Ford EcoSport SUV launched at a starting price of Rs 5.59 lakh - Economic Times

MUMBAI: Ford India aims to hit a sweet spot by aggressively pricing its compact sports utility vehiclesEcoSport. The vehicle is priced at Rs 5.59 lakh onwards New Delhi. The diesel variant has been launched at a staring price of Rs 6.69 lakh. The compact SUV will take on Mahindra & Mahindra's Quanto, Maruti Suzuki's Ertiga, Renault Duster and it will also try to wean away premium hatchback Hyundai i20 and prospective compact sedan customers of Maruti Suzuki Dzire and Honda Amaze. The company has already built an inventory of 5,000 units anticipating orders and the deliveries will begin today. Joginder Singh, MD, Ford India, said, "We expect the EcoSport to be a game changer for Ford India. It will set a new benchmark in the Indian automotive space. Based on the One Ford global platform, the product is tuned to the needs of Indian consumers." To be produced at the company's Chennai plant, Ford India also intends to export EcoSport to over 40 countries including the markets of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and many parts of Europe. Ford invested US$142 million (Rs 838 crore) to produce EcoSport at its Ford India manufacturing facility in Chennai. The compact SUV comes in four trims, eight colours and three engine options including the globally awarded 1-litre EcoBoost turbocharged engine. The engine delivers a power of 1.6 litre engine and fuel efficiency of a small car According to IHS Automotive, global small utility vehicle sales grew 154 percent between 2005 and 2012. In the coming years, small utilities sales are expected to increase by 51 percent globally in the next five years. Ford small utility sales are projected to outpace the overall industry, according to IHS Automotive. As part of the One Ford plan , the Ford EcoSport is based on the company's B-platform, which also underpins its Fiesta. The company will produce two million vehicles annually on its B-platform by 2015. "Despite slowdown the compact SUV continues to buck the trend. Our expectation is that SUV sales will grow five fold by 2020," added Singh. Manual transmissions will be available in both petrol and diesel models, while the automatic gearbox will come only in the petrol variant. While the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine develops a maximum of 125PS of power, the 1.5-litre petrol and diesel units put out 112PS and 91PS respectively. The EcoSport comes equipped with Sync, Ford's voice-enabled in-car connectivity system, which means you can operate your Bluetooth-enabled phone and USB devices, dial calls, read out text messages and browse and select music tracks via voice commands. there will be four variants of the new Ford EcoSport on offer, which, in order of features and prices, are as follows: Ambiente, Trend, Titanium and Titanium (O). While the top-of-the-line variants pack fancy equipment and commendable technology, even the entry-level Ambiente variant offers decent amount of standard equipment including power steering, air-conditioning, electric ORVMs with indicators, front power windows, theatre dimming interior lights, Bluetooth radio with AUX and USB connectivity, dual tone interiors and remote central locking. Copyright © 2013 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFpUh4k_Z9OHbsdXHLIJZIv3Jgibg&url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/auto/automobiles/ford-ecosport-suv-launched-at-a-starting-price-of-rs-5-59-lakh/articleshow/20776391.cms

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