Ford India's EcoSport was the one that kickstarted compact SUV craze in India way back in 2013. The car remained a healthy volume seller despite the arrivals of new compact SUVs from Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki. Four years down the line, EcoSport is in the need of a makeover and emerging reports claim facelift version is en route to the country in September.
Though the company has not divulged any details on the launch schedule, a report in Carwale claims that the American carmaker will introduce the new EcoSport in the country on September 15. If the report is anything to go by, it is clear that Ford India wants to capitalise on the increased sales during the festive season with the new EcoSport.
Ford had unveiled the new EcoSport in November 2016 globally. Though the global spec eschewed rear mounted spare wheel, Asia-spec models unveiled in China in April retains it. This model has been spotted sans camouflage recently on the Indian roads.
The new EcoSport's cosmetic changes concentrate heavily on the front. It sports with a one-piece hexagonal grille in place of the split grille in the current version. It looks like the new grille has been inspired from the bigger SUVs of Ford such as the Kuga and the Edge. The new grille houses two horizontal chrome slats, while the headlamps, fog lamps and the front bumper have been tweaked. The side profile remains untouched barring new alloy wheels.
On the interior, the new Ford EcoSport may retain dual-tone dashboard (black and grey). Other notable addition will be a new dashboard and steering wheel, SYNC 3 infotainment system and a new 8-inch infotainment system at the centre of the new dashboard, compatible to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The current EcoSport India is sold with a 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engine, which is tuned to dish out 99bhp of power. The petrol mills are a 1.5-litre Ti-VCT and the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine. These are expected to carry over to the new model without changes. An all-wheel-drive variant of the new EcoSport is also expected in India at a later stage.
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