2017 Ford EcoSport facelift to get a design blend of Kuga and Edge; AWD option on cards

American carmaker Ford has been working on a facelifted version of its compact SUV EcoSport for quite some time. It is now being said that the car will be unveiled at the Sao Paulo International Motor Show starting on November 8 and ahead of the unveiling, many reports from Europe shed light on the design of the new version.

The design of the new EcoSport will be a blend of Ford's Edge and Kuga SUVs. Jeremy Schofield, manager of SUV communications at Ford, told Autocar UK that the new version of the compact SUV will have a similar face to its larger siblings. This means the new EcoSport will get a revised large front grille with sharp edges that will be flanked by newly designed sweptback headlamps. The headlamp unit will also flaunt integrated daytime running lamps limited to top variants.

Minor changes, which compliment the changes of the front, can be expected at the rear. The rear door mounted spare wheel is one of the highlights in the design of the current EcoSport. This will be carried forward for South American and Asian regions, whereas the Euro-spec will do away with it.

Schofield also hinted at the addition of the all-wheel-drive in the new EcoSport. "15% of B-spec SUVs are four-wheel-drive," he said. "It's a small but significant proportion."

In the interior, the basic design of the dashboard will remain the same, while the instrument panel will get a new inlay. New steering wheel design, instrument panel and centre console can be expected. The SYNC 2 infotainment system of the current model will be updated to a more advanced Sync3 infotainment technology.

In addition to the reworked current engine line-up, a new 1.5-litre "Dragon" three-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine is also linked with the new EcoSport. For India, the powertrains are expected to continue without any changes. The current engine options are 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engine, which is tuned to dish out 99bhp of power. The petrol mills are a 1.5-litre Ti-VCT and the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine.

The new EcoSport is expected to go on sale in the global markets by the end of 2016 and India launch is expected in mid-2017.