Ford India has yet again sliced price of the Classic sedan. It now retails at Rs 4.88 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The whole nations has been going crazy about the sub-compact sedan category and the latest to enter that segmenta - Hyundai Xcent - has made a dent in the sales of the bestseller in that space - Maruti Dzire.
(Also read: 2014 Ford Endeavour Facelift Launched)
Even Honda has felt the heat in its sales figures for the Amaze post the launch of Xcent. More sedans will be inducted in this segment over time, thereby giving customers more options to choose from.
The Ford Classic - which was formerly called Fiesta - makes for quite an attractive proposition at the revised price point. At under 5 lakh rupees, it competes directly against the sub-4-metre sedan trio of Hyundai Xcent, Honda Amaze and Maruti Dzire. Not only does the Classic offer a larger physical size but its ride and handling characteristics are still very competent and it makes for a good driving experieince even after all these years.
With the introduction of the new-gen Fiesta, Ford's repositioned the older model and rebranded it as Classic to fit in a segment below the Fiesta. Ford offers Classic sedan in petrol and diesel engine options, the petrol trims are powered by a 1.6 litre gasoline engine and the diesel variants are equipped with a 1.4 litre diesel powertrain. The sub-five lakh price tag will hopefully give a push to the sedan's snail-pace sales in India.
Ford Classic is one of the oldest vehicles in its segment that is still available for sale in India. However, auto pundits opine that Ford is contemplating replacing the Classic with the Figo sedan which is under development and was exhibited at the 2014 Delhi Motor Show held in Greater Noida in February this year. Among the new cars fighting it out in the entry level sedan segment, Fiat Linea Classic and Chevrolet Sail sedan are included.
