Welcome to Jodhpur, the second-largest city in Rajasthan, India. In case you’re wondering how we got there, well it’s all thanks to the very generous people over at G.O Automobiles Pvt. Ltd. (Ford Nepal) and Ford India. We were flown and accommodated at the very beautiful Taj Hari Mahal, Jodhpur where we were briefed about the new updates made to the Figo by the President and Managing Director of Ford India Mr. Anurag Mehrotra.
After the briefing, we were handed over the keys to the new top-of-the-line diesel variant the Titanium Blu. The engine has been carried over from the Ford Freestyle and gets the punchy 1.5L TDCi engine producing 100 PS of power and 215 Nm of torque. The diesel engine has a strong mid-range which makes it easy to overtake vehicles. The Figo has taken a lot of its styling cues from the recently launched Ford Aspire, like the chrome grille, the restyled front, and its rear end accompanied by a 14-inch wheel. The Titanium Blu gets a blacked-out grille with a black contrast roof, mirrors, spoilers, and blacked-out 15-inch wheels. The interior gets a host of changes as well, the major change being the introduction of the 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system although it misses out on the latest sync3 system which gets Android Auto and Apple Car Play. The Titanium Blu variant gets blue accents on the outside as well as the inside. Over all it was a fun experience visiting the lakeside while experiencing the Diesel engine.
After the drive we had a cocktail dinner with the Ford India Team and the Indian media houses, We all had a good time talking about the prospect of the vehicle and had a good laugh while we were at it. The next morning we were given the petrol 1.2L TiVCT Titanium Blu to test drive. This is the same 1.2L that was very well received on the Ford Freestyle as well. The naturally aspirated 1.2L three-cylinder petrol engine produces 96 PS of power and 120 No of torque. Both the diesel and the petrol engines are class-leading in terms of performance. We visited the Mehrangarh Fort and what a beautiful place it was, the beauty made the drive even special.
The Figo comes equipped with all the new-age features such as push-button start, rain-sensing wipers reverse parking sensors, and a camera. On the safety front, it gets dual airbags as standard with 6 airbags on the top Blu variant. Other safety features include the Antilock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), and Electronic Power Assisted Steering (EPAS). The major factors of the day were the fact that it was priced lower than the outgoing Figo due to more local manufacturing, the 5 year/ 100000 KM warranty, and the claims of it being one of the most affordable cars to maintain in its segment.
Wrapping it up we must say the event was put together very well! Well executed plans, outstanding hospitality and all the fun people. We can wait to get our hands on the Figo once more to give you all a proper in-depth review of how it fares in our local condition. The pricing of the new Figo starts from INR. 5,15,000/- for the Base 1.2L Petrol Ambiente and goes up to INR 8,09,000/- for the 1.5L Petrol Automatic Titanium. And INR 5,95,000/- for the 1.5L Diesel Ambiente and INR. 7,74,000/- for the Titanium Blu.