[GTO]

Mod Note: Our EcoSport S Report has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!

Thanks to BHPian Tharian for this pic!

3 months up since the car has been launched
About 20 requests for a media car have been made
Several emails & messages exchanged
And many phone calls later...

...We are emailed curtly and in one line that

As mentioned to you a while back, the vehicle isn’t available.

In these 3 months, it has been made amply clear by Ford that they don't have an EcoSport test-drive vehicle for Team-BHP. I've been part of the industry long enough to recognise a cold shoulder when I see one. Hence, we are left with two alternatives:

• Option 1 (Borrow): A generous Team-BHP fan lends us his / her car. Sincere request to all of you out there for the same & we promise to take the utmost care of it . Thanks in advance! As a small token of appreciation, we'll gift your car any accessory or extra you got your eyes on (be it a tyre or ICE upgrade, even an extended warranty & service plan). Please reply on this thread or PM me if we could borrow your car for 1 - 2 days. If you aren't registered on Team-BHP, request to drop me an email on g t o @ team-bhp . com (without the spaces). We need to get our hands on the "S" variant - EcoBoost or TDCI, any engine is welcome. If you aren't from Bombay, don't worry - we'll fly to wherever you are based. Should you so prefer, your + your car's identity will be kept 100% anonymous. Thanks again - very grateful!

• Option 2 (Buy): If no Team-BHP member or guest has the car we are looking for, Team-BHP will buy an EcoSport S for a very short period, complete its review and then sell the car off.

One thing I am absolutely certain of = Not even the manufacturer of a car can block Team-BHP's access to it. Whether this car or any other model in the future, we are damn persistent and will do WHATEVER it takes to get our hands on one, as its very important to Team-BHP's primary purpose of providing unbiased information on the Indian Car Scene (Official Reviews are a big part of this mission).

I find it peculiar that Ford suddenly doesn't have test-drive cars for us. All of the Fords we've reviewed in the recent years - from the Freestyle to the Endeavour and the Mustang to the Figo Sports - were sent to us in Bombay without hesitation. Suddenly however, the EcoSport "isn't available" to Team-BHP, despite continuous followups for months. What's worse, neither is a timeline given to us on when it might be expected, despite us explicitly asking for it. Team-BHP has been officially reviewing Ford cars for 8 years now, and this is the FIRST time since 2010 that I am hearing a car isn't available for us.

So what happened suddenly? I don't know. For our part, we know that we've always played it fair & reviewed cars objectively. See the likes & dislikes of any of our Ford reviews (or any other brand), and even owners of those cars won't debate with us over the observations. The only notable Ford thread that went live after the EcoSport media drives is the Endeavour Chassis one and I sure hope it has nothing to do with the situation we find ourselves in. If anything, Ford owes an answer to Endeavour owners! Renault was big enough to send us the Captur after this thread, while the TUV300 Plus is on its way to us after this thread. If any manufacturer thinks they can 'block access' to cars, I guess they are stuck in 1990.

Were we part of the EcoSport media drive that took place earlier in the year? Of course, we were. But as all BHPians (and manufacturers) know by now, the handful of hours that we get with a car at a 1 - 2 day media drive isn't sufficient for a Team-BHP Official Review (link to related thread). Heck, for most cars, our photoshoot alone takes up more time than what we get at media events. For all of our recent reviews, be it the Amaze, Creta Facelift, Yaris and even the S-Class, we had the car to ourselves in Bombay. Reason = Quality takes time. We spend a lot of time understanding a new car, shooting 1,000+ pictures & reviewing it in detail. We write anywhere between 6,000 - 8,000 words and publish 200 - 300 images. Plus, while I personally cannot go to every media drive, I make it a point to comprehensively test-drive each & every car that is there in Mumbai. This is important to me as I proof-read every Official Review before it goes live (word by word).

Whatever the actual reason for us not getting a car, Ford needn't sweat. We'll always be more neutral than you could ever 'aspire' to be (pun intended), Ford. I'll be the first to state that the EcoSport & Endeavour are my top choices in their respective segments, as proven by my several posts on the forum. Needless to say, we will review the EcoSport as objectively as we do all cars, no matter what source we get the demo vehicle from. It's our duty to Team-BHP's readers.

Notes to Ford:

• In the time since its launch, you have produced 10,000+ EcoSports (source). Am surprised that, as India's foremost automotive website, Team-BHP couldn't get ONE of them for a review?

• Team-BHP has 20 - 25 lakh monthly readers who trust it for unbiased + detailed reviews of all cars (including Fords, by the way).

• Remember that members of this community constitute the reason behind your company's existence. WE ARE THE CAR OWNERS who buy your cars & pay your bills. Whenever in doubt, click here.

• My call & whatsapp message to your team dated 2nd August are still unanswered. At the very least, have the courtesy to respond. Basic etiquette, manners and all that....

