Ford Figo Aspire

The 1980s were the first time when the automotive industry really worried about the cost of its products. The oil crisis affected countries such as the United States, which suddenly had to ignore its fondness for superlatives so as to consume less fuel. Parallel to that, emergent countries were dealing with high inflation and low growth rates, so it was necessary to do anything that could keep the industry active. This article’s vehicle is interesting because even though its manufacturer probably never thought of it, in each of its names it’s possible to visualize a reference to one of those events.

After sailing through decades selling huge cars equipped with huge engines, North-American automakers suddenly saw people starting to focus on the single flaw of their products: their terrible fuel efficiency, caused by combining low technology with large displacement and masked by formerly cheap gasoline. Since adapting to this new reality would take years, foreign makers (mostly Japanese) took the opportunity to flood the market with their smaller and cheaper cars. In order to cut their losses, the native ones were forced to start partnerships with them. Such strategy resulted in a series of vehicles developed between one automaker of each “side”. Kia and Ford, for instance, made a hatchback which the first one sold as Avella and the other… as Aspire.

When it comes to emergent countries, the goal was to keep production levels high even when people had no money, so generalist companies had to sell cars at the lowest possible prices. This led to several cost-reduction measures, including cutting equipments and working with the same cars for much longer than it was specified on their original projects. Ford Fiesta, for example, had its fifth generation offered in Europe from 2002 to 2008. But the Brazilian kept selling it until last year, using its own facelifts and making it simpler and cheaper as time passed. India, in turn, turned it into a different product, to be sold as a low-cost alternative when the following Fiesta arrived. That “new” car, as you have already imagined by now, was called Figo.

Now, if you want to make things even more interesting, this article’s vehicle is not even Japanese or Indian. It came from the new Ka’s project, which was developed in Brazil. Since it replaced both the old Ka and Fiesta there, the Indian branch decided to do the same with Figo. This project spawned a sedan variation from the beginning, named Ka+, but India couldn’t use it. That country is widely known for its peculiar tax policy, which benefits cars under 4 meters of overall length. Over the years, it has motivated models such as Honda Brio Amaze, Mahindra Verito Vibe and Suzuki Swift Dzire, all of them with very questionable styling. Figo Aspire, therefore, is a Ka+ whose third box was shrunk, and then decorated with smaller tail lights connected by a thick chrome bar.

The new vehicle will be produced in the Indian city of Sanand, and use its lighter taxes to deliver a more generous equipment list without losing competitive prices. Most of the items Ford offers with its compact vehicles elsewhere appear here as well, such as the Sync infotainment system with the AppLink function. Besides, the automaker’s new concern with safety has made Figo Aspire the first model in its class to bring side and window airbags. The engine list offers a 1.2-liter Ti-VCT using gasoline and a 1.5-liter Duratorq with diesel, but there isn’t official information regarding their performance figures yet. This vehicle will go on sale only in that country, at least for now, starting in a few months.