Ford has teased the EcoSport facelift on its Facebook page and the vehicle has started reaching dealer stockyards. The brochure of the vehicle has also leaked.
Ford has been very active in India off late. After inaugurating a new facility in Sanand and launching two excellent cars in the form of the Figo Aspire and Figo hatchback, the American carmaker is all set to introduce a mildly refreshed version of the EcoSport in the Indian market. While globally the car gets a comprehensive update, Indian markets get a minor one with no tweaks to the exteriors except for the new brown colour and DRLs. They seem to be following the policy of why fix it if it isn’t broken.
The most major change in the facelifted EcoSport comes in the form of a higher power tune for the diesel engine. The 1.5-litre motor will produce 100 PS of power at 3750 RPM and 205 Nm of torque at 3250 RPM. The bump in power will improve the performance marginally at the cost of a slight dip in fuel efficiency figures. Both the petrol engines have been carried over unchanged from the current car. While all the three engines come mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox, the 1.5-litre petrol engine also gets an option of a 6-speed DCT automatic unit.
To make the EcoSport more feature loaded, Ford has added plenty of equipment and the variant mix has been shuffled too. The Ambiente variant gets a 12V power socket and a foldable rear seat to increase practicality. The trend variant now comes equipped with ABS and EBD while there’s a new Trend+ variant which gets multiple features such as dual airbags, climate control AC and a loaded instrument console. The Titanium variant gets a keyless entry and go system whereas the Titanium+ (previously Titanium (O)) comes with automatic wipers and headlamps, DRLs, interiors chrome pack and auto dimming IRVM. The EcoBoost engine now comes in the Trend+ trim too making it more affordable.
The EcoSport has been Ford’s top selling car in India but things are set to change with the more affordable Figo twins coming to the market. The EcoSport has been facing some competition from never compact SUVs like the Maruti S-Cross, Hyundai Creta and the only other sub 4-metre compact SUV, the Mahindra TUV300 (there is also the dud selling Quanto and the long forgotten Premier RiO). Unlike in Europe where Ford removed the tail-gate mounted spare wheel and made changes to the suspension for improved dynamics, the same hasn’t been carried to India.
Source – Team-BHP.com