The EcoSport is Ford’s next big vehicle for the Indian market and is expected to be launched in early 2013. Though there is no official word regarding the launch, rumours are that it will be right at the start of 2013.
There is certainly lot of curiosity and also inquiries for the EcoSport at Ford dealers and Our friends at Indiancarsandbikes report that few of them have already started accepting unofficial bookings.
Their report says that a booking for the compact SUV can be made by paying Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000.. It also means that the launch is just around the corner (suspected be to mid-January) with the Nepal launch to follow in March.
Ford India had recently updated its website to include some details of the EcoSport. Based on the same platform as the new Fiesta, the EcoSport is designed as an urban crawler and has been given a ground clearance of 200mm and water wading ability of upto 550mm, both useful for cruising over big ditches , potholes and big puddles during rainy season.
The American automaker has revealed that the EcoSport will get a glove box with cooling facility, SYNC technology, around 20 storage spaces and 60:40 split rear seats. The boot is 346 litres and increases to 560 with the rear seats down. Safety features include Hill Launch assist, ABS, ESP and traction control.
Under the hood, we can expect the 1.0-litre Ecoboost engine in the petrol model and the 1.5-litre TDCi engine in the diesel variant. Both engines will be mated to a six-speed Powershift automatic gearbox or a five-speed manual.
The compact SUV is Ford's answer to Renault Duster, which is currently doing quite well in the market. They have said that the EcoSport will be launched with an aggresive pricing scheme.
Source: Indiancarsandbikes
