The new Ford Eco Sport is not a small car

When the new FORD EcoSport was 1st revealed in Auto Expo 2012, there was many reasons to believe that the car will be under the hallowed 4 metre mark. The choice of engines is a 1.5 litre diesel engine and 1.0 litre petrol one, will be ideal to benefit from excise duty . This notion was further bolstered by inclusion of tailgate mounted spare wheel which was according to the excise rules and is not measured as a part of length of the car. The global mini SUV is likely to longer than the 4 metres in interests of space and the styling, if so it will not qualify for the savings of small car excise duty.

Ford has held its specification, mainly the dimensions, close to the chest, but when we asked that if the EcoSport met to the sub 4 metre cutoff from a bumper to bumper, Michael Boneham, the president and managing director of Ford India Ltd. said, “No, it does not.”

As India will be the lead market of  EcoSport – an older generation model is already sold in the countries-Brazil – Ford do not want to compromise with the standards of space and styling which is already been set. As a result, the car is expected to be closer to be 4.25m in length, which is similar to the outgoing model. This decision was taken by criticism that the new Fiesta which is too much cramped in the rear seat, the mistake Ford do not want to repeat with EcoSport.

The company plans to offset the penalty of a higher excise duty with high levels of localisation. However, Ford is believed to be working on a sub-four-metre version by trimming precious millimetres off bumpers, but it is very tightly lipped about that. We expect that EcoSport will start at Rs 7 lakh for the base model and go up Rs 10 lakh for the top most diesel version.



Interview: Joe Hinrichs, President of Asia Pacific and Africa, Ford

The EcoSport is an all-new segment in India. What potential will it have?

We actually did a lot of market research with the EcoSport and see it as an opportunity to give an SUV option on a B-segment platform. It gives new customers an aspirational urban SUV. When we launched the EcoSport about nine years ago, in Brazil, the same kind of opportunity existed. It established a new segment and took off, and has been a segment leader in that whole time period since its launch. So we see the same kind of potential in India.

We understand that the EcoSport isn’t a sub-four-metre car, so you won’t get the excise benefit. How does this impact you?

We are going to find cost savings with high local content. This is a globally-designed vehicle for global markets. It’s going to be built in Brazil, Thailand, and here in India. For us, the proportions and styling were critical because this is an aspirational vehicle. We just wanted to make sure that the design was right.

Can we expect more body styles from the same platform?

In Europe, we’ve announced the B-Max which is a sliding door MPV. We haven’t gone further than that but the key thing for India is to go where the customers are. So where there’s volume opportunity in India, we will be there.

The Fiesta hatch presents opportunities for volumes. Any plans?

 The hatchback version of the Fiesta has been very successful globally. It looks great. So obviously it’s something we’ll consider.