If you believe the world to be one small multinational place, think again!
Last week I was among several South Africans who flew to India via the Middle East to drive the new Indian-made Ford Figo, which by the way means “cool” in colloquial Italian, before being hosted by a group of Aussies. It gets no less multinational from here as my driving partner was a Slovak who laid claim to being a good old Edenvale boykie.
Getting to the purpose of our visit - the Ford Figo might be “new” with 85% of its body panels changed, but it is ultimately the previous Ford Fiesta, dressed up in new threads.
This for me is not a bad thing as the old car was rather good. In fact, I think its underpinnings will serve this value for money offering well when it comes to sales and local buyer confidence.
While on the subject, just how affordable will this newcomer be? This is an important factor as ultimately a car in this segment is judged firstly on price, and then on features. The good news is indicative pricing suggests you will pay between R100 000 and R110 000 for the entry-level 1.4i Ambiente. From there it should top out at around R130 000 for the top of the range 1.4 TDCi Ambiente or 1.4i Trend.
Trust me; these offerings are far from cheap and nasty and should make a serious bid for money normally spent on the now obsolete CitiGolf or ageing Corsa Lite and, more recently, on newer offerings like the Renault Sandero.
Now for anybody that has driven in India, you will know that high speed is not a top priority for a potential car buyer. There are around 1.3 billion people in the country and they all seem to be on the roads at the same time, along with the belief that karma will serve them well no matter what…
So they drive where they want, when they want, with no apparent fear of being squashed by buses or trucks. In a word, driving here is “interesting” and ultimately slow-paced. For this experience we only used the 1.4 diesel producing 50kW at 4 000rpm along with 160Nm of torque at 2 000rpm. Hardly tar shredding, but more than enough to keep you going, more than enough to see off the competition and also, extremely friendly on the pocket when you arrive at the pumps.
For what it’s worth, the petrol engine we will be getting makes 62kW at 6 000rpm and 127Nm at 4 000 rpm. If it was me, and if I had the budget, I would go for the diesel, but as long as you understand that these are economical city cars and not ST wannabes, you will be satisfied with either.
Drive and handling is what you would expect and have come to know from the previous Fiesta. It is light yet solid in terms of feel and feedback. In terms of interior and feature spec, you get aircon and the other basics in the Ambiente, but you will have to take the optional Safety Pack should you want the likes of airbags, ABS and power steering. You’ll also have to ask for the Ice Feature if you want Radio/CD with MP3 player and iPod connectivity with four speakers.
The Trend derivative gets all of this as standard and, as such, you are looking at a quality proven and spacious car, with a decent level of luxury and safety at a very competitive price.
