Ford India has appointed Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty as its brand ambassador for its sport utility vehicle (SUV) Endeavour. The company registered over 20 per cent growth in sales of the vehicle.
Over a year ago, Abhishek Bachchan was appointed as the brand ambassador for Ford Fiesta. Shetty has now been appointed to market the next-generation Ford Endeavour in the country. This is the first time that the SUV will be associating itself with a celebrity.
Nigel Wark, executive director, marketing, sales and service, Ford India, said “This is the only SUV in the country to be powered with a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel common-rail injection (TDCi) powertrain”.
“Just like the Endeavour has proved itself on every terrain, Suniel has also cruised along different genres in Bollywood including action, comedy, emotional and drama with great panache,” Wark said.
A print campaign featuring Shetty will be released on January 23. The campaign was conceptualized by JWT and will utilise newspapers and general interest, lifestyle, travel and auto magazines.
The campaign will focus on print but a small activity will be carried out in the Internet space too print. Ford Endeavour does not intend to do a television commercial in the near future.
According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Ford Endeavour is the market leader in terms of cumulative sales of SUVs in 2008, with total sales of 3,328 units from January–December 2008.
Last year, the Endeavour’s market share was 28 per cent. However, cumulative sales of Ford declined by 20.45 per cent to 20,257 units during the April-December 2008 period.