Ford India's Honda City rivalling sedan based on B500 platform shelved: Report

American car-maker Ford's last two launches in India -- the Figo hatchback and Aspire sedan -- are not churning out good number of sales for the company compared to its rivals. Following the lacklustre performance, Ford India has reportedly reworked on the strategies and shelved the much-talked-about B500 platform.

Ford India has been actively considering a sedan based on the B500 platform to be pitted against the Honda City. This sedan is touted to be the successor of Fiesta report ET Auto. It was also considered to be the first project from Ford India's R&D division and the car was supposed to be introduced in 2018. With the red signal to the project, the company will focus on marketing and after-sales service operations of the existing models.

At present the EcoSport compact SUV is driving Ford India's sales. However, with the arrival of Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, the Ford SUV has been experiencing slight dent in sales. The company also launched the Mustang sports car for Rs.65 lakh recently. Ford is not expecting Mustang as a volume seller. Ford Endeavour SUV has been getting decent monthly sales after the facelift in January this year.

Meanwhile, Ford India has been doing well in exports. The EcoSport is the second most exported car from India. The compact SUV stepped up in the list from fifth position in the same month last year. Ford India exported 6,253 units in June 2016 compared to 2,690 units shipped in June 2015.