During an online chat with friends in Brazil, the topic of a Ford SUV on the Global B Platform (Figo’s platform) was opened. Many blogs and online portals have started speculating on the possibility of a mini SUV on the Fiesta/Figo platform for India and Ford has acknowledged a portion of this claim by stating they are working on a SUV, which could be smaller than the Endeavour (if it was bigger than the Endeavour, it is what we term as “inter-city bus”)
The vehicle, we thought, was going to be developed from scratch by the Ford’s team here in Chennai, responsible for the Figo. But how wrong we were.
Our Brazilian friends tell us there’s a SUV named “EcoSport” which sells in Brazil and is based on the B-Platform. The vehicle is 4.3 metres in length and comes with both manual and automatic gearbox. It employs four powertrain options, the smallest which is the 1.4-liter powerplant. The vehicle has been in the market since 2004, and it is in need of a makeover.
Ford could forget the idea of selling this vehicle as a small car since 30cm is a large chunk of sheet metal to chip out. The vehicle is offered with 1.6 and 2.0-liter petrols in Brazil indicating that it is not built necessarily for economy.
The dashboard and many other elements inside the cabin come from the Figo/Fiesta. The seats, gear lever, hand brake and even the steering wheel look exactly the same from the images. Ford will give the car Kinetic Design touches (different headlamps, bumper and grille). We suspect at least 50% of the components will come from the Figo/Fusion/Fiesta inventory.
Visit the Ford Brazil website to learn more on the EcoSport
What are Ford’s 8 new cars for India by 2015? We take a guess
2) Ford B-Max
4) Ford Focus
6) Ford Mondeo
Ford Ecosport (you just read above)
i like this car
its a wonderful car
I would like exactlly the one being sold in brazil etc. countries the photos Isaw will prove huge wellcome by INDIANS too much deflection from a purposeful and fresh familiar look is not liked by indians the deformed looks are ignored due to other positive reasons.See the overwhelming acceptance of qualis,etios and scorpio,while new fiesta and verna are not doing up to the expectations.
Ford has wasted its time not introducing Ecosport in India simultaneously, when it was launched in Brazil.
ford should introduce it with petrol engine 2 wheel drive and shouldnt cost more then 7 lakhs (the base model).most of indians would forget the sedans like honda city verna etc.
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[...] see, Ford opted to bring in the earlier generation Fiesta and rebadged it as the Figo. The currently running EcoSport is fully based on this vehicle, and we suspect Ford will consider that option for India. What you [...]
Both motors, 1.6 and 2.0, are flex, runs with petrol and/or ethanol
[...] The big news however is that the Dacia Duster which is built on the Logan’s platform would come to India with a Renault badge. The rugged butch looking compact SUV could benefit hugely from the Logan’s local suppliers in India and this would help Renault in pricing the Duster at a very competitive price, say 7-10 lakh Rupees. The Duster could compete with the Mahindra Scorpio and the Ford Ecosport SUV based on the Figo’s platform. [...]
The EcoSport is nothing but a beefed up Fusion! I have seen it in Latin America and it is the same size.
It should do great here if they can price it a couple of lakhs more than the old Fusion so long as it has an AWD.