Not chasing numbers

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Yet, there’s no definite ‘NO’ to small cars...

As the Indian appetite for four wheelers zooms, the stature of US carmaker Ford is growing alongside in the country. It’s all about manoeuvring those dream machines in style and Ford India Limited (FIL) definitely knows the art. Having entered India in 1995 in a JV with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), FIL today is a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based Ford Motor Company and is fast endearing itself to the Indian consumer with Fiesta, Fusion, Ikon and Endeavor. Moreover, with Fiesta diesel and the recently launched diesel version of its premium hatchback Fusion, FIL is now attempting to build a robust diesel portfolio.

FIL is presently on a revamping spree of all its dealerships under Ford Brand@Retail, a global corporate identity programme to offer world-class purchase and ownership experience to customers. In an exclusive interview with 4Ps B&M, Arvind Matthew, MD, Ford India, reveals its future strategies.

What’s your market share target by 2010?
My objective is ‘brand’. We are not chasing numbers like others. We want to attain brand recognition and we have done a fairly good job in that. I am focused toward satisfying my consumer’s demand wherever he is and to maintain my reputation with him. Even with our new launch Fusion, I am not taking the short-cut approach. Our target is the urban consumer
– we’re giving him our best.

Do you have any capacity expansion plans?
In typical Indian way, we will continue to make small little things quietly and in an efficient way to continuously improve. For now, there are no mega announcements.

What is the overall strategy of Ford in India?
India is a huge market that one cannot afford to ignore it. We are happy with the way that we have targeted all our cars. A few of our cars have shared technology so there are common components that we package and sell in different forms to our consumers. In this case we attain economies of scale which helps us even if one of the cars is not achieving a lot of numbers. I want to be able to use shared technology, reduce my engineering expense, spread my investment but still be able to differentiate my product for each consumer.

Do you plan a small car in India?
At the moment, I don’t have any announcement as far as small car is concerned, but at the same time, we will keep on going. This market is undoubtedly huge with a massive potential whether it is small, middle or large size cars, we just need to make sure where we position our next offering. Currently, we want to focus on our present portfolio.

What challenges does Ford India face?
The major long term challenge that all in the industry face is the availability of qualified people. And we’re very particular about how we recruit, develop and train our people so that we can retain them. As far as competition is concerned, I think it’s good to have them, or we’ll return to the sleepy old days of 1991 and I hope we never go back there.

Edit bureau: Aditi Soni & Disha Gandhi

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Black power amidst White wealth

The Sunday Indian - India's Greatest News weekly

Mugabe’s political naiveties have led to economic hardships for the common man

The Mugabe Government is facing an ever deepening economic & political crisis. While the Zimbabwean politics continues to be mired in racial riots – its economy is witnessing a freefall. Internal debt stands at about 50% of the piffling GDP. The current inflation rates, hovering at 3,600% are slated to rise to 10,000% by the year, necessitating harsh fiscal measures. But the dilemma is that tough measures have already led to political unrest & discontent. Going by the IMF analysis, Zimbabwean dollar is overvalued by 200%. The paucity of foreign currency in the country has led to ordering commercial banks to sell all their foreign currency to the central bank until further notice. This extreme measure is to enable the government to acquire hard currency to pay its overseas debts, including diplomatic salaries & outstanding rent of foreign missions.

Inflation is devastating the already crumbling lives of Zimbabweans. Looking closely, one finds that during the past decade, real incomes have got reduced by about 80%. A report published by African Union suggests that over the past decade the percentage of the population living below the poverty line had increased from 42% to as high as 76%. Things are not good on food front either. Zimbabwe has been traditionally a net exporter of food, but there are growing fears that this year there could be a shortage of food supplies. Commodities like bread, sugar & transport are beyond the reach of growing numbers of people.

To counter that the Mugabe Government has compensated 800 White farmers for property seized during controversial land reforms, Zimbabwe launched its controversial & often violent land reforms seven years ago. Under the land reform policy, government seized at least 4,000 properties that were formerly run by White farmers and pledged to redistribute them to landless Blacks. “We are sceptical of the moves of Mugabe regime. We have serious doubt on the high figure being quoted. It is not more than 300,” Emily Crookes, spokesperson of the Commercial Farmers’ Union of Zimbabwe (CFU), the group of White farmers opposing authoritarian rule of Mugabe, told B&E. Her claims were seconded by Kuda Ndora, the Chief Economist of CFU, who told B&E, “Farmers are in dire straits. This compensation is a media circus. The price they are paying for the land is not more than 5-12% of the current market value.” Despite his Left –sounding rhetoric, Mugabe was the political representative of a narrow layer of aspiring Black capitalists, who saw the independence struggle as a means of securing their own advancement against the British backed White regime of Rhodesia. He is merely manifesting their ideas..

B&E edit bureau: Saurabh Kumar Shahi

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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