The company was also planning to complain to the Advertising Council of India and write protest letters to Hyundai and Saatchi and Saatchi for publishing the advertisement in leading dailies, they said.

When contacted, Ford India general manager (marketing) V Sivaramakrishnan said the company had taken a serious note of the advertisement as "it was in bad taste and published only to confuse the consumers".

"Hyundai has misrepresented facts about the `Ford Ikon 1.3' car in the advertisement which concern us," he said.

The Indian arm of the Korean company Hyundai had recently issued full-page ads in major newspapers which compared its small car `Santro GLS II' with the `Ikon 1.3'.

It starts with the headline "Santro ends Ikon's josh" and continues in the copy with terms like "the Ikon falls flat... Surprisingly nothing more than a stripped down version...A driving experience totally devoid of any luxuries...Why the `Josh' fizzles out". Sivaramakrishnan said the advertisement was "issued out of fear" by Hyundai as Ikon's success has put them on the backfoot.

He, however, ruled out similar ad-campaign against Hyundai saying Ford would leave the final decision about the car in the hands of the consumers.

Sivaramakrishan said the facts about the engine of the Ikon had been totally "misrepresented to misguide" the consumers about the car. The advertisement, in its comparison chart between Ikon and Santro, said Ikon is fitted with a four cylinder 1299 cc, eight valve SEFI-conventional pushrod engine.