Ford has had a varied past in the Indian market. Whether it was the Josh machine (Ford Ikon) or the current selling Ford EcoSport sub-4 metre compact SUV that went on ahead to start the segment in the Indian market, the US carmaker has been an old player in the country. Although the brand has launched a lot of successful cars in the Indian market, they have had their fair share of duds in the market as well. Ford's models in India like the EcoSport, Endeavour, and Fiesta went on to achieve good sales and some are still going strong in the Indian market. However, today we focus on the Ford cars in India that could never crack the code of success in India. These vehicles were sometimes ahead of their time or they were not just the perfect fit at the time they were launched here.
Ford Escort
This was the debut vehicle of the US carmaker for the Indian market. Launched around 25 years ago in the Indian market, the car was sold for a total of 6 years in the Indian market and despite that it never could make its mark here. Although, the company offered it with both petrol and diesel options and the car was very spacious, it stirred no response from the Indian customers. Not to say that the Escort lacked equipment as it came with power steering, powered front windows, ORVMs, air conditioning and a music system, it could not manage a good figure in sales department.
Ford Fusion
Ford has always been at the forefront of experiments in the Indian market. Whether it was the launch of EcoSport or the recent launch of Freestyle, the US carmaker has not been afraid to tinker with the car segments in India. When Ford launched the Fusion in India in 2004 it aimed to create a new crossover segment. Although the car was aimed at family market with its oodles of space, the customers were not so willing to buy it. It was perhaps the image of a large hatch that stuck with Fusion that marred it chances in the Indian market.
Ford Fiesta S
While the Fiesta was quite successful in the Indian market, Ford tried to spice up things in the sedan segment, with the launch of a sportier version of the Fiesta. The S suffix was given to the models and it came with a body kit and stiff suspension setup. However, despite a hit among enthusiasts, this did not go well with the average customers and the car could never do numbers in sales.
Ford Fiesta FL
The Fiesta FL had everything, a turbo diesel engine, good handling, and a design inspired by Aston Martin, inspired to say the least. However, perhaps the customers spouted that the then latest sedan lacked the Ford character and preferred the Honda City over this car. Perhaps Honda City guaranteed the customers originality, something that the Hexagon grille of the Ford Fiesta FL never could.
Ford Mondeo
Ford Mondeo was the US carmaker's reply to the German sedan brigade. However, perhaps the Indian customers were not ready to splurge that huge an amount on a Ford car that they would pour in for a German BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, or Audi A4. This is the reason that the Mondeo went out of production in 2006.
