This year, India is going to witness a healthy competition in the automotive industry. Its not about premium cars or SUVs; but the war is between B segment hatches offered by the Japanese, Europeans, Italians, Germans, Koreans and obviously from the Indian manufacturers. The year 2010 rolled in with the launch of an absolute value for money hatch – The Chevrolet Beat.(You can read more about it here) Now it’s Ford’s turn. They have come up with a premium hatchback as competitive as the Chevrolet Beat; Its none other than the highly awaited Ford Figo. I would ask why Ford India took so long to realize that any small hatch with competitive pricing, high fuel economy and good after sales service  will sell like hot cakes in India even if its crap.! You know Indian market is so sensitive!. Obviously the demise of Ford CONFusion (I prefer calling it so; you know why) would have taught them a lesson.

For years, Ford has been offering only premium priced products in India, and that has kept Ford as a small player operating in only 20 per cent of the market. With Figo, customers will see a premium product offered to the mainstream market at an affordable price.The car would be available with a 1.2 litre petrol and a 1.4 litre diesel engines. While the entry-level version of the petrol variant will come at Rs 3.5 lakh, the diesel one is priced at Rs 4.48 lakh. The company claimed that the car would give a mileage of 15.6 KmpL for the petrol and 20KmpL for Diesel. The company is also planning to export Figo to other countries.

I got a chance to spare some time with my buddies on a demo Figo in my home town and i am here to post my reviews and first impressions. Sure there are some pictures too. Hope it helps all those who are keen to know about the much awaited hot hatch.

Less Agressive Looks

Fusion like rear end.

Neat dash but brick read is not of my choice.

Yet another view of the dash

The demo car was a 1.2L Titanium petrol

Electric boot release for higher variants

Electrically adjustable ORVM

Plastic quality is above average. So is the fit and finish.

Huge boot space: 284L best in its class.

Fiesta rims, tyres and wheel caps

Cool headlight design

Hood release lever placed in the left side.

Remote integrated keys for higher models

No foglamp even in titanium. Its an optional accessory and should be additionally paid.

Models Available:

Petrol: LXi, EXi, ZXi, Titanium

Diesel: LXi, EXi, ZXi, Titanium

The Good

• Rock solid body panels
• Refreshing interiors sans the color
• 1.4 Duratorq Diesel motor in fiesta
• Good drivability and road presence
• Biggest bootspace in its class – 284Litre

The Bad

• Pretty outdated design; lacks the aggressive and radical looks of modern hatches
• The Diesel(68bhp) and Petrol(75bhp) motor offerings are a tad below competition.
• No rear power windows
• Back seat legroom is no were near to competition ( may be because of bigger boot.)
•Ford’s pathetic and costly after sales service

Okay so here goes my initial thoughts.

Exterior

The demo car was a 1.2L petrol Figo and it was the high end variant labeled Titanium. The color was cocktail Green (dont know why many manufacturers use this color for demo cars ) and Figo looked prety good in this shade. Though the exterior design is a bit conservative, it holds a very serious road presence unlike other new generation hatches. Muscular wheel arches with Fiesta wheels, tyres and wheel caps give it a macho look. The rear more or less appeared to me like a mini SUV (again CONFusion?). The fit and finish is great with consistent & relatively small panel gaps. The headlights have a premium molding with smoked out effect. There were no fog lamps in the high end variant and the showroom guy said that it comes only as an accessory and should be additionally paid.(some cost cutting techniques; may be)

Interior

What a color combination baba! What was Ford thinking of when coloring the dash? Did they day dream that brick red color makes the Figo even sexy? Yuck! that color wont go with any body color for sure. But luckily there is an optional black finish. Colors apart, the interior is roomy and really functional. The dash holds a two din music system which has provision to sync 4 blue-tooth devices at a time. The sound quality is above average  though the low frequencies are average.  The dash is compact compared to Chevrolet Beat but holds a big glove box and a conventional instrument cluster. What i liked the most is the electrically adjustable ORVMs on both sides. Then there is the electronic boot release, day and night IRVM, lane change indicator, sudden braking indicator and such goodies. The front seats have big legroom and the rear legroom is comparable to Fiat Punto. Whats interesting is that  the wheelbase of Figo is 3 mm greater than the much costlier Fiesta making it the biggest hatch in its class resulting in a comfortable back seat arrangement and a huge boot space of 284L

Safety & comfort

The car looked solid and promising inside out with strong body panels. Doors close with a typical ‘thud’ sound which again makes it feel strong. There are dual air bags and ABS with EBD in the variant Titanium, making it a safe car. The car is comfortable for city drive and long journeys. The height adjustable driving seat is a boon though its not that necessary because of the compact dash and relatively high driving position. The seats lack lower back support but has commendable under thigh support and has very serious fabric patterns. The rear seat fits 3 adults without much hassle. The steering is well weighted resulting in controlled high speed maneuvering.  There is ample storage space in the doors (esp for water bottles) and also near gear lever. The rear doors lacked power windows which i think they have compromised for the electrically adjustable ORVM.

Engine & performance

Ford offers two engine variants in Figo. The 1.4L Duratorq TDCi diesel in Fiesta 1.4 and a 1.2L scaled down petrol Fiesta motor.

Engine Specifications as follows:

Diesel 1.4L Duratorq TDCi -  68 BHP @ 4000 rpm and 160 NM @ @ 2000 rpm

Petrol 1.2L 16V DOHC all aluminium – 70 BHP @ 6250 rpm and 102 NM @ 4,000 rpm

The Diesel Duratorq does not have the turbo-lag of the Fiat 1.3 Multijet used in Swift, Ritz, Punto, Palio and Vista. This is good for driving in bumper to bumper traffic with out frequent downshifts. But you cannot expect this car to outperform the competition on the highway. This engine is also known for its high fuel economy of around 20KmpL in Fiesta. Expect a bit more mileage from this car although company claims 20KmpL.
The other motor is the 1.2L 16V DOHC petrol all aluminium engine, a scaled down Fiesta’s 1.4 petrol. The engine chucks out 70 odd horses compared to Beat 1.2 (80.5 Bhp), Ritz1.2(84Bhp) and i10 Kappa 79Bhp So i personally feel like this engine will be ignored like Punto 1.2, i20 1.2 etc.

The Gearbox is truly derived from Ford Ikon, a proven unit in India. The gearshift is not slick or rubbery like in many counterparts.

So generally speaking, a Fiesta platform, Fiesta motor, Fiesta tyres, Ikon gearbox and Fusion like back  are some simple cost cutting techniques that helped out Ford India with this decent end product. But why did Ford name this car Figo (Joy in Italian)? Couldn’t they name it as Fusion II or may be CONFusion II .  I personally liked the car and i am giving an overall 9/10 for the Diesel and 8/10 for the petrol variant.