Ford India, which has yesterday launched a new version of its popular entry level sedan Fiesta, has said that it has witnessed a major increase in demand for diesel variants of its cars leaving the sales figures of the petrol variants far behind.
The contribution of the diesel variants of company’s volume driving Figo model have increased to 70 percent from 60 percent, in the period of last six months.
In a statement given at the occasion of the launch of new Fiesta, Michael Boneham, President and MD, Ford India, said, “a year ago the percentage of diesel was fifty five percent. Because of the surge in demand there has been a production constraint. Some of the component vendors are not being able to supply enough”.
The company is aiming to sell as many as 1.75-1.8 lakh units of its cars in the Indian market in year 2011. The company is planning to start third shift at its Chennai plant, in a bid to meet the rising demand for its cars in the Indian market. Ford India has already invested heavily (USD 72 million) in its engine manufacturing plant to enhance the capacity from 2.5 lakh to 3.3 lakh units, per annum.
