Ford Figo review, road test

Developing a car for the finicky Indian hatchback buyer is no easy task. Just about every large car manufacturer has given it a shot, but only few have found real success. Ford happens to be among the notable inclusions in that short list. The last-gen Figo, launched in 2010, was its first mainstream hatchback for India, and straight off, Ford had got the formula right. Tough and practical without being too serious or dull, the Figo had it all. It was impressive enough to walk away with Autocar India’s Car of the Year award in 2011.

What you see here is the new Figo. ‘New’ because there’s little in common between the two generations of cars. This one’s built on a modern platform, features three different engines and can even be had with a dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Given that a lot of the car’s developmental work happened in India, there’s also the promise of the new Figo being even better suited to our conditions than the last one.

Could Ford have hit the bull’s eye once again? A detailed road test of the petrol automatic and diesel Figos gives us a clear answer.