[TusharK]

According to a media report, Ford is likely to introduce an automatic variant to the Freestyle line up. The Ford Freestyle was launched in India in April 2018. The car is offered in petrol and diesel variants paired with a 5-speed manual transmission.



Ford has said that automatics accounted for 20% of the total vehicles sold by the company. In cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, 40% of all customers preferred automatics over the manual transmission.

The Freestyle is a Compact Utility Vehicle based on the Figo. It gets rugged exterior styling and is powered by a 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine which puts out 95 BHP @ 6,500 rpm and 120 Nm of torque @ 4,250 rpm, and a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel unit makes 99 BHP @ 3,750 rpm and a peak torque of 215 Nm @ 1,750-3,000 rpm. Both engines are currently offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Ford is yet to confirm the automatic transmission for the Freestyle.

Source: Economic Times

Link to Team-BHP News

[Flyer]

Good news! What Ford can do is to continue offering Figo hatchback in petrol-automatic combination and introduce a new diesel-automatic with Freestyle. They should take the success of new Honda Amaze as an inspiration.

[arunphilip]

Great news - the absence of an automatic was one weakness in the Freestyle lineup.

I wonder if they'll be brave enough to offer a diesel automatic (as Flyer mentioned), or if we will get a petrol. And if petrol, then which one? Lift-and-shift the 1.5+DCT from the Figo, or the new 1.5+TC from the EcoSport?

I for one wish for the latter. I do hope they don't go for a 1.2+TC combination, tempted though they may be by the tax bracket savings.

[Sutripta]

Hope it is the 1.5 + TC as used in the new EcoSport.

Regards
Sutripta

[2cents]

The main USP of Freestyle is its fantastic list of safety gear at a very competitive price point. Yet, the tremendous appreciation here in TeamBHP, does not reflect in sales numbers. If they were to bring in 1.5 with a DCT they clearly loose that USP. The 1.5 with TC would make the more premium Ecosport's customers feel shortchanged, and perhaps even eat up it's numbers. From what all I've heard, at 96 horses, the 1.2 is fantastic, and perhaps overpowers the Freestyle. The 1.5, with 120 horses would be insane for this car. It makes sense only if they retain the 1.2 petrol and bring in the TC.

[Flyer]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

And if petrol, then which one? Lift-and-shift the 1.5+DCT from the Figo, or the new 1.5+TC from the EcoSport?

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hope it is the 1.5 + TC as used in the new EcoSport.

Originally Posted by 2cents

If they were to bring in 1.5 with a DCT they clearly loose that USP. The 1.5 with TC would make the more premium Ecosport's customers feel shortchanged, and perhaps even eat up it's numbers. From what all I've heard, at 96 horses, the 1.2 is fantastic, and perhaps overpowers the Freestyle. The 1.5, with 120 horses would be insane for this car. It makes sense only if they retain the 1.2 petrol and bring in the TC.

It won't be a DCT for sure. Ford have discontinued the DCT. Even the Figo facelift is coming with a TC mated to 1.5 L mill (same as Ecosport).

Let's hope Ford will be brave enough to offer a Diesel Auto.

[kpkeerthi]

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[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Flyer

Let's hope Ford will be brave enough to offer a Diesel Auto.

Ford may be brave enough to offer a diesel AT. Will our market be brave enough to buy it?

I'd really like the idea of a diesel AT, since the tremendous power and drivability offered by Ford's diesel will easily overcome the slight lag/sluggishness of a TC. It won't give the Polo TSi a run for it's money, but it will probably give us 90% of the fun at a lower cost. And it will appeal to those buyers who see ATs as inefficient, but diesel as an affordable fuel.

But even if it does well in the metros, it will not achieve sales volumes anywhere close to the EcoSport - and will that be enough to satisfy Ford's honchos? Because a Freestyle diesel AT might be a start, but I would then want to see them making a similar offering with the EcoSport as well.

Let's see, time will tell. We can wish for a diesel AT (I am), but must realistically temper our expectations to a petrol AT.

[SoumenD]

Great news and much needed in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore etc. Its a perfect car for city with small footprint, good GC, excellent safety features and potent engines. Only missing point was probably the AT variants.

I don't think they will plonk the 1.5L Torque Converter from ecosport in this, rather mate the TC to the 1.2 dragon petrol(which apparently is not bad either) in order to take advantage of the sub 4m tax benefit. Diesel AT would be welcome but if they really do it I believe that will be first on the Ecosport(their bread-butter car)

Currently if I look at sub 10L petrol ATs with high GC(190mm+), only options are Ecosport and Nexon. This would be a good addition at slight lower price-point and might be a bit more frugal than the two.

[Flyer]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

We can wish for a diesel AT (I am), but must realistically temper our expectations to a petrol AT.

The reason I am expecting a diesel automatic in Freestyle is because Figo and Ecosport already comes with a petrol automatic. Offering the same engine and gearbox combination in Freestyle doesn't make sense in terms of marketing because Freestyle will surely eat into the sales of Figo's automatics.

A diesel auto combination will surely help boost the under performing sales of Freestyle.

[ajmat]

Petrol does have a future, diesel is pretty uncertain not in terms of future but in terms of regulations. Configuring a diesel is at risk due to this. Also the price point might be too high.

Saying that Honda have broken through the mould with the CVT auto

[aryayush]

We were in the market for a small automatic hatchback recently and I reluctantly finalised the Hyundai Grand i10 because Ford wasn't offering an automatic variant of the Freestyle. How I wish it was a part of the launch configuration!

[Prathiiik]

From Ford India's Instagram page:



Source

[Mad Max]

AMT?

I really hope Ford doesn't bring an AMT into the mix. It is absolutely a cash cow, no second thoughts about it. But the brand is going to take a hit when playing with competitors like Hyundai. Think of a Ecosport AMT vs. a Creta AT.

Love the looks of the Freestyle. Hope they don't tarnish it by sticking an AMT in there.

[nikipedia87]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

AMT?

I really hope Ford doesn't bring an AMT into the mix.

Love the looks of the Freestyle. Hope they don't tarnish it by sticking an AMT in there.

I think they had categorically mentioned that they won't be using AMT technology in any of their cars. Read it somewhere in this forum itself. They might launch it with the 1.2L dragon itself for two reasons.

One, it will help them differentiate between the Freestyle and the Ecosport better. And two, the 1.5L Dragon petrol with a TC will push the price up significantly, and will again lead to point one . See how steeply the Aspire automatic has been priced in comparison to the Titanium+ manual variant for reference.