We're not going to bother talking about the Ford EcoSport in detail, as by this time, our readers are confident in writing semester exams on the mini SUV. We've had so much in the form of EcoSport news - from test mule spottings to proposed export markets, we've served a few lakh pageviews on this matter since 2011.
Despite a sea of blog posts, a lot of key questions remain unanswered: When is Ford going to launch the car? Will it be a petrol only initially? Will the petrol be an automatic only?..and so on. Truth to be told, no one is clear on how (or when) Ford India plans on launching the car. Many potential EcoSport customers have migrated to the Renault Duster as well.
Our friends at Indian Cars Bikes have something on the 'most awaited car of 2013' today. This is what is being speculated:
- Ford India may launch the EcoSport with the 1.0-liter 3 cylinder EcoBoost engine (petrol) initially. The 1.5L diesel will follow "a couple of months" down the line.
- Reason for the above strategy is Ford India does not want to have a "long list of customers waiting for several months." It has happened in the past with the Renault Duster and Ford wants none of that.
- Ford India could have the photo shoot of the EcoSport in the second week of March. It is rumored that a set of 5 EcoSports would be photographed for communications/PR/press release.
- 200 Ecosports may be made in the first batch of production. They could mostly be in the Savannah Orange color (which happens to be the communication color of EcoSport worldwide). They could be used by the Ford dealers as display units. They would all be petrol as well.
- The EcoSport petrol could be launched tentatively in the 2nd or 3rd week of March. The source seems to be confident that the launch should take place by the end of March.
- Customer deliveries is scheduled to take place from the last week of April. These would be the petrol-only Ecoboost models.
If you're a frustrated, potential EcoSport customer and it is the diesel you've wanted to buy, this report is not going to be music to your ears. Let's just hope that Ford India has a change of heart and launch both the engine options simultaneously or at least with lesser delays.
But wait, what happened to the 1.5L petrol? There seems to be no mention of that!
[Source - IndianCarsBikes.in; Image - IAB reader Sree Ganesh spotted the Savannah Orange EcoSport testing in Chennai a few weeks ago]
