Ford India plans to open “a new sales or service outlet every 10 days”

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during 2012 as it gears up to expand its presence beyond metros. The present calendar year will also see the US carmaker launch new variants of existing models as well as increase exports of its ‘made in India’ cars to 50 countries.

“Since the launch of our compact car Figo in March 2010, we have been opening a new sales dealership or service outlet every 10 days. We intend to continue this plan during 2012 also in view of our capacity expansion and upcoming new vehicle launch plans,” said Michael Boneham, president and MD, Ford India.

The company on Thursday opened 45 new sales and service outlets in 35 locations, including Rohtak, Sonepat, Rourkela, Agartala, Gulbarga, Tirupur, Jabalpur, Sagar, Thanjavur, and Solarpur. Two years ago, Ford launched 28 new dealer facilities across 24 cities on the same day, announcing that it was preparing for a volume play. With the roll out of 45 outlets on a single day now, the company’s pan-India network has expanded to 230 sales and service outlets in 123 cities. At present, over 40 per cent of the sales and service network of Ford is in tier 3 and tier 4 cities.

Boneham said though Ford Figo was planned as a niche player for upper segments, it had helped the company make inroads into smaller towns. With Figo and the upcoming launch of Ecosport, a compact crossover, the company seeks to strengthen its presence in the compact car segment. The company also plans to expand its export basket during 2012 targetting North America.