The New Ford EcoSport SUV unveiled in Auto Expo 2012 Delhi
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The CEO of Ford motor Alan Mullaly stated that India will be one of the leading countries in the growth of Ford’s market worldwide. Ford launched its compact SUV named EcoSport in the Delhi Auto Expo on Wednesday. He was quoted saying "Majority of our growth now in terms of production facility and volumes will be focused on serving the Asia Pacific customers starting with India,” The CEO of Ford Motor also said that the new sub-4 meter SUV was developed by the company after doing huge research on the consumers in the Indian automotive market.
Ford EcoSport is expected to be priced around Rs. 7-9 lacs. This compact Sports Utility Vehicle can become a game changer in the Indian markets as it makes the SUV cars affordable for thousands of young and aspiring consumers. The experts believe that EcoSport has all the potential to emulate the success that Ford Figo got, if the pricing is stable. The Vice President of Frost & Sullivan V G Ramakrishnan said "It has to be priced very aggressively. If it is priced below 10 lakh, the customer would find value in terms of SUV at a sedan pricing," He further added "Ford should relive it experience of Figo's pricing and related customer acceptance and look at EcoSport to boost customer acceptance and volumes,." The car manufacturer will understand the importance of price as there was a lukewarm response to its New Fiesta.
The EcoSport which was launched in the Delhi Auto Expo will be eligible for a low excise duty which was meant for other compact cars. This will further help the company to sell it at a low price. This new SUV sports a 1 liter boost petrol engine that has the power to deliver 120 PS and 170 NM torque. EcoSport will be better than the Fiesta as it has 30% higher fuel efficiency as compared to the 1.6 liter petrol engine of Fiesta. It also emits 20% lesser Co2. Its petrol version will be coming at the end of the year while the diesel version of 1.5 versions will be followed up after the petrol version.
The EcoSport will be built in its Chennai plant and India is among the first countries that are getting to drive this along with some countries in South America. India is the second best market for Ford after China and Ford expects the trend to continue with its EcoSport.
Ford has made a nice presence in the Indian markets and EcoSport is the best SUV model that can help in continuing the trend. Ford has target of making its annual global sales around eight million by the end of 2015 and for achieving that, the main focus will be on African and Asian markets. These two regions will be contributing around 60 to 70 % in the growth of the firm for the next decade. Ford has already invested more than $1billion in India and the company will again invest around $1billion by making a new plant in Gujarat in the Sanand area.