Koreans go past the Blue Oval

Quite clearly the automotive industry has buckled the dismal economic trend and come out of it far better than many expected it to. I am referring to the Indian automotive industry and for sure it has definitely fared better than those overseas. It is no time to be congratulating oneself though because what we need now if proper and sustained consolidation. The stimulus packages provided by the government in India were a joke and I do not want to go over covered ground suffice to say that the strength of our own market is what everyone has to realize and work towards getting the best out of.

The consumer is king and he has the OEMs at the short end where he wants them and also as it should be. The OEMs need not fret about this change in stance because if they truly live by the dictum that the consumer is king, they would work to providing the best there is for royalty with varying depth of pockets. Many a time we have seen manufacturers trying to fob off ordinary stuff at exorbitant rates and unfortunately getting away with it most of the times. This fact is now not possible and the OEMs did not take kindly to such circumstances to begin with. However with survival at stake and the recent wake-up call everyone did get, maybe it was just the shot in the arm some of the recalcitrant car and bike makers got to see the writing on the wall.

Seems the whole world has been subject to massive volume reductions, and in all the shenanigans on production volumes, market share and overall rankings, we have seen some crazy slides up and down the automotive smorgasbord. In this game of automotive snakes and ladders, what was supposed to be a dominant lead for Toyota over GM is a mere 250,000 units in the first half of calendar 2009. And the funny thing is that Toyota lost more numbers than did GM when one compares production for the same period in 2008! Volkswagen lost ground somewhat but managed to stay in third spot but the Koreans seemed to rise and rise, with the Hyundai-Kia combo edging out Ford by the scant margin of 8000 units for the first six months of 2009! It is a time honoured tradition that if you pass someone in any race, be it an F1 Grand Prix or the showroom sales race, do make yourself heard. Hyundai-Kia did just that and what is impressive about this is that the Indian operations of HMIL played a big part in helping hem displace Ford, which is HMIL’s neighbour in Chennai.

Now can this spur the blue oval to come out fighting? As a long time aficionado of the marque, I have become quite despondent at Ford’s approach to the game, especially in India and what it needs is not just a slew of new products but to be honest with reality and the same could then rub off on itself and its customers. The zest associated with the Ford brand needs a spit and a polish and some ignition as well. Hope someone somewhere finds the key to what made Ford successful in the first instance.