[ampere]

Originally Posted by Guna

IMO the EcoSport is going to remain a niche car (will be happy to be proven wrong). You need that extra foot of length to do numbers @12+ lacs.

+1. Simply because at prices +/- 10L, common public would expect decent space and also good boot. If ES does not satisfy that part, it would appeal
only to folks to whom it answers for their requirements. This would only translate to urban sales. Ford I think would not be bothered about it,
as they would be targeting that sector only.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by sansvk

^^ The best available deal for a Diesel Titanium New Fiesta in Bangalore is around 11.76L OTR. Would someone pay that much for a sub 4m vehicle?
It makes sense to buy an ES only if the top end Bangalore OTR is at the max 10L.

Fiesta doesn't enjoy excise duty benefits that the Ecosport would enjoy. Also, remember that the huge road tax component of the OTR price is also dependent on the ex-showroom price, which means a considerable savings in showroom price would lead to a much lesser road tax too. So the OTR prices could be much less even if production costs remains the same for both models.

Bangalore OTR is probably the highest in India, thanks to the road tax rates of around 18% or so. So I dont think Bangalore OTR is a good benchmark to look at. Ex-showroom Delhi would be the price that gets advertised most likely. I'm pretty sure it would not cross the 7-digit mark even for Diesel Titanium version.

If there are enough people willing to buy an i20 at almost similar price, I see no reason why they would walk away from ES just because it is sub 4m. Given its width, it would definitely look big from front and rear profiles and would command enough respect when faced head on in a highway.

[tachobells]

Originally Posted by sansvk

^^ The best available deal for a Diesel Titanium New Fiesta in Bangalore is around 11.76L OTR. Would someone pay that much for a sub 4m vehicle?
It makes sense to buy an ES only if the top end Bangalore OTR is at the max 10L.

Well, I'm not sure if that's a likely scenario. With the high road tax in Blr, it has to be < 8.5 Lakhs Ex-showroom for the top end model to have an OTR < 10L.

To understand the case further, let's look at two of its competitors.

1. Mahindra Quanto - starts at 6 something to top end of 7.6 L.
2. Duster - 7 something to 11.4 L

Quanto was a product of frugal engineering where they cut the Xylo and reused most of the pieces. Duster was an existing product in Europe and a low cost brand originally (Dacia).

Now compare the Eco sport with these. It's a completely new product, with a completely new engine (at least for the petrol version). The cost of RnD has to be recovered. They're running a business.

I don't want to predict a likely price, but I guess they'll price it not too cheap, not too expensive.. but a little expensive. :P

[niket.dhirai]

Ford Ecosport to launch in mid 2013
Sources :
1. http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/RvYq...r-engines.html
2. http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/cars/f...-likely-66207/

My decision of booking a Duster is going to remain unchallenged for another 6 - 7 months.

[Red Liner]

I'm expecting the pricing to be slap bang between the Quanto and the Duster.

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I can only point this to cost cutting measures.

By giving this stupid steel wheel as spare, it becomes a pain to maintain and rotate the wheels regularly !!

That's why till date I have been sticking with Indian & Japanese manufacturers .

Jokes apart, if i go for a vehicle which provides a steel / smaller spare I would prefer to exchange it for the alloy / regular size wheel rather than living with the odd wheel

[raj84]

New spy shots of Ecosport testing. The yellow Ecosport makes the car look longer. Could be due to the angle or camera positioning. Looks great indeed in this picture.

Image Courtesy : Motorbash.com(Gayaz Khan)

[Guna]

Originally Posted by raj84

New spy shots of Ecosport testing. The yellow Ecosport makes the car look longer. Could be due to the angle or camera positioning. Looks great indeed in this picture.

Image Courtesy : Motorbash.com(Gayaz Khan)

Image looks to be compressed (vertically)

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by raj84

New spy shots of Ecosport testing. The yellow Ecosport makes the car look longer. Could be due to the angle or camera positioning. Looks great indeed in this picture.

Image Courtesy : Motorbash.com(Gayaz Khan)

Very nice looking car indeed. Probably the right size and utility combo for India. Any confirmations on that 1 litre eco boost engine?

[zenren]

Originally Posted by raj84

New spy shots of Ecosport testing. The yellow Ecosport makes the car look longer. Could be due to the angle or camera positioning. Looks great indeed in this picture.

Image Courtesy : Motorbash.com(Gayaz Khan)

Red colour seems to be something new, outside of the Figo colour range.

Also, it seems to be a lower variant going by black ORVM/door handles and no chrome overload at front. Interesting to see turn indicators even on black ORVM.

[Gizmokid]

Originally Posted by tachobells

Well, I'm not sure if that's a likely scenario. With the high road tax in Blr, it has to be < 8.5 Lakhs Ex-showroom for the top end model to have an OTR < 10L.

To understand the case further, let's look at two of its competitors.

1. Mahindra Quanto - starts at 6 something to top end of 7.6 L.
2. Duster - 7 something to 11.4 L

Quanto was a product of frugal engineering where they cut the Xylo and reused most of the pieces. Duster was an existing product in Europe and a low cost brand originally (Dacia).

Now compare the Eco sport with these. It's a completely new product, with a completely new engine (at least for the petrol version). The cost of RnD has to be recovered. They're running a business.

I don't want to predict a likely price, but I guess they'll price it not too cheap, not too expensive.. but a little expensive. :P

Ford has been saying all along that they would want volumes to drive sales & profitability for them. Pricing in the Quanto territory(~9.5L) maybe unrealistic, considering the insurmountable difference in quality. It may also not be practical to price it in the top end Duster territory (~14.5).

The simple way to look at it would be that this is just a different (smaller) box, sitting on the same Fiesta platform. So pricing should be in the same territory, and any extra specs should get absorbed by the tax differential

[naveen.raju]

Latest Update:

Source - My friend who is an Engineer working at Ford Factory

Tentative Launch Date - Anytime between Feb last week to March mid
On road price - 7 to 10L
Engine options - Diesel 1.5, Petrol 1ltr Ecoboost and 1.5ltr

[kopakabana]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Latest Update:

Source - My friend who is an Engineer working at Ford Factory

Tentative Launch Date - Anytime between Feb last week to March mid
On road price - 7 to 10L
Engine options - Diesel 1.5, Petrol 1ltr Ecoboost and 1.5ltr

That seems like a good enough source. And 7 to 10L OTR is exactly what i am hoping for . Lets see if Ford really comes out with these prices. And Cargo Ford, Ahmedabad maintains it will come in two months, so the hints of an Aug 2013 launch are just rumors, i guess.

@naveen.raju- can you confirm from your friend, the mileage figures for ecosport? i know i'm asking for a litle too much, but the wait is killing me

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Very nice looking car indeed. Probably the right size and utility combo for India. Any confirmations on that 1 litre eco boost engine?

One of the earlier posts showed the snapshots of the EcoSport in the Ford India website, where it boasted to sport the award winning one litre EcoBoost engine.

I think even the recent spyshots of a car sporting the Eco-Boost badge (testing in Kerala) was posted two pages back.

So this engine is indeed coming to our shores!

[KINI]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Tentative Launch Date - Anytime between Feb last week to March mid
On road price - 7 to 10L
Engine options - Diesel 1.5, Petrol 1ltr Ecoboost and 1.5ltr

Interesting!!A reliable source tells me it is expected to be launched in the first week of feb with pricing around 7-10L ex-showroom!!There is a possibility of the launch being postponed to august!!

Cheers