Planning to sell your Ford EcoSports, Figo, Endeavour car? STOP and read this

US auto major Ford Motor on Thursday announced that is going to shut its two manufacturing plants in India in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Sanand (Gujarat), 25 years after the company entered India. The company has less than 2% share of the passenger vehicles Indian market which is dominated by automotive companies like Suzuki Motor Corp and Hyundai Motors.

Although the US based Car Company has said that it is not exiting the country, owners of the Ford cars, staff and employees directly linked to Ford and dealership seem to be left in the lurch. “Ford is NOT leaving India. The changes we have announced today are designed to create a new, asset-light business model, which is sustainably profitable in the longer term,” Ford responding to several users on Twitter wrote. However, there is no clarity on the re-sale of the Ford cars.

Neither has there been any confirmation on whether Ford is buying back the available cars in the inventory, not is there any clarity on whether car owners will find prospective buyers, in the event that they would want to sell their cars. At the moment, existing customers of Ford cars will have to seek solace in the company’s announcement that it is going to provide full customer support operations. Customers will also get aftermarket parts and warranty support services from the company.

If you too are a Ford car owner, here is something you could consider. As has been witnessed in the past, immediately after a company winds down its operation or phases out a particular car or bike model, there are a few phases that the vehicles or their models in question witness –the first phase is the panic selling, second phase is the sudden unavailability of the vehicles in the market and the third and the most fascinating phase is its “uniqueness”.

To elaborate it further, we have in the past seen how the Ambassador car or the Yamaha RX 100 models or for that matter Fiat old cars have now become “prized possession” of connoisseurs. These cars are not readily available in the market for the price you want to quote, though second hand models of the same have also become a rarity. In this scenario, while on one hand the owners of these vehicle models/types flaunt it as their pride, on the other hand there would be several enthusiasts who would go to any length to have a rare car in their possession.

We cannot say that the Ford Figo or EcoSports or Endeavour or its other models have acquired the cult like status of the erstwhile Ambassador car or the Yamaha RX 100, but could anyone imagine in the 70s, how these two vehicles would have their own fan base today?