Ford India to Net NRIs

Ford India Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Ford Motor Co of the U.S., has introduced an innovative scheme - the IKONnect2Home.NRI, in a tie-up with Indian financial services firm ICICI Ltd. As the name suggests, the new

product is aimed at non-resident Indians (NRI) and will enable them to purchase the Ikon on the Net for their friends and relatives in India.

The scheme would work in the following manner. NRI's can book the car directly on the company's website - india.ford.com -and the payment would be routed through the banking arm of ICICI, the ICICI Bank. The payment transaction would be effected online through ICICI Bank's customer accounts using the banks Infinity Internet banking service. Non-bank customers would be required to fill out the customer details form and make remittances through the banks Money2India facility. In short, the scheme would enable seamless delivery without paper movement.

Ford India is targeting sales of 10 vehicles per month through the on-line route. However, it is certain that the demand will pick up as more and more the consumers realise the benefits of the scheme. Ford India also plans to speed its delivery period, which currently takes around six to eight weeks. Ford India's manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Chennai currently rolls out around 85 cars per day. The company hopes to increase that to 100 cars a day by July 2000. Overall, the company hopes to sell between 22,500-23,000 cars during the year compared with a target of 21,500 that it set itself late last year when the Ikon was launched.

© 2000 agencyfaqs!