Ford India is unveiling the 2012 EcoSport compact SUV in India. The American automaker will invest $142 million to manufacture the EcoSport, which is a global product and in-line with the company’s One Ford strategy.
Update 1 – Michael Boneham (President and MD, Ford India) has taken center stage and is talking about Ford’s performance in 2011. The EcoSport is yet to be unveiled but the company has given us a glimpse of the car with two sketches displayed on the screen. Joe Hinrichs (Group Vice President and President of Asia Pacific and Africa for Ford) is on the stage and is talking about the Figo.
Update 2 – Joe Hinrichs says that one of the eight products by 2015 could be a small car, which would be aspirational. Using One Ford strategy, the company plans to use the expertise of the company’s various divisions. First time the EcoSport has been unveiled and will be showcased at the upcoming Auto Expo.
Update 3 – Powered by 1-liter, EcoBoost engine, which produces 120 PS of power and 170 Nm of torque, 140 g/km CO2 emission. It is based on the Fiesta platform. Alan Mulally, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company is here as well.
Ford will launch the EcoSport CUV by the end of 2012 and will price it around Rs. 8 lakhs. The new Fiesta’s 1.5-liter diesel engine will make it to the EcoSport as well and will produce around 91 BHP of power and 204 Nm of torque. Expect class leading fuel efficiency from both the engines with the EcoSport expected to measure less than 4-meters in length. The EcoSport is designed for developing markets like India and is the first product that showcases Ford’s new design language. The EcoSport has a very commanding driving position and has be designed in such a manner that it can ward through flooded roads with ease.
The Ford EcoSport is intenally known as B515 and is developed on the award winning global car platform (B2E), which Ford developed with Mazda. Ford has been extremely bullish about the Indian car market and on an average opens a new dealership in the country, every ten days! (since June 2011). Today Ford has 220 dealers across India and plans to expand them further as it looks to offer more products to India customers. The EcoSport was first launched in South America in 2003 and has sold 7 lakh units in nine years. The next generation EcoSport (previewed today) was developed by Ford Brazil and the compact SUV will be sold in 100 markets worldwide.
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Please publish the pictures as I cannot access youtube (blocked in my office :(()
Thej, the video is not a youtube video but a live stream of the event. The EcoSport has not been unveiled yet and we will post pictures as soon as it is ;-)
streaming web sites, gaming, social networking sites are all banned. I’ll wait for the pics
Thej, pictures updated.
it doesn’t look like production version is it
answer please is it a production version
No Sidd, it is a concept.
This looks jus awesome….. Except that the front grille has to be modified….
@Fas: Any update on spec of the diesel engine?
i guess they wont reveal the prices as of now?
When ll the car be available at showrooms?
Prasadh, diesel engine same as Fiesta and prices expected to be around Rs. 8 lakhs. It will be available by the end of 2012.
@FAS: Considering the power of 120PS i guess this will be in the price range of 9 – 11 lacs… whats ur guess?
Prasadh, power 120 PS, yes. But its a 1.0-liter engine so it gets excise benefits. Expect Rs 7-9 lakhs pricing on the EcoSport.
Awesome .. 120ps from 1-liter engine… thats what we need..latest technology.
Except for a few new pictures (ans one already scooped), no announcement of on-road dates, prices, variants……… Donno why even they did a presss release.
Vinay, they showcased the 2012 EcoSport (the next generation version), for the very first time.
BINGO !!!!!!!!
finally its here..
:)
End of 2012 is too late and i just wish the date is brought forward to May/June 2012.
Rajan, you never know they might launch it sooner. Because they won’t wait all of an year to launch a new product.
For that price, it’s an awesome buy – as long as the production version is true to the concept.
Faisal -thanks for the great coverage as always.
Rafi, your most welcome ;-)
Wow it looks awsome.
They need to launch it by mid 2012, else Duster will eat the early buyer market, any way god design car. Faisal i hope you will get closer view at Auto expo on the interiors, please update us..
Snikam, they never opened the car so no interiors snaps!
pricing and early Bird will win the race
Hi Faisal, your coverage of the auto-expo is nice. It looks like the ecosport is stealing the show out there?! If Ford manages to convince our Govt to allow for this car the sub 4M excise sop, Indian roads would be painted in its colors for a while :) for that advantage and the wonderful 3 pot mill, I would forgive it for the added weight resulting from a SUV silhouette.
How about trying to be the 1st to write about its drive impression, Faisal? ;)
Ganesh, we are yet to drive it. But once we do, we will definitely write about it ;-)