The mystery of Ford’s EcoSport launch has finally come to an end, with the company officially confirming the vehicle will go on sale after the completion of the EcoSport Urban Discoveries campaign. Sadly though, the said campaign will only come to an end in the last week of May. This means, the EcoSport will be launched in June with deliveries starting immediately. Ford seems to be buying time as the company is not ready to start production of their much awaited compact SUV.
Why Ford is not ready with the production of the vehicle is still not known but we believe the EcoSport will be highly localised in order to give the vehicle a mouth watering price. Remember, the EcoSport is a sub 4-metre vehicle which means it will benefit from lower excise duty (12% against the 24% charged on the Renault Duster). When Ford unveiled the EcoSport at the 2012 Auto Expo, our source confirmed to us that the company is planning to launch the vehicle in February 2013.
The delay in launch is getting onto the nerves of many prospective buyers, who have tirelessly been waiting for the vehicle since a long time now. But the delay could be well worth it, if Ford pulls off stellar pricing for the urban SUV, something like they did with the Figo three years back. Ford is well aware about how important pricing is in India, they tested their luck with the new Fiesta with over optimistic positioning, resulting in the fabulous product becoming a market dud.
Ford has unveiled the production version of the EcoSport, showcasing the interiors of the car for the very first time in India. The company has also announced the features and they do sound good. But the quality of the EcoSport’s interiors is just about average (better than the Duster though) and space inside the cabin is not segment breaking (Duster has more interior room). The boot too is not very big (there are 20 storage bins inside the cabin though) and the EcoSport itself looks relatively small for an SUV. Pricing will thus play a vital role in the success of this compact vehicle and we hope Ford has hit the sweet spot.