• If you still insist the actual reason is logistical, well, your lack of preparation is alarming!! Get your act together. Last I checked, the EcoSport is your best selling car in India and hence, the most important. How can you NOT have media cars available in Mumbai, where a majority of the automotive media is based? Every car that has been launched after the EcoSport S is already here! Even if you were to do the drive in reverse gear, it wouldn't take 3 months to get from Chennai to Mumbai.

• Some trivia for you = our most viewed Official Review is that of the EcoSport with a whopping 1.2 crore views. THINK about that for a moment:

[GTO]

EDIT on 10th August, 2018

Thank you for the 43 Ford EcoSports!

In less than 24 hours of this thread being posted, 43 generous owners of 2018 model EcoSports have stepped forward, offering their new steeds to Team-BHP for an Official Review. It takes a lot to lend your beloved possession to someone else for a test & photoshoot - thank you! We are incredibly grateful. Your love & support for Team-BHP always leaves us overwhelmed.

Of these 43 cars, 14 are 'EcoSport S' variants, the EXACT variant that we have been waiting for since May. What Ford couldn't do in 3 months, EcoSport customers have done in 1 day.

And what Ford couldn't do with 10,000+ EcoSports produced, EcoSport owners did with just one (each). They went to great extents too = A gentleman wrote in offering his EcoSport S that is currently in the workshop for some minor accident damage, while another offered to drive down from Chennai to Mumbai!! There were a few who even offered a car belonging to their relatives (sibling, in-laws etc.)….after taking the necessary permissions, of course. 3 Team-BHP fans wrote in presenting their EcoSport S cars which are booked, but yet to be delivered! And then there were Sreesh & Abhinash who spoke to local Ford dealers about making their demo vehicles available for a Team-BHP Official Review.

This weekend, Team-BHP will be driving an EcoSport S EcoBoost variant that has been generously made available to us by BHPian Justchells.

A huge shoutout to the following Team-BHP fans & well-wishers for offering us their EcoSports (or those of their relatives). Thank you!

Justchells from Bangalore
Fiat_Tarun from Pune
Vkumar from NCR
Sunrock from Chennai
BHPian from North India (prefers anonymity)
Spectre13 from Mumbai
Anumod from Hyderabad
Kanishka88 from Mumbai
W.A.G.7 from Pune
Udayjani from Chennai
Prakritij from Assam
Sumanth Ramuni from Bangalore
Keerthan Kumar from Coimbatore
Raghav Sood from Delhi
Shree Ransubhe
Harpreet from the Andaman Islands!
Ankur Goel from Delhi
Manoj
Kamptan Paul from Tripura
Suhrid Sarkar from Kolkata
Varix
Manish Naik
Nilesh Vyas from Indore
Vineet Sharma from Ludhiana
Shishant Paliwal
Aditya Dhiman
Kunal Gupta from Bangalore
Rahul Singh
Dr. Arora from Udaipur
….the rest preferred to stay anonymous!

And of course
BHPian GRAND23 for requesting an S owner from his office
Selfdrive for asking an EcoSport-owning pal

If I missed someone, my sincere apologies. Please email me on g t o @team-bhp .com and I will have your name added. But again, THANK YOU! Super, super grateful for the trust & generosity.

[Vid6639]

This is quite an unpleasant surprise. Considering that it is one of the most popular cars on the forum and one that has been garnering a lot of interest, why the media car isn't available is quite bewildering. It's a lame excuse imo. The car cannot be not available and we know manufacturers even ask dealers to give us cars for 2 days to review if they don't have them.

Anyways, I can ask my neighbour for a Dragon 1.5L Automatic for review in Bangalore.

[VineetG]

Looks like they are avoiding Team BHP as this is the only media source of a significant size that does not fall for the manufacturer's "marketing pressures" and does brutally honest and exceptionally detailed reviews, bringing out even the smallest faults to notice, something that the commercial media does not bother to, or deliberately ignores.

I would say, treat this as a testimony to team-bhp's unbiased and extremely professional reputation, something that the Ford marketing managers seems to be afraid of.

Looking forward to the review (even though i have no intention of buying one)

Rgds

[VKumar]

I have a 1.5 Dragon Trend manual with me (Actually no more with me but can have it for a day or two or even more when needed). T-BHP review needs a Titanium though. But hey, I guess T-BHP has already done the petrol Ecosport review!

[Gannu_1]

My goodness, this is such a shame! And a one liner response to our request?!

I hope this isn't the recent Endeavour's chassis thread that has lead Ford to turn a cold shoulder on us.

No sweat though! I'm sure your inbox would be flooded with responses in the next couple of hours. A super sweet offer in return too!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

why the media car isn't available is quite bewildering. It's a lame excuse imo.

Especially surprising because 99.99% of the cars arrive in Mumbai in 2 - 4 weeks of launch. Sure, due to monsoons, trucker strikes & the lunar eclipse, I'll give another 2 weeks. But 3 months? No way. There is more to this than meets the eye. I wish the people promoting the EcoSport were as competent as the folks building the car.

Anyway, doesn't make a difference. We will source an EcoSport S and all future Fords by hook or by crook.

