Ford India begins shipping out the EcoSport to dealers

Ford India has begun producing the highly awaited EcoSport compact crossover, at its Maramalainagar factory, off Chennai. The production of the EcoSport is taking place on a new $142 million assembly line. The new assembly line that adds capacity to the Maramalainagar factory, is capable of producing the EcoSport in no less than 10 variants. 

With an eye on the future, the American car maker has designed the assembly line to be flexible enough to produce cars in six different body styles. With the production of the EcoSport on at full swing, Ford has begun dispatching the crossover to its dealerships across the country.  However, a launch date for the EcoSport is yet to be announced, thus keeping excited buyers on tenterhooks.

Given the big demand that the crossover might witness once the price announcement is out and deliveries commence, the EcoSport dispatches hint at a stock build up at dealership stockyards in order to keep waiting periods in check. A similar tactic was followed by Honda in the run up to the Amaze compact sedan's launch.

While Ford dealers have begun taking bookings for the EcoSport, the expected delivery periods for the crossover vary from dealer to dealer. The EcoSport could be slotted between the Mahindra Quanto and the Renault Duster in terms of price and positioning. A short waiting period for the EcoSport will make the crossover look attractive to buyers unwilling to endure the long waits that many Duster buyers are having to contend with. 

Ford has plans of making India the hub for EcoSport exports, leveraging on the country's low cost-high quality manufacturing expertise. The made-in-India Ford EcoSport is expected to follow in the footsteps of the Figo, in that the crossover could be exported to over three dozen countries across the globe.

The Figo hatchback, Ford's best selling car in India, is exported to 38 countries across the world. Most variants of the India-spec EcoSport that measure under 4 meters in length, will get excise sops. This, as the crossover (under the Indian government's norms) qualifies as a small car in terms of engine displacement and length. A starting price close to 6 lakh rupees for the base variant, has the potential of making the EcoSport a runaway success.

The EcoSport sold in India will be available with three engine options, a 1 liter-3 cylinder turbo petrol unit, a 1.5 Liter naturally aspirated petrol motor and a 1.5 liter turbo diesel engine. All three engines get a 5 speed manual gearbox as standard. The 1.5 liter petrol motor gets a 6 speed dual clutch automatic gearbox as an option. Click here to read Team-BHP's comprehensive review of the Ford EcoSport.