Live Updates: 2017 Ford EcoSport launch in India today: Expected Price, features, engines, specs,variants and images
The 2017 Ford Ecosport is set for launch in a few hours, follow our live coverage for all the updates as they happen live from the event!
The new 2017 Ford Ecosport is set for launch, and Ford India have a lot riding on its success. The 2017 Ecosport which will be manufactured at the company’s Chennai plant will have Ford's new 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine. The new Ecosport which made its debut at the 2017 LA Motorshow, was the first of the compact SUVs to be sold in India, its stellar success saw long waiting periods that went up to 9 months at a time. However, with the entry of products like the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, HondaWR-V and the recently launched TataNexon made the Ecosport look dated. However, with this update, the 2017 Ecosport comes back into contention and how! In terms of upgrades, the new EcoSport gets new headlamps with LED DRLs and projector headlamps with newly designed fog lamps. The bonnet and bumper to have received a rework as well!
The new EcoSport will be available with a 5-speed manual or if you're buying the petrol you could also have the 6-speed automatic torque converter transmission.
12:58 pm: The 2017 EcoSport will come with two engine options in India - the 1.5-litre diesel engine that produces 100 hp and 205 Nm torque and the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine will be replaced with an all-new 1.5-litre petrol that makes 120 bhp and 150 Nm of torque that will be manufactured at Ford's Sanand plant in Gujarat.
12:55 pm: The Ford Ecosport facelift gets new 17-inch alloy wheels do look impressive and are in sync with the EcoSport's positioning but the silhouette remains unchanged. At the rear too, it's the spare alloy wheel with the new design that's different but almost everything else is the same as seen in the older model.
12:48 pm: The 2017 Ford EcoSport will get an 8-inch floating screen with Sync 3 along with new seats with better cushioning that will be wider as well. Based on insights from Indian customers. Boot redesigned and volume increased by 30 litres. 1178 litres total volume. AC power gets a major boost with Ford claiming the EcoSport can go from 50 to 25-degree temperature in 15 minutes.
12:41 pm: Ford is set to focus on material and structural cost to improve overall cost competitiveness. Ecosport at launch in 2013 was 60% localised and now it is over 85%. The Ford Ecosport will be exported from India and Ford say that their production in India is at par with global quality. The EcoSport has over 200,000 customers prior to launch in India.
12:39 pm: In terms of cosmetic updates the Ford EcoSport gets a redesigned to give it a more dynamic stance, along with a more premium appeal than the outgoing model. 2017 EcoSport also gets an all-new grille with chrome slats which makes the Ecosport more sporty, added with the new LED DRLs and projector headlamps the new EcoSport gets a fully redesigned set of fog lamps.
12:36 pm: The Ford EcoSport will come with two transmission options on the 1.5-litre petrol engine, a 5-speed manual gearbox and a 6-speed torque converter automatic. The automatic will come with the added advantage of sports mode and paddle shifters although it does make the engine sound a bit gruff. Since most maps are tuned for fuel efficiency.
12:33 pm: The Ford EcoSport will have new headlamps with LED DRLs and projector headlamps with newly designed fog lamps. The bonnet and bumper to have received a rework as well! While the updated design does very little to the cars basic silhouette (which was fine, to begin with), it does make the EcoSport look more contemporary than the outgoing model.
12:30 pm: The Ford Ecosport's updated interiors bring it up to par with the competition if not beyond it, the new floating 6.5-inch touch-screen infotainment system has the newest gen SYNC which actually works much better than it's predecessors, and it comes with Android Auto and Apple Car Play. Although it does miss out on in-built navigation relying completely on phone navigation. This is essentially bad news for Apple users who will be forced to use Apple maps.
12:27 pm: Pricing will be one of the more important aspects of the Ford Ecosport, considering that the Tata Nexon has seriously undercut the segment leader the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, beating it in terms of price by almost a lakh. We expect Ford to price the Ecosport in the range between 6-10 lakh. If the 2017 EcoSport intends to return competitively, it needs to be within this price range.
