EcoSport to drive Ford's profitability in India: Singh

Joginder Singh, president, Ford India said the company is betting big on the new EcoSport to drive it to profitability in India and deliver returns on the USD 2 billion dollars, the global car company has committed to this market.

Ford has priced its new sport utility vehicle (SUV) Ecosport at a very aggressive Rs 5.59 lakhs. At this price, not only has Ford created a new entry level SUV category but it will also compete with the likes of the Maruti Dzire and the Hyundai i20.

Also Read: Ford bets on EcoSport to ride mini-SUV boom in India

The EcoSport will not be impacted by the additional excise duty on SUV, and in fact is a beneficiary of the small car duty as it is under-4 metre in length.

Singh said, we expect our customers to come from a whole variety of segments. "Existing sedan owners, people who own hatchbacks, people who own small SUVs, people who own big SUVs, they might think that this is the right size SUV for their lifestyle," he added.

Below are the excerpts of his interview with CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan

Q: What are your plans for India?

A: The interesting thing about India is that there are new segments emerging all the time. We are in the sub 4 metre category it is the right SUV.

What we have announced today was the icing on the cake that we were able to offer such a compelling price proposition. This is what I call a 'Dhamaka' that we have been able to combine these things so well.

Q: You have been very aggressively been able to price this product. How much of the design specifications for instance and I pick up on the point that you just made about this being sub four metres because that will ensure that you get the small car benefits, that will also ensure that you don't fall now under the governments SUV category which means you don't have to pay the higher excise duty. How much of the design specification was driven by the eventual price that you wanted to offer?

A: There is more than just a design specification. Ofcourse we have to design what the needs of the market are when we think there is a strong demand in the sub four metre category.

However, it's more than that, the reason why we have been able to offer such a great proposition to the customer. First of all we have the advantage of scale. The EcoSport product is being produced in our factory in Chennai but it will satisfy customers not only in the Indian market but also be satisfying customers in the export market as well.

The second factor in addition to the design efficiency that we have is the very satisfactory level of localization we have in this product.

We have been engaged in this localization strategy over a period of time, to make sure that we take advantage of our global suppliers that are helping Ford worldwide. They are also helping us in India in Chennai as well as in the upcoming factory in Sanand.

Q: So, who are you going to be competing against because the assumption was this is going to take on the Renault Duster which is an entirely different category and it's an entirely different price category as well. So, who do you believe is going to be your competitor?

A: It is a new space. We expect our customers to come from a whole variety of segments. So, existing sedan owners, people who own hatchbacks, people who own small SUVs, people who own big SUVs, they might think that this is the right size SUV for their lifestyle. Therefore, our draw for customers is going to be from a whole range.