is the biggest pointers for the same.
Regarding petrol vs diesel
I still feel petrols arr geeat,
I personally know a Freestyle owner who upgraded from a Wagon R which used to get around 14-15 kmpl now getting around same mileage despite being way more powerful and refined and far better car as a package.
So the new Dragon is a big success in my point of view, if at all the Dragon feels sluggish compared to competition its totally due the kerb weight of Freestyle which is over 1 ton whereas competing 1200 cc motors need less weight to push around. True it dosent feel 96 PS powerful but definitely 80+ horse powerful
Also real life mileage of Dragon engines too seem to be good, so its a good engine, definitely top 3 in sub 1400cc petrol motors, I liked it better than Hyundais 1.2 and Suzuki 1.4 petrol.
The 1.5 Dragon too felt superb, I would say as good as Hondas iVTEC in terms of power to wheeld and rev friendly and effecint considering how much HP it pushes.
Regarding petrol to diesel maintainance cost its true petrold cost as much as diesels to service but if we consider the buying cost, on average comparing same variants a Ford petrol is around 75000 to 1 lakh Rs cheaper than diesels, for someone who runs less than 10k kmd a year, petrols will hit purchase price of diesel car only after 4-5 years of running, and that alone is more than enough to justify petrols.
But in India everything is perception, just like Bollywood everything that has looks and style and sparkle is a hit, but movies with substance go unnoticed, same way Ford has substance but no sparkling LED DRLs, diamond cut alloys, Rear AC vents, or nothing, add to it Fords service and sales outlet reach not able to pierce well into India and the lack of products when market deamnds make Fords story in India a desperate one.
However the recent news that Ford India has reached a profitable state after nearly 20 years gives some hope.
 
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Proud that the wagon r owner had made a sensible decision , and hope you also understood my view , Ford petrol engines are powerful , but the segment they are in , has better petrol rivals , thats what one should realise.
The difference between petrol and diesel models (A sale analysis, i will brief)
Maruti Suzuki Swift when i bought the prices where ZXI(full opt petrol)-6.9L , ZDI(Full opt diesel)- 7.8L
Ford Figo (2014 model , prefacelift model)- Petrol full option - 6.7L , diesel full option - 7.3L
All prices ex showroom

See for me what was more attractive was diesel full option , because i get comparitively cheaply.

Cons then - Rear legroom , features (Even celerio at that time had better features than that model figo)

Being a hardcore ford fan , even i was ready to take Ford Fiesta(Classic)- Even though its features were less , it was comparable to Swift , just it misses new gen features like smart key etc.

The story was in 2015 , but now also the thing is only gaining slight pace , Ford has provided features , but the market changing features aren't there .
Eg- Take case of Honda City V/s Hyundai Verna - By advantages of Diesel Auto as well as Ventilated seats , they are pinning on City ( Even Verna , is now made available in full option diesel auto variant ).

Ford needs to evaluate market well .

Note- 1.Enthusiasts generally don't expect bells and whistles , they just need great ride . But when an enthusiast sells his ride , to fetch price , the bells and whistles do count.

2.For one who's upgrading from one segment to another , he should feel an upgrade in all terms .
 
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I dont think there is hardly any change in Aspire, in fact the chnage is HUGE,
See the new 1200, cc Dragon i3 petrol engine is a revelation, just observe the sales number if Maruti Swift and Dzire, its nearly 54% diesel and 46% petrols, in case of Aspire and Figo it used to be 90% diesep and just under 10% petrol, so a new petrol engine that too easily one of the best of any small capacity petrols available in our market is great. The market shifting towards petrols should apso give enough foot hold for Ford.
I agree with you that the change in the Petrol engine is huge. I have mentioned the same in my post too. However, do you think most people are aware of this change? The Figo had a reputation to have a lack luster petrol engine since the first edition. Even in the second edition(2015), though there were improvements it still was not on par with the competitors. When Ford launched the Aspire, they did not stress enough on the new engine, as it was already showcased on the Freestyle. Due to this, a common buyer would not be aware of the engine change in the new Aspire. Other than enthusiasts, most are not much aware of the Figo facelift, and the only thing they would talk about in the facelift would be the floating touch screen.

