The much-anticipated hatchback from the American automaker is here. Ford has finally launched the 2015 Figo at a base price of INR 4.29 lac. With this competitive price tag, the next generation hatch is not only locking horns against the likes of Maruti Swift, Hyundai Grand i10 and Tata Bolt among others in the segment, but also making a major cut at being the most affordable car of the lot. Let us see where the 2015 Figo stands with its competitors in this quick comparison.
Exteriors
On the exteriors, the next generation Figo is based on the earlier launched Aspire platform as far as design and looks are concerned. Ford’s signature nose at the front sets the Figo apart from others at the outset. The grille encapsulates horizontal chrome garnished floating bars. At the rear, the hatchback comes with an angular tail lid flanked by quirky tail lamps on either side.
Compared to Figo, the Swift has floating roof designs, large sweptback headlamps and taillights, 15-inch brawny wheels and wide and sleek front grille setup.
The Hyundai Grand i10 too does not disappoint, thanks to its Fluidic Sculpture V2.0 design philosophy, signature grille at the front coupled with swept back headlamps, integrated reflectors on the rear bumpers and wraparound tail lamps at the rear.
Tata Bolt scores well too with its projector headlamps, signature family grille, gunmetal grey alloy wheels and a wide rear that has a blacked-out C-pillar, which gives it a floating roof setup. LED looking tail lamps flank the rear lid.
Interiors
Talking about the interiors, the 2015 Figo appears similar to other hatchbacks in the segment with an all-black colour scheme on the inside accentuated with silver accents on the door handles, central console and other tiny places. The cabin features Ford’s SYNC infotainment system in the top trims while the lower trims come with MyDock. Other interior features include multi-functional steering wheel mounted with call controls, voice commands and music buttons.
Compared to the Figo, the Swift gets an all-black interior too but a mellowed down music system and certainly not as good as Ford’s. The cabin features multi-functional steering wheel with mounted music, Bluetooth and call controls. It also comes with start/stop function.
Coming to the interiors of Tata Bolt, the hatch carries the same colour scheme as that of other two cars. The only impressive addition to the hatch is the rear AC vents and Harman touchscreen infotainment system coupled with music streaming and Bluetooth telephony.
Hyundai’s Grand i10 is the only hatchback among the others mentioned that carries a dual colour scheme of black and beige. The cabin also features rear AC vents as well as an advanced music system with 1GB internal memory.
Engine and Performance
Under the hood, the 2015 Figo comes in 1.2 litre and 1.5 litre TiVCT petrol trims and 1.5 litre TDCi diesel trim. The petrol versions deliver respective 88PS and 112PS of power with a maximum torque of 112Nm and 136Nm correspondingly. The diesel trim comes with 100PS of power output coupled with 215Nm of peak torque. While the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel variants come mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox, Figo also has an option of 6-speed dual clutch Automatic Transmission with its 1.5-litre petrol version. The fuel efficiency of both petrol and diesel variants are lesser than the other competitors mentioned with figures that stand at 18.16km/l for 1.2-litre petrol and 25.83km/l for diesel variant.
Until now, Maruti Swift has adorned the crown of the most fuel-efficient car by delivering a mileage of 20.4km/l from its 1.2 litre VVT petrol engine with a power output of 84PS and peak torque of 115Nm. Its 1.3 litre DDiS diesel variant churns out 75PS of power with a peak torque of 190Nm and fuel efficiency of 25.2km/l.
Grand i10 also offers the best of the two worlds with variety of engine options like 1.1 liter TDCi diesel, 1.2 liter VTVT petrol and 1.0 liter petrol engine delivering power figures of 71PS, 83PS and 69PS along with 159Nm, 113.75Nm and 90.22Nm respectively. The car is offered with a 5-speed manual as well 4-speed automatic transmission system. Fuel economy is good with diesel engine delivering 24kmpl, the petrol one reads 18.9kmpl.
Tata Bolt is also par with the competitors as far as engine and performance is concerned. Tata offers 1.2 liter turbocharged petrol 1.3-liter multijet diesel engine in Bolt with the respective power figures of 90PS/140Nm and 75PS/190Nm. Fuel efficiency is least in the lot as petrol engine delivers 17.57, diesel engine returns 22.95kmpl.
The above comparison clearly points out the positives about the 2015 Figo-a much affordable car with decent specs and features. Though Maruti brand name is attached with Swift, Ford Figo had also a successful first innings while Hyundai Grand i10 is still running pretty well in the market. So time will tell whether the newly launched Ford Figo is able to outshine its rivals or not.