“We have a much stronger product than market leader”

“We have a much stronger product than market leader”

At the end of 2016 we crafted our Strategy 2.0

We want to be the most trusted automotive and mobility solutions brand in India. We believe the way to get there is to build a sustainable and profitable business. To do that, I need to get four things right - strong brand, right products, competitive cost and effective scale.

Brand gives you the power in terms of revenue

You can price for it or you can monetise it through volume. We have focused the brand on ensuring that our dealership experience is much better than where we have been in the past. The ‘Ford Guest Experience’ programme has been rolled out to 60 percent of our stores, both for sales and service. From being the bottom quarter in JD Power rankings for the past 15-20 years, for the first time in our history, we are in the top three. We know from research that by the time we get to 2020, the number one reason to buy a product will not be the specification or price; it’s going to be the service experience we are able to deliver.

We are dispelling this myth of cost ownership

If I ask you which brand comes to your mind in terms of maintenance and being the most cost effective, I can tell you that Ford can be 6-12 percent cheaper than them. Scheduled serviced for the Freestyle are at least 24 percent cheaper than our nearest competitor. The maintenance cost of a Ford today is less than `5,000 for a year even in the fifth year of service. Unlike other OEMs where you have twice a year of scheduled services, we have an interval of once a year. When the Figo was launched in 2010, we had only 200 sub assembly parts and today I have got 800. We worked on localisation. Earlier we used to launch products with 60-65 percent of localisation, today we are at 85 percent localisation and we are pushing the envelope further.