[liner4u]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

What does internal word mean? Here i'm hearing from dealerships that they have already received material to "decorate" the show rooms and expect the launch between 8-15 June. They are expecting a display vehicle & a demo car as well (no clue on variants/engines etc).

The person I spoke to is in marketing team and is actively involved in launches. It need not be 100% true as I am expecting it to launch soon too. If what your saying is the date of the launch I'll be the happiest

[uneet]

I spoke with the dealer here and he says the tentative pricing for the Titanium Diesel should be between 11L - 11.5L on road Delhi.

Now Iam confused as I feel its better off to look at Duster 110 bhp for 12.5L on road.

[damager21]

Originally Posted by liner4u

Hey Guys,

Had an internal word from Ford that the car will be launched in end July or August !!

Whoever communicated this to you is giving BS. Ford has officially confirmed launch in June and in fact in the following video, Ford India MD has also confirmed launch in June. So there should be no debate on month of launch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vT126dUxXo

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by uneet

I spoke with the dealer here and he says the tentative pricing for the Titanium Diesel should be between 11L - 11.5L on road Delhi.

Now Iam confused as I feel its better off to look at Duster 110 bhp for 12.5L on road.

At Rs.10,89,311/- ex.showroom Pune, Duster 85Ps Option RxL with Sat Nav seems so much more attractive now. If space is a requirement and if you were thinking of trading it to the loaded feature list of ecosport.

[handsofsteel]

Had been to lathangi ford at JP nagar today. I was told that a display car was expected on 10 June. Isn't that a bit late if the launch is on schedule? What came as a shocker was the SA's assertion that the car would be priced at 10 L OTR onwards (this is at bangalore). Guess only time will tell.

[ishaanranderia]

Originally Posted by handsofsteel

Had been to lathangi ford at JP nagar today. I was told that a display car was expected on 10 June. Isn't that a bit late if the launch is on schedule? What came as a shocker was the SA's assertion that the car would be priced at 10 L OTR onwards (this is at bangalore). Guess only time will tell.

Honestly i think all this high price talk is just to make it seem like the car will be expensive so when they launch it cheaper it will create more excitement. I am certain Ford is not that foolish (especially after new Fiesta and months and months of testing the car and consumer feedback) to price it wrong now, this is their star product and they will be prudent enough with it. Just my speculation but we will hopefully know in a week.

[razor4077]

Spoke to one of the Ford dealers in town. Their training car (to train the staff on the features etc) has arrived and is in their showroom basement. I had an offer to go take a dekko and a drive around the basement but I declined, preferring to wait for the demo vehicle. A basement is hardly the ideal place for a first impression!
Demo vehicle is expected this week and will be the Ecoboost variant. They aren't sure about the prices yet, though as expected, I was told that the Ecoboost would be the most expensive. Bookings to definitely start this month is what he said.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Sirji, on a purely consumer viewpoint, what makes you attracted to the Ecosport compared to the Yeti or any other similar vehicle you have owned or used ? Thanks in advance.

I just like the vehicle's looks. I like its generally affordable nature. I also like its great compact-ness, excellent technology innovation and practicality for city, highway and countryside use.

It is THE ideal car for a young, small, nuclear family in today's Urban, Semi-Rural or Rural India. It would have been my vehicle of choice even a short while ago had it had what I want - things like 6 Airbags including side curtain airbags, an all wheel drive or 4x4 system, ASR, Hill Hold, EDL etc like the Yeti has.

Effectively it would have been an extremely viable, significantly less expensive alternative to a Yeti. I think that if it had all of the above and came with that lovely EcoBoost engine, then the price of about Rs 12 lacs on road Bangalore for the top most variant would be a real clincher, even though it is a petrol vehicle.

So for that matter, would the Duster have been a super buy, had they satisfied our cravings for those safety features and other quality, functional tech gizmos.

The thing is, that as more of these kinds of vehicles come in and proliferate, it will give consumers a smart, sassy alternative to indulge their passions for weekending and "lifestyle" choices like exploration slightly off the beaten track without having to depend on the standard poorer quality, cheaper options like Gypsy, Scorpio, Bolero, Safari, Sumo, Tavera, etc.

