Vinay Raina, executive director of Marketing, Sales and Service at Ford India, was recently in Nepal to launch the all new Ford Ecosport. Raina is responsible for all aspects of MS and S operations of Ford India including revenue, sales volume, market share, marketing strategy and launches as well as dealer development, after sales service and overall customer satisfaction. He talked about the new Ecosport in an interview with Abhishek Chitrakar of The Post. Excerpts: 

Is this your first visit to Nepal and what is the purpose of your visit?

Yes, this is my first visit to Nepal and I came to launch the all new Ford Ecosport. We launched the vehicle last week in India and want to ensure that Ford’s complete portfolio is also available in Nepal as well. To highlight Nepal’s importance to Ford, we are launching the new EcoSport in the same week as the Indian launch. The EcoSport was launched in the Capital on Saturday and is priced very aggressively even with significant upgrades and changes to the car.

When the EcoSport was launched in 2013, customers had to wait nearly 3 months to receive their car due to huge demand; will it be the same for the new EcoSport?

We have taken notice of that and we are trying to ensure that customers in Nepal will be able to drive their new Ford EcoSport without waiting for a long time. We are confident that we will be able to meet the strong demand from Nepali customers as there will be more than enough supply to keep up with orders.

Are there new Ford products in the pipeline for Nepal?

We have a clear portfolio strategy that aims to keep refreshing our products and adding new products in Nepal. I can’t reveal all the details of the strategy at this point in time. What I can say is that our portfolio strategy has a clear direction that we are heading towards and you will get to hear about it in the near future.

How competitive are your products in terms of price and specifications?

In terms of specifications, we tend to ensure that the features we provide are the best in class. Take a look at the new EcoSport, it is an affordable vehicle that has up to six airbags, something not even the most premium of cars have. The car is also equipped with a 8-inch touch screen that is more commonly found on premium cars. The infotainment system supports both Apple Car Play and Android Auto. We have packed in the latest bells and whistles in the new Ford EcoSport for our customers to enjoy. 

Then there is the all new 1.5 litre, 3 cylinder Ti-VCT engine which is the best in class for its segment. The engine on the EcoSport is able to deliver high torque and power figures thanks to the new engine.

We try keep our products affordable by only introducing features that our customers want. 

How is the feedback from Nepali costumers?

They are more than happy with us. We feel blessed that Nepali costumers have appreciated the Ford brand and we are constantly growing in the market.