5 things that we liked about the new Ford Figo

Ajit Menon/ZEEGNITION

The Ford Figo has always been a popular car raking in good sales numbers, however, we can’t stop gushing about the new second-generation model which is not only several notches better than the previous model but also raises the bar for other hatches in its segment. We are still to review the car and analyse its strengths and weaknesses but here are some things about the new Figo that have gotten us excited right off the bat:

Price

Ford has definitely nailed the pricing dealing a stinging sucker punch on its rivals with the Figo’s pricing. The new Figo starts at Rs 4,29,900 for the Base petrol variant, undercutting the Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai Grand i10 by about Rs 35,000- Rs 40,000, which is brilliant for the value it offers. The diesel starts at Rs 5,29,900, which, again, is cheaper than competition. What’s commendable is that Ford has kept prices lower than competition across variants instead of the usual practice of keeping just the base trim’s price cheaper.

Safety

It’s great to see carmakers give more importance to safety even in entry-level models and the new Figo too scores high on this aspect. In fact, the top-of-the-line Titanium+ trim of the Figo comes with 6 airbags – the highest in any hatchback of its class in India! Even the base variant gets driver airbag while all variants above that get dual front airbags standard. The Figo also gets Ford’s Emergency Assistance feature that automatically dials emergency responders and informs them about your location in case of an accident. Well done on these fronts, Ford, but why have you equipped ABS only in the Titanium and Titanium+ variants? Shouldn’t that have been standard as well?!

Comfort & Convenience Features

The new Figo is packed with features, some of them quite unique to its segment. For instance, it gets the MyFord dock, which is basically a phone holder that sits on the dashboard – something that frequent users of GPS will find useful. It also makes it easier for you to hook your device to the car’s entertainment system.

Another interesting feature is the Ford MyKey, which basically lets the car act like a Big Brother and disable the infotainment system in case you don’t wear seatbelts or speeding – especially useful if you want to set parental controls on your college-going kids whenever you let them drive the car.

There’s also Ford’s SYNC with AppLink, the proprietary in-car connectivity system that allows drivers to control everything – from their phone, entertainment and apps – hands-free using voice commands.  

Some other noteworthy features on the Figo include automatic climate control (Ford claims the cabin temperature can be brought down to below 25 degrees in less than 15 minutes), ambient lighting illuminated scuff plates, steering wheel mounted controls, guide me home headlamps, power adjustable ORVMs with integrated turn lamps, rear parking sensors, rearview camera display on inside mirror, rear power windows (a much-required update!) among others.

Space

The new Figo is considerably bigger than the outgoing model with dimensions of 3,886mm x 1,695mm x 1,525 as against 3,795mm x 1,680mm x 1,427mm. The Figo also boasts a best in class wheelbase of 2491mm, which should translate to a roomier cabin. There are lots of clever storage spaces inside (20 as per Ford), including bins with coin holders and compartments for bottles, cups and umbrellas of different sizes. Interestingly, the boot space has gone down from 284 litres to 257 litres, though it’s still bigger the Swift’s and nearly identical to the Grand i10. Besides, the seats can now be folded flat completely for extra storage.

Engines

The new Figo comes in two states of tune but let’s get straight into what appears to be the more exciting one: the 1.5-litre diesel which develops 100 horses and 215Nm of torque! That’s way more than anything the competition offers! We just can’t wait to find out how that translates in real-world performance but expect the new Figo to be one peppy little machine. The other 1.2-litre petrol puts out a more conventional 88PS and 112Nm of torque. There’s also a bigger 1.5-litre petrol engine that comes with a dual-clutch six-speed automatic transmission – something which is offered only in the VW Polo GT TSI so far and that as you already may know is priced upward of Rs 10 lakh.

Other Noteworthy Bits

There’s no doubt that the new Figo is a good-looking car, which further adds to its desirability. The interior sports an all-black theme as against a dual-tone beige and black theme on the Figo Aspire. Ford has raised the ride height by 6mm to 174mm – again the highest in its class – which should help the Figo sail over bumps. The claimed fuel efficiency figures are 18.16kmpl for the petrol and 25.83kmpl for diesel which are par for the course. The Figo automatic returns 17kmpl.

Watch this space for a detailed drive report coming up soon, however, with so much going for it already, we expect the Figo to continue its blockbuster run.