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Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Ford might be holding back the details surrounding its new Figo supermini that was revealed today in a special press conference in Delhi, India, but it doesn't take a trained eye to see the similarities with the previous generation Fiesta MkV. Changes on the outside appear to be limited to the new fascia that's more in line Ford's latest European products and some minor tweaks at the back. And no, the B-segment hatch is not named after the now retired Portuguese soccer player 'Luis Figo' but according to Ford, Figo is colloquial Italian for "cool".
The new Figo will be manufactured at Ford's Chennai manufacturing facility in India, which is currently undergoing a $500 million refurbishment.
"We're confident that the new Ford Figo will be extremely attractive to Indian car buyers," said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India. "It's going to be very competitive with the current market leaders and offer a tremendous value story for our consumers. We believe Ford Figo is a big game-changer for Ford that will help transform our brand into a volume player in India."
Aside from competing in India's lucrative small car segment that accounts for more than 70 percent of the new vehicle market, the Figo hatch will also be exported within Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa region.
More details about the vehicle are to be released closer to its production launch early in 2010.
