Ford to launch diesel version of Fusion by Q3

Ford India today announced that it will launch a diesel version of Fusion by the third quarter of this fiscal to expand its diesel portfolio beyond Fiesta and Endeavour.

Ford India today announced that it will launch a diesel version of Fusion by the third quarter of this fiscal to expand its diesel portfolio beyond Fiesta and Endeavour. Almost 70 per cent of the sales of best selling Fiesta is in the diesel segment. 8220;The Fusion diesel will complement our other diesel products and will be launched in the third quarter this year,8221; said Ford India president and managing director Arvind Mathew. Fusion will sport the same 1.4 Duratorq engine of Fiesta.

The company today launched a new version of its one-time best selling SUV Endeavour and the Fusion diesel is expected to beat the declining sales that has affected the company in the first two months of this fiscal. The new Endeavour comes with a 2.5 litre common rail diesel technology engine with an option of a four wheel drive version and sports a price tag of Rs 14.72-15.62 lakh. The new car will replace the older version whose sales have dipped by almost 16 per cent from 249 units in April-May 2005-06 to 210 units in the corresponding period this year.

8220;After a great first quarter in this calendar year, April-May have been rather soft as high interest rates have controlled demand while rupee appreciation has also affected production. We had revised our targets for these two months but have not cut down on production for June,8221; Mathew added.

It is not Endeavour alone that has suffered at the hands of decline in demand. Ford8217;s array of models including the highly successful Fiesta, Ikon and the not so successful Fusion witnessed a slump as overall numbers for the company fell by 5.4 per cent in April-May this year. 8220;Despite inflation coming down, there is no relief in money supply and we dont know when the monetary policy will loosen the strings. We are optimistic of achieving an 8 per cent growth for this year while maintaining our 22 per cent market share in the mid size segment but if things remain the same then we may have to re-draw our plans and targets soon,8221; Mathew said.

The Endeavour will compete with the likes of Mitsubishi Pajero, Nissan X-Trail, Honda CR-V and Hyundai Tuscon.