Ford's most expensive brand transformation, to ditch Figo moniker

The new Figo twins couldn’t harness the positive brand value that the old Figo enjoyed.The Ford Figo Aspire compact sedan employed the Figo moniker in a bid to take advantage of the positive brand recall but as it turned out, neither of the new Figo twins managed to recreate the original car’s magic.

Ford India is in the process of undergoing one of the most expensive brand transformation in the Indian auto sector. Carwale reports that the company has decided to ditch the Figo moniker and call the sedan simply as Ford Aspire.

The Aspire couldn’t manage to sustain the initial sales momentum.The change has slowly started appearing in the company’s communication although official announcement in this regard has not been made yet. The official website has already started calling the Dzire rival as Aspire.

The company apparently is looking to impart individuality into both Figo hatchback and Aspire sedan so that it can have separate marketing strategies. Despite offering good value of money, the duo has been selling well below the company’s expectations.

The Figo hatchback and Aspire sedan is likely to have individual branding strategies from now on.An earlier report said Ford India will invest heavily in increasing the transparency of its aftersales service operations and revealing the fixed rates of services so that customers can trust the dealers. A study conducted by the automaker for over 2 years revealed that the lackluster sales performance is due to a trust deficit.

This article has first appeared in Rushlane.com