Ford Ecosport to be launched by Jayalalithaa, 8 new products in pipeline for India

Since Ford came to India in late 90’s things have never been so interesting in Ford India. The reason for it is the Ecosport mini SUV which will be launched in India early next year. According to the latest news, the Ecosport will be launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who has agreed for the invitation by Ford India.

Ford pins lots of hopes on the Ecosport, and why not, the muscular looking mini SUV could be a new blockbuster car in India after the Maruti Swift. In fact we feel the Ecosport looks to be a perfect mini SUV when compared to Duster and Quanto. The rear tailgate mounted spare wheel adds to the rugged SUV looks of the vehicle.

If you are thinking just about the looks of the Ecosport making an impact you might be wrong. The Ecosport under its hood will feature the latest Ecoboost 1.0L petrol engine which in spite of its smaller capacity can produce 125 Bhp of power. According to Ford, this small wonder of an engine produces high power with great fuel efficiency, both of which are inversely proportional. The Ecoboost engine manages to drive the Ecosport to over 20 Km with a liter of petrol. The Ecosport will also be available with the Fiesta’s 1.5L diesel burner which too has a good record of fuel efficiency.

Ford is working hard on pricing the Ecosport competitive and few days ago an official from Ford had mentioned about Ecosport being priced less than the Renault Duster, which means the base petrol and diesel could be priced at Rs. 6.5 and 7.5 lakh respectively.

Currently there is a change of guard at Ford India. Mr. Michael Boneham, President and MD of Ford India is being replaced by Mr. Jogindar Singh and Ford maintains that in spite of leadership change the plan to launch value for money products remains the same. Ford plans to launch 8 new products in India in next 3 years. Ford’s second plant at Sanand will commence operation from 2014.