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Crumple zones are portions of the car that are deliberately built weak compared to the passenger compartment so that in the event of a crash, maximum damage is taken by the crumple zone while the passenger area remains intact. So crumple zones are effective only if the rest of the car is sturdy. In cars that employ paper thin sheet metal, the whole car is one large crumple zone that does not help anybody.

http://www.hk-phy.org/contextual/mec...impul04_e.html

Duster has ride, while Ecosport has everything else. :)

I have a couple of open questions that I haven't seen answered elsewhere:

1. The EcoBoost engine is claimed to have an overboost feature that increases the torque from 170 Nm to 200 Nm for a few seconds. Is this present & activated in the Indian EcoSports? How does it perform? I've not seen any mention of it in the review.
2. Its been stated that Deloitte are managing the bookings. However, all the pre-bookings that have occurred have been with sales people in the dealerships, and not Deloitte representatives. Are they covering off a more back-end role?
3. Ford has been hyping the EcoBoost engine in particular - in the media, the Discoveries campaign and even in the showrooms. However, the sales people are discouraging customers from this variant stating that there are only a few EcoBoosts in the allocation, and that there are large waiting periods (I've heard 4, 6 and 9 months from different people). Why is there such a mismatch between the buzz and ground reality? Are Ford facing supply shortages of the engine, or are they reluctant to import the engine with its associated duties? Ford ought to remember that by placing the EcoBoost as a premium engine, they are probably not going to pass on the <1.2L <4m benefits to the customer but will use it to offset the cost of engine technology.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to talk to a long-time family friend of ours, who is part of the topmost Management team at Ford India. While talking of Ecosport, he was a bit reluctant to spell out the pricing strategy, but during the informal talks, he did drop some hints which I am compiling below:
1. The introductory pricing shall start in the range 5.49 lakhs or so (I am not sure if this is ex-factory or ex-showroom)
2. The diesel start price will be nearly 1 lakh premium over Petrol, or even less.
3. The company intends to encourage people to opt for Trend rather than Ambiente, and Titanium (O ) rather than Titanium, and hence difference of pricing between Ambiente and Trend, (and for the other set) will be “margnial”. But the difference between Trend and Titanium will be “significant”.
4. The Ford top management has been in a huddle over pricing, and has been taking regular feedback from PR and Sales personnel. They are also surfing the social media, including internet and Team-BHP (I had told him I was a member, and he said this was one of the sites they were looking at). Thus they are getting an idea of what is immediately acceptable.
5. Depending on the initial response the prices will be revised (Although he did not say so, I assume he meant upward revision).
6. The Fords are very upset over the complaints received from several prospective customers against specific dealers charging a premium over the pre-booking charges. Ford has already written an e-mail to each dealer on charging just 50000/- as pre-booking amount and it is to be completely refundable. A penalty will be imposed only for those customers who book and cancel after the launch.
7. The pricing will be “hopefully” frozen by this Saturday, the 22nd June, 2013.
Hope this is useful.
Mukul Kulshrestha

Probably the falling rupee is creating havoc to thier pricing math and hence discouraging or just want to build hype.

Thanks for the info.
Companies should learn to simplify the options they provide. In this case, Ford should have kept just one fully loaded high end version rather than keeping an additional (O) version. And now they expect the salesforce to push customers to buy the (O) version.

Motorbash pricing difference of approximately 1 lakh between trend and titanium was unbelievable. You are getting too many features for 1 lakh -
Alloy Wheels, Air bags, Sync, Rear parking sensors, key-less entry, cd/mp3, fuel computer, auto AC and what not.
IMO the features add to 1.5 lakhs at-least.

Seems Ford is going all out launch the car. I got this mailer today for pre-booking.

OT but this is not true. Rigidity for the passenger cabin comes through the spaceframe/super structure of the car body and not from the sheet metal.

I booked the Titanium Diesel (Red) and paid Rs. 1,00,000 as booking amount since the dealer said I will get the car faster. Now, I got a call yesterday saying that if you get a call from Ford them tell them that you have paid Rs. 50,000 only!

Looks like Ford has indeed given them strict instructions to not overcharge for the booking amount. I have anyway been promised 2nd week of July as approx delivery schedule.

Another issue I fear is that most dealers will pressurize customers to buy the insurance from them only. How should we react? Does anyone have Ford MD's email address?

No offense, but I am sorry to say that by doing this we are indeed helping the dealers in their malpractices. In such cases, how will even Ford be able to curtail such practices if we are helping dealers in doing so.

MD's email address is write2md@ford.com

@floyd.bell, I totally agree. I asked them to refund the 50,000 but they say that the car will be billed in max. 1 week and as soon as they share the engine & chassis number I have to make the complete payment!

Now, if I ask him to cancel, I will have to re-book and the allotment will happen as per current waiting list which is almost 2 months long!

What can I do now? We have to give in to such dealers at times. As long as he is not asking for a extra premium I am ok, else I will take the matter to the highest level at Ford.

You cannot be pressurized to get the insurance from the dealer. Shop around and am sure will get a better deal. If you get a lower quote from somewhere else, take it to the dealer and ask him to match that. You have already made the mistake of paying 50000 Rs extra already

Confirmed from Ford, the mandatory accessories thing was dealers doing. Not all rosy though, 3000/- booking cancellation charges are in the hands of the dealer whether to charge or not. Also Insurance & Extended Warranty are mandatory from the dealer during delivery.

Reply to my mail from Ford regarding 3000/- booking cancellation charges:

"We once again wish to inform you that the booking cancellation which are purely under the dealership purview as per the terms & conditions captured by them in their order booking form."

Who states the above? Ford? I don't believe any manufacturer will state that.