I feel that Ford should have taken more effort to showcase the 1.2 Dragon, and show its figures as compared to the Maruti engines. The strengthened body is again not a thing most Indian buyers care about. You could see the figures for the earlier Swift remained unchanged despite its failing the crash tests badly. Ford does make great cars, and earlier they had made the mistake of incorrect pricing. Recently they have started getting the pricing right, but they have not been able to get to the buyer's with enough things that attract them.
If you are running a salad bar in a Kid's school, you may not succeed even though your product is more healthy and nutritious, as it does not attract the customer. However, an unhealthy candy shop may flourish. The same is the situation with most Indian buyers.
 
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Proud that the wagon r owner had made a sensible decision , and hope you also understood my view , Ford petrol engines are powerful , but the segment they are in , has better petrol rivals , thats what one should realise.
The difference between petrol and diesel models (A sale analysis, i will brief)
Maruti Suzuki Swift when i bought the prices where ZXI(full opt petrol)-6.9L , ZDI(Full opt diesel)- 7.8L
Ford Figo (2014 model , prefacelift model)- Petrol full option - 6.7L , diesel full option - 7.3L
All prices ex showroom

See for me what was more attractive was diesel full option , because i get comparitively cheaply.

Cons then - Rear legroom , features (Even celerio at that time had better features than that model figo)

Being a hardcore ford fan , even i was ready to take Ford Fiesta(Classic)- Even though its features were less , it was comparable to Swift , just it misses new gen features like smart key etc.

The story was in 2015 , but now also the thing is only gaining slight pace , Ford has provided features , but the market changing features aren't there .
Eg- Take case of Honda City V/s Hyundai Verna - By advantages of Diesel Auto as well as Ventilated seats , they are pinning on City ( Even Verna , is now made available in full option diesel auto variant ).

Ford needs to evaluate market well .

Note- 1.Enthusiasts generally don't expect bells and whistles , they just need great ride . But when an enthusiast sells his ride , to fetch price , the bells and whistles do count.

2.For one who's upgrading from one segment to another , he should feel an upgrade in all terms .
Agree that features were missing, but to be fair price too was lower, see Fords logic was one pays less and gets whats it worth for, hence the name , VALUE FOR MONEY.
I agree that back then the delta between petrol and diesel was not that huge, but post 2015 facelift Figo/Aspire the price difference is big

https://www.carwale.com/comparecars...re/?c1=5943&c2=5948&c3=5292&c4=5296&source=26

Also I feel I ve told this before as well, back seat legroom of MK I Figo is any day better than what SWift/Dzire offers, and even boot space is better, one big reason I chose Figo MK I petrol over SWift was the lack of back seat space in SWift and the cramped boot, so I dont think even back then I made a bad choice picking MK I Figo over SWift, sure I miss the peppy petrol motor,but what I gained is, far better built quality, arguably better ride and handling and dynamics, more space, far far better stock audio system , and finally nearly 25k Rs in cash as the ZXI SWift was about 25k Rs dearer than Figo ZXi back in 2010.
Sure the Figo diesel might have been a better choice, but considering my low running ie just around 7500 kms a year , I still dont feel the heft of buying the Figo petrol despite it being just 11/17 kmpl car whereas SWifts being a low sipper.

