To put you in the right perspective, this is my 6th car over a period of 15 years. Having driven all sorts of cars on the Indian roads, I choose ford icon primarily for my family and secondly for the looks and performance of the car. I bought Icon 1.6Exi for 5.58 Lakh last week. I purchased this car after researching practically all the available in the price range of 5-10 lakhs.
I can?t say that the Icon is the best of the lot. It is just an average performer in terms of cost per Klm?s when compared with others.
The cars I had zeroed in were (1) Fiat Petra, (2) Opel Corsa, (3) Maruti Esteem, (4) Ford Icon, (5) Hyundai Accent, (6) Maruti Baleno ? all petrol models, since I drive hardly 1000 Klms a month. Diesel cars are worth their value if only you drive more than 2500 Klms a month.
1) Fiat Petra ? On first inspection I found that the position of dash is too high, reducing the visibility of front end especially of the corners. More over the fit and finish of the car is very cheap. The point is, it is not worth paying 6 lakhs. One last point ? the car is a re-make of the discontinued Seena. From the backtrack of this Company, one cannot be sure how long they will continue to produce this model. If this happens it will not fetch even 2 lakhs after 3 years. Considering these, Petra was dropped from the list.
2) Maruti Esteem- A face lift from the old version. Maruti reduced the price of the car in order to pump sales. The name has been around for 15 years now. Even though it gives good mileage approx 16 klm on the highway, and with independent suspension, the ride quality is not that impressive. The feel and response of steering of the Wagon R is far superior. More over the sitting position and leg space is not all good. The ground clearance is very low. So if 5 people are riding, you will have to extra careful for those bumps. This makes the vehicle not ideal for long distance journey.
3) Opel Corsa ? It is just what their advertisement shows. Good for 2 adults in the front and 3 kids in the back. It is Mercedes Benz in the small car category. A small car at the price of ?C? segment cars. The car was brought home for a test drive. My mother took a look at the back seat and she quipped, ?Why are you buying this small car for such a huge price. It doesn?t have leg space.?. Even then my wife and myself took a backseat test drive through some of the roads full of heavy potholes.
Even though the suspension was smooth, the car swayed sideways making the sitting very uncomfortable. Even though the salesman told me that there are no discounts, when they came to know that I opted for ikon they came up with many offers like free insurance etc. most important was the fact that G.M motors does not have a policy for picking up the vehicle for service. The showroom is 20 Klm away in a no-mans land area and they expect us to deliver the car at their showroom by 9Am. I will have to spend a 150 Bucks for a return Taxi every time I go there for service.
4) Hyundai ? Accent. I almost waited a month for a vehicle to test drive. But the dealer did not had one. I was shown Accent Glx (1.6- 102 Bhp) model with tilt steering etc. but my wife did not feel comfortable in the car. The fact is, I did not find it worth to spend 6.75 Lakh for a car, without even test-driving it. On repeated enquiry the dealer said that I would have to book the vehicle. I find this unusual since, accent was selling hot cakes. One last point ? in the international market the accent is selling 6500 dollars (approx 3.5lakhs), while the price in India is almost double.
5) Maruti Baleno ? A very good car, comfortable, good power etc. badly marketed. Not many on the roads. Don?t know what the company intends to do with it in future. Resale value, cost of maintenance etc is directly proportionate to the number of vehicle sold. One can see hardly one or two on the roads in a day.
This left me with the Ford Ikon. It was brought for test a drive (actually 3rd time). This time I repeated the exercise I had done with corsa. The same roads and the same potholes in the back seat. To my surprise even though the ride was not as smooth as corsa, we were not swaying sideways. The ride was steady and reasonably comfortable. The cooling was far better that corsa. My wife immediately liked the car. The leg space was great.
After all the statistical works and calculations, the most important thing that matters, I found, was the liking of the people who ride the vehicle.
I have driven only 400 klm through the winding roads of Kerala NH-17, and found that the performance of the car was outstanding at speeds exceeding 80 klms. Most surprising was the fact that all the ?S?, ?L?, ?T? shaped curves and corners could be tackled very easily in the 4th or 5th gear itself. Every time I maneuvered a curve or zigzagged through the traffic I found my cousin who was sitting beside was grinning (An engineer by profession, He used to drive a lot of foreign cars in Saudi Arabia). He commented that the handling is one of the best.
I found though, the ride through semi urban roads (uneven) is not comfortable. It reminded me of my wagon R when its suspension was faulty. The ride was too harsh and bumpy. It made me wonder why I paid 6 lakhs for an 18nth centaury model. The seats may look good, but very hard. I hope it gets better with a cushioned seat cover (1500/- outside the showroom). But I must say the inside doesn?t look that bad, with almost all the extra fittings (power windows, central locking, reading lights both in the front and back, electric boot opener, 4 speakers).
The power steering even though is excellent at high speeds, is very tight at low speeds. Ford is trying to fool the Indians with an ordinary hydraulic steering jacked tight to make it safe at high speeds. By design hydraulic steering is very loose at all speeds. Hence at high speeds, this system is dangerous (Old Tata Estate, Sumo etc). Ford has adopted the same system, but to make it look different, tightened it a little bit so that the steering feels stiff and steady, at the expense of comfort at low speeds. Japanese designs are far superior with electronic variable steering control. My cousin told me that the vehicle sold in Saudi Arabia by Ford had such systems. The car had tinted glass on all sides. The visibility at night is very poor even with clear lens headlamps, especially when it is raining. I believe the ford engineers did not test the vehicle at raining nights on Kerala roads.
Summing Up.
Every car does have some advantages and disadvantages. Ford is not any better. I liked the car for it?s handling at high speeds (Very steady), its power and overall built quality and accessories. Most important my family liked it. Even though I am yet to test it fuel efficiency, I believe is may be around 13 klm on the high way. I shall definitely update this information after a few days. Ford needs to correct visibility at night. The seat must be softened further in order to compensate for the harsh suspension. Pregnant ladies please be careful. This car is not for you. (The thudding of the suspension can be directly felt in the lower abdomen). The car is sold in large numbers in Kerala (Cochin).
Hence I hope Ford will reduce the cost of spares or some body will market spares at a lower cost. If Ford reduces it, then the market value of ikon shall definitely increase as well as it sales. The cost of accessories is also very high. The After sales Culture of Americans is very poor when compared to Japanese or Koreans. They may make excellent products, but have to learn service cult