Anyways, I can ask my neighbour for a Dragon 1.5L Automatic for review in Bangalore.

Thanks buddy! But we need the "S" variant.

Originally Posted by VKumar

I have a 1.5 Dragon Trend manual with me (Actually no more with me but can have it for a day or two or even more when needed)

Many thanks, very grateful! Much appreciated. Need the "S variant".

[thoma]

So mean of Ford to deny test drives, media or customer, especially when not even stating a reason for that! I have become a Ford fan after my Figo purchase, not with other car purchases except VW. But the dealership experience and coming to know such experiences including the cold shoulder towards the Endeavour query is leaving a bad taste in the mouth.

Can't we get the car from any dealership for a day, or have Ford blocked that too purposefully?

[SmartCat]

So Ford is "katti" with Team-BHP? Looks like the company (2.79% market share) in run by kindergarten kids.

But now I understand why Consumer Reports buys their cars
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intern...-industry.html

[roby_dk]

Is this real that they don't have any car for review. I made my mind for Endeavour after reading the detailed review on TBhp. It is strange they are showing such attitude, this is a loss for them as they are loosing sales. I have seen a general trend where our forum members book cars after being reviewed here.
I think anumod or n.devdath should try contacting Anurag Mehrotra Ford India MD for further clarification. Let me also send a message to him on WhatsApp.


Edit: Sent a link to this thread on WhatsApp.

[Ashutosh]

Dear TEAM-BHP, maybe they are now more interested in video viewership s than the text kind. As it has more eyeballs than the traditional and more imaginative medium.



Show them the numbers there too!

PS- the YouTube vloggers are now the new favourites for PR teams, worldwide

[The Brutailer]

Maybe you could rent it for 2 days from a car rental service? Or maybe request one of the Ford Dealers in Mumbai for the same in exchange of some free marketing publicity for the dealer? I'm sure they won't deny Team-BHP!

But the news doesn't come as a surprise to me though. Most of the publications are paid very well to write a biased review glorifying a mediocre car. It's the reason why I stopped my subscriptions of automobile magazines.

Good Luck GTO. Love your passion and drive.

[itwasntme]

Reeks of arrogance coupled with a childish wish to slight T-BHP management. Hope you get the required S variant and provide the detailed, unbiased, objective and inclusive review that we are used to reading.

So there, Ford India!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by VineetG

Looks like they are avoiding Team BHP as this is the only media source of a significant size that does not fall for the manufacturer's "marketing pressures" and does brutally honest and exceptionally detailed reviews

Whatever the cost, we will NEVER be influenced by manufacturers in our reviews or run something as silly as sponsored articles & advertorials (the trend today).

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I hope this isn't the recent Endeavour's chassis thread that has lead Ford to turn a cold shoulder on us.

Originally Posted by thoma

such experiences including the cold shoulder towards the Endeavour query is leaving a bad taste in the mouth.

I hope so too. If it is indeed the Endeavour Chassis thread, all I can tell Ford is to GROW UP. What they really need to do is provide an answer to Endeavour owners on the missing chassis member. The silence is deafening.

Can't we get the car from any dealership for a day, or have Ford blocked that too purposefully?

I don't think any dealership will have the guts to fight with Ford (for obvious reasons).

Doesn't make a difference. I am booking an EcoSport this week if we aren't able to borrow a member's car.

Originally Posted by smartcat

But now I understand why Consumer Reports buys their cars

Well said! I deeply respect Consumer Reports. But they don't have the vibrant community that Team-BHP does . Am hopeful that a BHPian has the exact car we want.

Originally Posted by roby_dk

Is this real that they don't have any car for review.

Again, this is the first time in 8 years of reviewing Fords that something like this has happened. Even a relatively rare car like the Mustang was made available to us on an expedited basis.

But this time, things are different. As I mentioned, I've been part of the industry long enough to know when a manufacturer doesn't want to give us a car.

Doesn't matter. Team-BHP WILL REVIEW an EcoSport S, whatever way we have to.

[Ford5]

Ford India, please take note (I know you are). Me, my immediate friends and family and our team bhp community appreciate your cars and also your lower service costs segment by segment & vehicle by vehicle. No doubt you made some bold claims and also backed it up in dealer service costs and experience thus getting you genuine buyers who appreciate a car for it's strengths & still like it despite it's weaknesses while not talking about kitna deti hai mileage.

But for whatever reason if you cannot arrange a test drive vehicle for team-bhp, let me reassure you, that many a Ford fan here will be let down. We Ford (see post #10) and non Ford owners on team-bhp take our cars seriously and our team-bhp reviews of every other car manufacturer selling in India even more seriously.

PS: Kindly get it done soon. We know you will be happy if we chose option 2, but then again, that's not the point. Save the "S" heritage in the eyes of your buyers. Let hundreds of "S" variants be sold by the influence prospective petrol heads ( "S" variant designed and marketed more for petrol heads right Ford India? ) can get here on Team-BHP.