The Ford EcoSport came, saw and conquered the minds and hearts of the Indian customers who wanted a compact SUV at a very attractive price tag. The demand was so high that the waiting period for the SUV got pushed to around 8-9 months across the country. Even Ford dealerships had to ask buyers to opt for another Ford model instead, as they could not keep up with the demand. Launched in June last year, the EcoSport has made the American automaker proud yet again by achieving the 1,00,000 lakh sales milestone in domestic and exports markets combined, within 13 months.
Manufactured at Ford’s Chennai facility, the automaker has sold over 60,000 units of the EcoSport in India over the past year, while the remaining units were exported to international markets including South Africa, Australia, Taiwan and several European countries. Upon achieving the milestone, Ford stated that the achievement demonstrates the faith customers have in the product. The EcoSport’s sales stand testimony to the same and have remained consistently strong clocking over 5000 units every month.
Ford did face problems earlier to address the overwhelming demand; however, the automaker worked it out with its suppliers to significantly reduce the waiting periods on most variants of the compact SUV to meet the demand. The automaker is also planning to introduce a third shift at the Chennai plant to meet the orders, especially ahead of the upcoming festive season. Recipient of several awards from the auto industry in the past year, the EcoSport was also crowned as the 2013 SUV of the Year by MotorBeam.
The Ford EcoSport is powered by 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engine options and is also the first model in India to get the renowned 1.0-litre 3-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine under the hood. The compact SUV packs in a host of features with in-car entertainment and connectivity options as well as plethora of tech and safety equipment that make the EcoSport a more value for money proposition. Prices start from Rs. 6.30 lakhs for the base petrol version going up to Rs. 9.69 lakhs (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi) for the top-end diesel variant.
