Ford India's Sales Grew 58 Per Cent In January; Exports More Than Doubled

Ford India today announced achieving a total sales growth of 58 per cent to 22,535 vehicles, against the 14,259 vehicles sold during the same month last year. The number includes both domestic wholesale and exports. The carmaker's domestic wholesales stood at 9,450 vehicles in January, up from 7,995 vehicles in the same month last year, registering an 18 per cent growth. Exports on the other hand, in the month of January 2018 grew to 13,253 vehicles, as against 6,264 vehicles exported in January 2017, registering a massive growth of 111 per cent.

Commenting on the company's impressive sales performance, Anurag Mehrotra, president & managing director, Ford India said "The all-new Ford EcoSport continues to receive encouraging response from the customers. Complemented with other products in our portfolio, the momentum is helping us post consistent double-digit growth. Exports are continuing to grow at a steady pace as well with the addition of new global markets. We recently started exporting the all-new EcoSport to North America."

Early this week Ford India unveiled its new crossover vehicle - the Ford Freestyle, for the Indian market. Essentially based on the Figo hatch, the new Freestyle crossover, or as Ford likes to call it, compact utility vehicle (CUV), will be launched in India in April 2018. Talking about the expectation from the new Freestyle CUV, Mehrotra said, "Just like we did with the EcoSport, we see a lot of potential in offering this compact utility vehicle to meet the SUV owning aspirations of first-time buyers or young achievers who are looking to upgrade their small cars".

Commenting on the union budget for 2018-19 financial year Mehrotra said, "The budget outlays a clear roadmap to stoke rural economy. The focus on infrastructure development and smart cities also shows government's pro-growth vision. However, the automotive industry would have liked some concrete steps like lower tax rates, to boost consumer spending."

Early this month Ford also introduced the electric panoramic sunroof feature for in the mid-level 2.2-litre 4X2 AT Titanium variant of the Ford Endeavour, in an attempt to make the flagship SUV a better value proposition.