12:10 pm: We are at the launch scheduled for 1 pm today when the prices and the detailed variants for the 2017 Ford Ecosport are set to be announced. Here's a quick look at the Indian-spec Ford EcoSport's first official public debut. Stay tuned to the live blog for more on the launch!
11:50 am: The Indian version of the 2017 Ford EcoSport will continue the tradition of the rear-mounted step-knee. The international variants have dropped the idea for the update. However, this is great because the rear-mounted spare wheel liberates some additional boot space in the EcoSport.
11:43 am: Ford India sold a total of 48,547 units of its Ecosport SUV and in the ongoing financial year between April - September 2017 the company has sold 24,555 units of Ford Ecosport. With the new facelift out sporting a new 1.5L petrol engine, expect the 2017 Ford Ecosport to be among the top-selling UVs in India.
11:40 am: When it first launched the Ford Ecosport was a runaway success with sales numbers running up the higher side of 5k units a month. More than what Ford could produce at the time resulting in 9 month long waiting periods.
11:30 am: The 2017 Ford Ecosport will be available, globally, with the 1.5-litre diesel and petrol motors, along with a 1.0 litre EcoBoost and 2.0 litre EcoBoost engines which will be exported from India. This will be the first Ford car to be exported to the US from India.
11:20 am: Ford's EcoSport will get an increased space on the boot by 30 litres, which brings the total volume with the boot folded up to 1,178 litres. The really cool bit is a smart removable baseline, which can be slightly raised to create a kind of secret compartment for laptop and tablets away from unwanted eyes.
11:16 am: Ford says 1600 of the 2000 parts of the EcoSport are all new, which means that it can be considered a little more than just a facelift. Even though it looks almost the same. The 2017 EcoSport will have Ambient, Trend and Titanium, but it is likely that there will be a new variant called Trend+ that will give the mid-spec buyer a little more in terms of features. The 2017 EcoSport also gets an automatic with paddle shift and an S (sport) Mode.
11:08 am: The Ford EcoSport is expected to be priced between Rs 6 lakh and 10 lakhs, considering how close it is to the competition, this pricing aspect will probably be the ultimate decider between the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, the Tata Nexon and the Honda WR-V.
11:05 am: The interior on the new Ecosport will be even more premium compared to the outgoing model. The dash will have less of buttons and the SYNC infotainment system has been replaced with a touchscreen pop-out style display (a bit like the one we saw on the Nexon but slightly centre mounted).
10:59 am: The 2017 EcoSport will come with two engine options in India - the 1.5-litre diesel engine that produces 100 hp and 205 Nm torque and the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine will be replaced with an all-new 1.5-litre petrol that makes 120 bhp and 150 Nm of torque that will be manufactured at Ford's Sanand plant in Gujarat.
10:53 am: The 2017 Ford EcoSport will carry forward the variant trims of its predecessor with the Ambient, Trend and Titanium, but it is likely that there will be a new variant called Trend+ that will give the mid-spec buyer a little more in terms of features. The 2017 EcoSport also gets an automatic with paddle shift and an S (sport) Mode.
10:45 am: Pricing will be one of the more important aspects of the Ford Ecosport, considering that the Tata Nexon has seriously undercut the segment leader the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, beating it in terms of price by almost a lakh. We expect Ford to price the Ecosport in the range between 6-10 lakh. If the 2017 EcoSport intends to return competitively, it needs to be within this price range.
10:40 am: The 2017 Ford EcoSport gets Sync voice command -- now in its latest third iteration, and it works for the most part (unlike the previous gen-Sync). The Ford EcoSport misses out on inbuilt navigation, which means that you will have to rely on your phone's maps. If your on Google Android that won't make much of difference, but CarPlay will not let you use Gmaps which means you'll have to use Apple Maps,
10:36 am: The 2017 Ford EcoSport in India, will be sold in two trims engine wise, the 1.5-litre diesel motor with 100 hp and 205 Nm torque from the previous-gen EcoSport. The 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine will be replaced with an all-new 1.5-litre petrol that makes 120 bhp and 150 Nm of torque that will be made in Ford's Sanand plant in Gujrat.
