A body-on-ladder frame boxy SUV from an Indian commercial vehicle maker Force Motors, the ForceOne was launched in October 2011. It was a product aimed at the conspicuous gap in the Indian SUV market, between the INR 800,000 (US$ 16,000) Mahindra Scorpio and the INR 1,800,000 (US$ 36,000) Ford Endeavour. Priced at INR 1,100,000 (US$ 22,000), the ForceOne should have been an instant winner in the fastest growing passenger vehicle segment in India - SUVs (Business Standard Motoring - ForceOne review). The SUV also boasts of the Daimler OM651 diesel engine which once powered the Mercedes-Benz C 220 CDI and E 220 CDI. Force Motors planned to sell ~4,000 units of the ForceOne between its October 2011 launch and September 2012. It has sold only 1,200 units until March 2012 and I have seen exactly ONE ForceOne on the road since its launch.
So what went wrong for this SUV?
Timing.
Before the ForceOne was launched, Tata Motors already had the Aria, a multi-utility vehicle (MUV), in the offering at the same price point. The Aria is fully loaded with safety and creature-comfort features, such as ABS, traction control, rain sensing wipers, touch screen infotainment console - everything. It still did not do well because of its price and well, because it was neither a car nor an SUV. Moreover, a couple of months after the ForceOne's launch, Mahindra came up with its XUV-5oo SUV - again at the same price point as the ForceOne's. The XUV-5oo scored over the ForceOne mainly in terms of looks - the XUV-5oo's looks are far more contemporary than the ForceOne's; and ride quality and handling, primarily because the XUV-5oo has a monocoque chassis (Business Standard Motoring - ForceOne and XUV-5oo comparo).
All the 'drawbacks' that the ForceOne has in comparison to the other products available in the market are just functions of timing. Indian consumers have accepted uglier cars, for example, the Mahindra Xylo and inferior quality cars, the Tata Sumo. However, in the present market scenario, the Indian consumer has much better choices for INR 1,100,000. If the ForceOne would have been launched, say, 5 years earlier and INR 400,000 cheaper, it had the potential of redefining the Indian SUV market. However, with the announched launches of the Renault Duster and the Ford EcoSport by end-2012, the fate of the ForceOne seems to have been sealed.
Although, I will definitely look out for the 2013 Gurkha!
So what went wrong for this SUV?
Timing.
Before the ForceOne was launched, Tata Motors already had the Aria, a multi-utility vehicle (MUV), in the offering at the same price point. The Aria is fully loaded with safety and creature-comfort features, such as ABS, traction control, rain sensing wipers, touch screen infotainment console - everything. It still did not do well because of its price and well, because it was neither a car nor an SUV. Moreover, a couple of months after the ForceOne's launch, Mahindra came up with its XUV-5oo SUV - again at the same price point as the ForceOne's. The XUV-5oo scored over the ForceOne mainly in terms of looks - the XUV-5oo's looks are far more contemporary than the ForceOne's; and ride quality and handling, primarily because the XUV-5oo has a monocoque chassis (Business Standard Motoring - ForceOne and XUV-5oo comparo).
All the 'drawbacks' that the ForceOne has in comparison to the other products available in the market are just functions of timing. Indian consumers have accepted uglier cars, for example, the Mahindra Xylo and inferior quality cars, the Tata Sumo. However, in the present market scenario, the Indian consumer has much better choices for INR 1,100,000. If the ForceOne would have been launched, say, 5 years earlier and INR 400,000 cheaper, it had the potential of redefining the Indian SUV market. However, with the announched launches of the Renault Duster and the Ford EcoSport by end-2012, the fate of the ForceOne seems to have been sealed.
Although, I will definitely look out for the 2013 Gurkha!
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