[PatienceWins]

Very bad move, do not understand the logic in removing useful features and then hiking the price. Keeping the existing features and a marginal hike in price would have been a smarter move, especially considering the demand for Brezza. I was eagerly waiting for the facelift, not now.

[johnjojo08]

I also heard from ford sales team that titanium optional model will come with 17 inch tyres.

[nik hill]

Originally Posted by theredliner

If the features and the VFM tag are taken away from the Ecosport, I don't see any reason why a common man would choose this over the Brezza, especially when Ford follows an idiotic dealer dispatch policy with unreasonable waiting periods and is notorious for poor and expensive ASS.

Let me bust this myth of ford ASS being poor and expensive. In the latest survey ford has been found to be one of the most reasonably priced ASS. In fact i got my car serviced yesterday on 20000 km milestone and the cost was less than 4000 Rs and moreover there was no long waiting period to obtain service appointment. I called up at 1100h and got time slot of 1200h.

[theredliner]

Originally Posted by nik hill

Let me bust this myth of ford ASS being poor and expensive. In the latest survey ford has been found to be one of the most reasonably priced ASS. In fact i got my car serviced yesterday on 20000 km milestone and the cost was less than 4000 Rs and moreover there was no long waiting period to obtain service appointment. I called up at 1100h and got time slot of 1200h.

I'm well aware of it. I just stated what the common man feels about Ford's ASS. Almost every single one in my office looking to buy a car has this opinion about Ford's ASS.
On top of it, incidents like Ford's service people going for joy rides in customers' cars and crashing them with Ford not giving two hoots about the customer have spread like wildfire on the social media in the recent past, making things worse.

[Chetan_Rao]

We own a Ford in the family, and they continue to be 'perceived' as an expensive to maintain brand in the mass market. It's not true of course, our Figo has been cheaper to maintain over 6 years than our Hyundai and prior Marutis over similar periods with service and part quality at par with other players in the segment, but perceptions matter more than facts in the Indian market and Ford is hurting itself badly on that front.

I'd hazard a guess these feature cuts have undone a good chunk of the goodwill earned by the recent 'feels like family for a change' promotional campaign. Perception mgmt. is the name of the game, and Ford just slipped a peg or two on the ladder after spending big bucks and efforts climbing up.

[84.monsoon]

Completely agree. I have had an excellent, low cost service experience with Ford when compared to my two previous cars. (Hyundai and VW). Unfortunately in India, we still listen to "elders" when it comes to forming opinions and making decisions about cars and they have long memories that are influenced by what happened 10-15 years ago, rather than what happened in the last 3-5 years.

[SPARKled]

I have owned Ford cars for more than 12 years now and compared to my other cars from other stables (Maruti, Toyota and GM), Ford and Toyota are the cheapest to maintain with Ford giving me the best service. From what I am reading across the forum for the last few years, the top 2 i.e Hyundai and Maruti are easily among the more expensive for regular maintenance and service and still keep selling more due to word of mouth, the goodwill they have earned thanks to their earlier products and ofcourse the sheer reach, with each Maruti and Hyundai having more dealerships across India than any other car maker. Ford is still paying for the reputation earned from its earlier products like the Escort and Mondeo as high maintenance, problematic cars and like Fiat it has been very difficult to get rid of this image and they struggle here even today in-spite of their fantastic cars.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by SPARKled

.......Ford is still paying for the reputation earned from its earlier products like the Escort and Mondeo as high maintenance, problematic cars and like Fiat it has been very difficult to get rid of this image and they struggle here even today in-spite of their fantastic cars.

While long-held perceptions have played their part, Ford have shot themselves in the foot once too often:

1. Done away with some of their traditional USPs (build quality and handling) in their current budget cars.

2. Not marketing their current USP's aggressively (6 Airbags, DCT autobox, best-in-class diesel engine etc.). Contrast with Maruti, who go so far as coming up with a fancy marketing name for the light they put above the meter console in Ignis.

3. Indulging in silly cost cutting maneuvers like the recent feature deletions on Figo/Aspire and Ecosport.

It takes a really long time to build/destroy perceptions in India, but Ford doesn't help itself by practically hitting the RESET button every few steps. Decide on a plan-of-action, take the bumps and short-term losses without flinching and reap long-term rewards. Else, either make peace with perennial low sales or pack up for good.

[RavenAvi]

The 2017 Ford EcoSport has been snapped from up close at a Ford India dealership stockyard in Coimbatore by Nagaraj Muthuswamy.

Limited to the Titanium+ variant only, major changes which were noticed were all-new 17-inch "diamond-cut" alloys shod with 205/50 section Apollo tyres, a new touchscreen/navigation-based 8-inch Head Unit, and a blackened roof.

[ranjithrnair]

Wonder how the already stiff suspension will behave with the 17" wheels now 😐

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ranjithrnair

Wonder how the already stiff suspension will behave with the 17" wheels now 😐

I don't even wonder! With the 16" the ride is already bone jarring. 17" is just a bad bad move.

I was thinking of changing from 205/60-16 to 205/65-16 just to get the extra 5% sidewall height to improve ride quality and here they have added 17" with 50 profile tyres!

[speedmiester]

The touchscreen system looks like an aftermarket fit, this could mean it will be available as an accessory with Ford dealerships shortly

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

all-new 17-inch "diamond-cut" alloys

Originally Posted by ranjithrnair

Wonder how the already stiff suspension will behave with the 17" wheels now 😐

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I don't even wonder! With the 16" the ride is already bone jarring. 17" is just a bad bad move.

+1 to this - my first thought was that the alloys look brilliant - particularly in that colour - but 17" is going to kill our comfort (and rattle up the car) on our roads.

The touchscreen is meant to look like Sync 3, but I don't think its a Sync UI (echoing Vidyut).

While the EcoSport's UI looks like:

An actual Sync 3 screen looks like:

While an attempt has definitely been made to make it look the same, to me, the biggest giveaway that it is not Sync 3 is the different icon & caption used for Navigation - if it were a Sync system there'd be no use to use "Navi" with an upward arrow instead of "Nav" with a four-headed arrow.

The binnacle around the touchscreen also looks taller, but for all that, the integration looks tidier than I expected.

The touchscreen UI also better be controllable either via the joystick, or the steering controls, it is just too far away for the driver to safely operate if the car is in motion.

[RobC]

The binnacle housing the touchscreen seems to be quite high. Wouldn't it hamper visibility?

Also, would it be possible to retrofit on the current Ecosport model?

[ranjithrnair]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I don't even wonder! With the 16" the ride is already bone jarring. 17" is just a bad bad move.

I was thinking of changing from 205/60-16 to 205/65-16 just to get the extra 5% sidewall height to improve ride quality and here they have added 17" with 50 profile tyres!

My car has clocked 45K and ride quality for last 5K km's has been pathetic, i know some amount of this due to Tyre Hardening but suspension is major contributor .Think its time to open up suspension and check. By the way UK spec Ecosports has 17" wheels and better tuned suspension , Ford might offer the same on Titanium+ variants ?