I agree with the upgrade front and features fetching more resale front, what I feel is, Ford could add one more variant to Figo/Aspire line up, with some fancy name say, "Platinum" variant which gets all the fancy stuff of competition . But they are not into that as well[frustration]
Also there are some basic issues, like, the placement of radio antenna up front, this means, even if Shark Fin antenna is added it will only sit on front which is awkward
A better designed dash board and Instrument Cluster
Finally the biggest con I felt is how Ford has skimped on built quality in 2015-17 Figo and Aspire
When we look at Ecosport however it has almost all things done right, looks, quality, built quality, good engines, lots of features and some fancy, so the sales do reflect, despite intense competition from Nexon and Brezza it still holds its ground after being the most expensive compact SUV. The only area Ford misses out in Ecosport is diesel Automatic, rest is is done very well.
So its sad to see Ford is not learning from one of their own products.[roll]
All this said do you still feel Aspire/Figo/freestyle are bad choice and deserves only so and so numbers because of lack of DRLs and Rear AC vents and Projector headlamps etc ? I dont, I still feel its in most cases better buy than market leaders Dzire/Swift/Ignis

I agree with you that the change in the Petrol engine is huge. I have mentioned the same in my post too. However, do you think most people are aware of this change? The Figo had a reputation to have a lack luster petrol engine since the first edition. Even in the second edition(2015), though there were improvements it still was not on par with the competitors. When Ford launched the Aspire, they did not stress enough on the new engine, as it was already showcased on the Freestyle. Due to this, a common buyer would not be aware of the engine change in the new Aspire. Other than enthusiasts, most are not much aware of the Figo facelift, and the only thing they would talk about in the facelift would be the floating touch screen.

I feel that Ford should have taken more effort to showcase the 1.2 Dragon, and show its figures as compared to the Maruti engines. The strengthened body is again not a thing most Indian buyers care about. You could see the figures for the earlier Swift remained unchanged despite its failing the crash tests badly. Ford does make great cars, and earlier they had made the mistake of incorrect pricing. Recently they have started getting the pricing right, but they have not been able to get to the buyer's with enough things that attract them.
If you are running a salad bar in a Kid's school, you may not succeed even though your product is more healthy and nutritious, as it does not attract the customer. However, an unhealthy candy shop may flourish. The same is the situation with most Indian buyers.
Completely agree with this, but with Ecosport they did this, their advert itself stresses on the Dragon Petrol Automatic , I feel Ford should do the same with Aspire/Freestyle/up coming Figo to boost numbers and to make that logical thought, is diesel a MUST ? I see a lot of people buying diesels paying extra hefty interests just because they feel its more efficient but still rarely cross 10k kms a year
Even Ford dealerships dont promote petrol's that much, they just push people for diesel rather than explaining the logic.
 
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One who knows what the difference between an essential features and what are gizmos , can surely count in Ford as one with essential features .
When i bought swift , anytime , swift had better rear legroom out of two , but figo having better boot. Thing I looked into was a car for 5 years , and after 5 years also it should have features that the then basic model car has (I think you got my point here)- Keyless entry , electrically foldable &adjustable mirrors , everything are gizmos , but say now even the basic model ones get , and my car will remain in that category . Had it been figo , its feature wise , its more similar to altok10 (No rear power window).

If at present - Anyways a ford alone
reason - 4 years , maruti suzuki interior rattles , obvious . But ford , my cousin's 2010 fiesta classic , still doesn't have a rattle. Thats the built.
 
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One who knows what the difference between an essential features and what are gizmos , can surely count in Ford as one with essential features .
When i bought swift , anytime , swift had better rear legroom out of two , but figo having better boot. Thing I looked into was a car for 5 years , and after 5 years also it should have features that the then basic model car has (I think you got my point here)- Keyless entry , electrically foldable &adjustable mirrors , everything are gizmos , but say now even the basic model ones get , and my car will remain in that category . Had it been figo , its feature wise , its more similar to altok10 (No rear power window).

If at present - Anyways a ford alone
reason - 4 years , maruti suzuki interior rattles , obvious . But ford , my cousin's 2010 fiesta classic , still doesn't have a rattle. Thats the built.
"Anytime SWift has better legroom out of two" is something I wont agree with
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FgBqJtZzno
more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuT0-LEX2eU
I am quiet sure the Figo MK I and its facelift has more rear seat space than the previous gen SWift but somehow
 

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