Ford sales dropped by 31.4% to just 5,517 units in August 2019; Figo, Freestyle and Ecosport registered big sales slumps
Ford India has been enduring tough times just as other manufacturers but its drastic volume decline in recent months is there for everyone to see clearly. In August 2019, Ford sold 5,517 units in the domestic market and when compared to the same month last year, the YoY sales drop was huge.
12 month ago, the Blue Oval sold 8,042 units and thus comparatively ended up with 31.4 per cent volume slump. Ford’s one of the recent launches in India, the Freestyle, has also been suffering. Introduced in April 2018, what has been dubbed as the CUV (Compact Utility Vehicle), the Freestyle fared well in its initial months.
From registering more than 2,000 units in its first few months on average, the Freestyle’s popularity shrunk to under four digits recently. The American brand’s best-selling model in India, the EcoSport, has been under massive pressure from its compact SUV segment rivals and resultantly losing ground.
With the total sales stood at only just over 5,500 units, the contribution of the EcoSport will inevitably be lesser than what it used to be in the past. The arrival of Hyundai Venue in May 2019 and Mahindra XUV300 in mid-February 2019 disposed the EcoSport from its position in the segment by a couple of places and they have certainly eaten into its sales.
In a similar fashion to the Freestyle, the Aspire sedan has been registering below par numbers and the figures have dropped below four digits in the last few months. The updated Figo launched earlier this year had a shaky start and could not live up to the previous generation’s success in its latest avatar as well.
The Endeavour, on the other hand, plays second-fiddle to the Toyota Endeavour in the full-sized SUV segment and it could not do much in reviving the company’s sales. Ford banks on its relationship with Mahindra and appears to be developing multiple SUVs with its Indian partner as a C-SUV could be the first in the horizon.