The much awaited compact EcoSport SUV from Ford will finally arrive in India by mid-June.
According to CarTrade, the car will launch in India by the mid of June soon after the completion of Ford India's Urban Discoveries campaign.
"American auto major Ford has announced that it would launch the much-awaited compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Ford EcoSport by the middle of June 2013," CarTrade reported.
As part of Ford India's 12-city campaign road show, EcoSport will be displayed at 12 selected cities across the country, out of which Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Kochi have already held public viewing events of the vehicle. According to reports, the campaign will mark its end by the last week of May.
Speaking about the campaign, Joginder Singh, Ford India President and Managing Director said, "Consumers across these 12 cities will have an opportunity to see, touch and feel their EcoSport every weekend leading up to the launch. We have taken a step further by giving them an opportunity to drive and experience compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) out in the open and share their product experience."
In India, the vehicle is expected to come with a 1-litre EcoBoost petrol engine that will give 120bhp power, or the 1.5L diesel engine which would offer 90bhp.
The petrol EcoBoost EcoSport is expected to deliver a mileage of 17 kilometres per litre. Last week, the Economic Times citing an insider reported that the base model of EcoSport will be priced ₹5.9 - ₹6 lakh and the high-end variants will be priced in the ₹9 lakh bracket.
The SUV is likely to be positioned as a compact sub-4 metre SUV, which would exempt it from additional excise duty. Ford's new SUV will be pitted against Renault Duster, Mahindra Quanto and Premier Rio. Apparently, Ford is looking to challenge the premium hatchback or compact sedan market by pricing EcoSport lower than the top variants of Maruti's DZire and Hyundai's i20.
