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According
to Vinay Piparsania, the vice-president, sales and marketing,
Ford India, "The Fusion combines the solidity and
robustness of an SUV with the dynamic agile and luxury
qualities of a premium mid size sedan." It was
a fusion of all these characteristics that inspired
the vehicles name Fusion, He explains. He said the Fusion
was based "on a completely new platform" and
was launched Europe a few months ago.
Santosh Nair, general manager, marketing Ford India
said, "Urban life in India is hectic and challenging.
For progressive and contemporary families wanting the
most out of their lifestyle, the Fusion offers the combination
of a SUV with the comfort of a sedan in one model."
Piparsania
said, "The Fusion, an urban activity vehicle, is
positioned as new segment by Ford India a crossover
between a sedan and SUV." He said, "We expect
this would be ideal for the busy urban commuter. Fusion
variants are priced at Rs6.2 lakh and Rs6.95 lakh respectively
(ex-showroom) in Hyderabad."
He added, "We are introducing the Fusion in a phased
manner across the country and bookings have commenced.
We expect deliveries to take place in December. Initially,
we plan to produce about 500 Fusions a month and gradually
increase it to about 1,000 a month next year. Depending
on the demand, this could possibly go up to 1,500 a
month."
Announcing the simultaneous launch of yet another dealership,
Fortune Ford, in Hyderabad Piparsania said, "We
now have 90 dealerships in 70 cities and towns across
the country and expect to take this number to 105 in
85 cities by first quarter next year."
When
asked about Ford India''s market share in the C segment
he said, "We currently have about 15 to 18 per
cent market share in the ''C'' segment cars out of an
overall market size of about 150,000 cars in the segment,"
he said. He added, "We expect to produce 60,000
vehicles this year out of which 30,000 Ikon''s are for
the domestic market and about 24,000 for export market
to South Africa and other countries."
He
added that in the sports utility vehicles (SUVs) market,
Ford India has garnered a big share with its Ford Endeavour
and sells over 200 units of the SUV in a month.
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