People want comfort, safety, quality, class, functionality and style, all at a fair price. What we've been getting so far in India have been either really crude, cheap stuff or acceptable International quality at really expensive prices.

The EcoSport will be one of those that help fill the huge void out there. This void that I personally have been writing about through emails to the editors of pretty much all the car magazines since 2004, as well as via numerous rants on this Forum as well!

Here is some stuff on the EcoBoost Engine I am attaching. I saw it on FaceBook and downloaded it. Uploading it here for everyone's consumption.
Cheers.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by GTO

Search stats (for top queries run on Team-BHP). Doesn't look like interest in the Duster is fading away at all.

Of course, one reason could be that people don't need to search for the EcoSport. It's 1st on our homepage. Still...

Attachment 1091886

That one reason is very much responsible it seems. When you take a look at the google trends (India-specific) the comparison is so interesting that you might want to spare a couple of moments...

http://www.google.co.in/trends/explo...cosport&cmpt=q

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I just like the vehicle's looks. I like its generally affordable nature. I also like its great compact-ness, excellent technology innovation and practicality for city, highway and countryside use.....

Thanks for your thoughts. Almost similar to my reason to like it. The wait is already way beyond imagination. I remember the days I was googling every language available on earth to get a glimpse of some review or specs on this beauty. I keep interacting with Ford India admin right from my Fiesta days (2009), they were kind enough to throw me lot of complimentary stuff over the 2 year ownership, including a sandalwood momento for referring the brand

Hopefully I may come back to the Ford family, fingers crossed. Ecosport Urban Discoveries is a smart campaign Ford executed. There are plenty of videos from different cities which any potential buyer could relish until the real thing is available for test drive.

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by uneet

Now Iam confused as I feel its better off to look at Duster 110 bhp for 12.5L on road.

The correct variant to variant comparison should be Rxz for Duster and Titanium for Ecosport. For 12.6 on road Delhi Duster Rxl, you do get a bigger car and more engine power but its seriously low on feature list, its a barebone car at that price point.

11.0 if it is should be a very good price for Ecosport on road Delhi, if this is true then the Trend variant should be somewhere around 10 which makes a good vfm quotient as it has ABS and basic features.

[ishaanranderia]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

That one reason is very much responsible it seems. When you take a look at the google trends (India-specific) the comparison is so interesting that you might want to spare a couple of moments...

http://www.google.co.in/trends/explo...cosport&cmpt=q

With the India specific graph in mind
You can see the spike in interest for Duster was greatest at it's launch in India, ecosport though present in our mind, we should see the spike from the general public once Ford starts it's marketing campaign and launches the car.

[damager21]

I am disappointed with the lack of safety features in Ambiente and Trend version. Having gone through the specs in detail I think Trend variant ticks most of my requirements and I would have gone ahead with my booking had it come with Driver Airbag, Passenger Airbag and 3.5" MFD screen with rear parking sensor.

While post purchase I can still install rear parking sensors there is no alternative to airbags.

I think most of the other features like Auto AC, Map reading lamps, Cooled glove box, Fuel computer in cluster, Driver window one touch, Push button start, SYNC, Fog lamp, Roof rail, Armrest and Lumbar support are good to have.

It seems Ambiente variant is just on papers to launch EcoSport in the 5 lakh range and hence gain further publicity & media mileage. Ford should have offered better safety features in Trend. Given the difference in features, what this also means is a huge price difference between Trend and Titanium.

[Mpower]

Ecosport is an brilliant little ute from Ford and just what the yuppie customer wants. It will win a lot more hearts and wallets than the Fiesta that its based on.

It looks chic like a baby X5/X6 and is the perfect companion to conquer the urban jungle.

My only gripe is the tailgate mounted spare that sticks out like a sore thumb. An external spare like that suits old school butch looking utes like Scorp or Fortuner.

Not only that, even the old school utes have done away with the external spare. Last one to lose it being the Storme

[razor4077]

Originally Posted by Mpower

.

My only gripe is the tailgate mounted spare that sticks out like a sore thumb. An external spare like that suits old school butch looking utes like Scorp or Fortuner.

Not only that, even all the old school utes have done away with the external spare.

But take that external spare away and it loses all its suv-ish credentials! It simply needs that spare to claim itself as an suv as opposed to a large hatch on stilts.