Made-for-India Ford C-SUV to be available in 5- & 7-seat versions - Report

11/01/2019 - 18:05 | ,   | Sagar Parikh

Like Tata Motors, Ford will launch two versions of its C-SUV in India, one with five seats and the other with seven seats, suggests a report from The Economic Times.

2016 Ford Kuga (facelift) side at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show Live
Instead of the C2 platform Kuga/Escape, Ford will launch a low-cost made-for-India C-SUV through Mahindra's resources. Current Ford Kuga pictured for reference.

Ford’s made-for-India C-SUV was announced in March 2018, when the company signed a MoU with Mahindra to co-develop it. “A firmed-up agreement on C segment SUV will be announced within a month,” a person in the know of the alliance partners’ joint projects has told The Economic Times.

The report says that the sourcing for the C-SUV codenamed W601 and W605 has begun, suggesting that a duo like the Tata H5X (known in production form as the Tata Harrier) and the Tata H7X is planned. This doesn’t come as a surprise, though, if the recent market trend is considered along with the fact that the platform underpinning Ford’s C-SUV will have the capability of spawning a seven-seater.

The made-for-India Ford C-SUV will share underpinnings with the next-gen Mahindra XUV500. Reports suggest that Mahindra will scrap the current XUV500’s platform and use an all-new platform for the second generation model. Production of the Blue Oval’s C-SUV will likely be assigned to Mahindra’s Chakan factory.

Ford EcoSport Petrol AT review front three quarters
Ford and Mahindra had agreed to evaluate co-development of a B-SUV also last year, which are "progressing well".

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Ford and Mahindra had agreed to evaluate co-development of a B-SUV and an electric vehicle also last year. Regarding those, the source mentioned above said: “Negotiations for the B-segment SUV and an electric vehicle architecture are progressing well.”

[Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com]

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