10:31 am: The EcoSport gets a floating 6.5-inch centre mounted display, gets Apple Car play and Android Auto connectivity. The thing is that unlike the Tata Nexon Ford's display is placed a little lower, and while this might make it seem in the way, its large chunky interface makes it easy to use without having to take your eyes off the road for much time.
10:25 am: The Interiors on the 2017 Ecosport get even more premium, minus the plethora of confusing button on the previous car. The SYNC infotainment system has been replaced with a touchscreen pop-out style display something like what’s on the Nexon but slightly more centre mounted.
10:21 am: The Ford EcoSport is the car that first started the trend of compact SUVs in India. It's stellar success prompted other Indian manufacturers like Maruti and Tata to explore the segment. Which meant that among the fresher Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and the Tata Nexon, the likes of the Ford Ecosport looked dated and out of place. The 2017 update should bring the EcoSport back into serious contention with the rest of the segment!
10:17 am: The new 2017 Ford EcoSport was first showcased at the LA motor show. It will be launched in India with a new naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine being manufactured at Ford's Sanand plant in Gujrat. It makes 120 hp and 150 Nm of torque, which is a welcome change from the 1.0 Ecoboost engine which had failed to deliver fuel mileage within city limits!
10:12 am: Ford says 1600 of the 2000 parts of the EcoSport are all new, which means that it can be considered a little more than just a facelift. Even though it looks almost the same. The 2017 EcoSport will have Ambient, Trend and Titanium, but it is likely that there will be a new variant called Trend+ that will give the mid-spec buyer a little more in terms of features. The 2017 EcoSport also gets an automatic with paddle shift and an S (sport) Mode.
10:00 am: The 2017 Ford EcoSport gets Sync voice command -- now in its latest third iteration, and it works for the most part (unlike the previous gen-Sync). The Ford EcoSport misses out on inbuilt navigation, which means that you will have to rely on your phone's maps. If your on Google Android that won't make much of difference, but CarPlay will not let you use Gmaps which means you'll have to use Apple Maps, which means you'll be lost!
9:55 am: The EcoSport gets a floating 6.5-inch centre mounted display, gets Apple Car play and Android Auto connectivity. The thing is that unlike the Tata Nexon Ford's display is placed a little lower, and while this might make it seem in the way, its large chunky interface makes it easy to use without having to take your eyes of the road for much time.
9:50 am: The top-spec variant also gets a reverse camera, 6 airbags, while the Titanium just below it gets climate control, a large 8" touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, keyless entry, start-stop button, reverse parking sensors, and much more as standard. A cooled glove box, tilt/telescopic steering, dual airbags and ABS are standard across all variants.
9:45 am: The Ford EcoSport in India will get two engine trims the 1.5-litre diesel motor with 100 hp and 205 Nm torque, and the all-new 1.5-litre petrol engine that makes 120 bhp a 150 Nm of torque. Although in comparison to the peppy 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine on the outgoing car, the 1.5-litre engine(tuned for fuel efficiency) feels a little sluggish.
9:40 am: The Ford EcoSport continues Ford's tradition of great ride quality, it gets the well-balanced suspension setup from the outgoing model which means its still just as fun through the corners. Although Ford insists that there have been minor tweaks to the suspension to improve ride and handling, for the most part, it remains like the EcoSport, with minimum body roll, and stays stable over bad roads.
9:30 am: Pricing will be one of the more important aspects of the Ford Ecosport, considering that the Tata Nexon has seriously undercut the segment leader the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, beating it in terms of price by almost a lakh. We expect Ford to price the Ecosport in the range between 6-10 lakh. If the 2017 EcoSport intends to return competitively, it needs to be within this price range.