Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   Ford EcoSport : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/136854-ford-ecosport-official-review-103.html)

Hey, attaching the price-list of Wasan ford. There seems to be price difference between the dealers too. Your price-list was not fully viewable. Can you pse scan it fully and post so as to do a variant-wise comparison.

Went to Talera Ford, Yerwada, Pune. Test drove an ecoboost and was impressed with it. Thought about booking the titanium version and then ultimately booked a Kinetic Blue Ecosboost Titanium (O) version. Costs 964000 in PCMC, Pune.
The PCMC prices are higher than Pune by almost 7K!:Frustrati

Can any one advise on a couple of things?
1) Is it mandatory that the insurance need to be taken from the dealer in the first year. The sales guy told me so but i think its a big time "goli"
2) How worthful would be buying an extended warranty? The delaer is charging approx 6200 for an additional years warranty.
3) The ecoboost being an imported engine what are the chances of failure of engine parts? What are the parts that are normally covered under warranty?

Cheers
Jaykis

Ah, Ford finally seems to have hit the right chords with their overall pricing strategy for the Ecosport, this surely seems to be headed towards the top of the sales charts very soon.

Just wondering about the pricing of 1.0 Ecoboost - is that one justified (VFM) or is it the one variant that they priced incorrectly ?

Really curious to see how the Ecosport fares on the Petrol Vs Diesel variant booking/sales trend.

The airbags in the seat inflate towards the area where grab rails are located. There are chances of grab handles fiddling with the inflation process.

Apparently, it is the side/curtain airbags that interfere with grab-handles. I don't know why, because I have seen cars with 6-airbags come with grab handles.

The titanium variant has only 2 frontal airbags (driver and passenger), so this trim gets grab handles, and you can have seat covers of your choice.

The Titanium (o) and AT Titanium, on the other hand, come with 6 airbags each. 2 frontal, 2 side, and 2 curtain. I guess the side air-bags are mounted on the front seat, somewhere near the head-units. So, you can't use seat covers. The curtain airbags might be mounted close to where the grab-handles should have been (design flaw?) and so these trims don't come with grab handles.

Amidst all this hoopla on Ford having pulled off a pricing coup, it appears that a few days have to pass for the dust to settle down and the early adopters to report on their experience encompassing all angles.

Dare I say out loud, that the pricing is not really fantastic pricing per se.

By launching the base model at a price of 5.6 lakhs, Ford has managed to get everyone in a frenzy. Lets take a step back....As we all know, its only the Ecoboost and the Diesel variant that get the benefit of reduced excise duties. Ideally, that means smaller cars with qualifying engines end up being cheaper to buy cars.

But passing on the benefits of the lower excise duty on the Diesel version to the customers would mean that Ford is compromising on the margins of the variant that it expected to drive a vast majority of the business by volume i.e., the Diesel.

So how does Ford convey the impression that they have indeed pulled all stops when it comes to pricing and yet ensure that they laugh their way to the bank? By pricing the non-volume seller low and ensuring that margins on the fast movers are protected.

Since the EcoBoost engine is imported, there isn't much scope for pricing it cheap and moreover, when it the "Engine of the Year" for 2 years, you don't want to price it in such a way that it loses that aspirational value or becomes mainstream. After all, you don't price cutting edge tech at the lower end when 'cutting edge' itself connotes or co-relates to 'premium'. So the EcoBoost cannot be the sacrificial lamb for dropping the pin on lowest pricing or the 'starting value' of the range.

So what are we left with? Only the 1.5 Petrol. But, but..the 1.5 petrol in any event does not have a price advantage because it gets no excise reduction (calculated for the 1.5 petrol vehicle taken as a whole and which is no different from the diesel EcoSport except for the engine). So what? Let's take a hit on the 1.5 petrol and price it really low for a variant that hardly anyone would go for (except maybe someone who is really smitten by the vehicle and doesn't care for other features) to reduce the risk of losing too much money. This serves the singular purpose of proudly stating that the "EcoSport Range BEGINS from Rs. 5.6 lakhs". True, it does. But who will buy it? If you see the comparison chart and the features they have adorned it with, it is clear that no person is likely to have an innate desire to settle for the Ambiente. In fact, the distribution of features is almost as if Ford itself doesn't want you going for the Ambiente considering that they start providing decent equipment levels only from the Trend variant onwards. In fact, all the right nudges for a customer to sub-consciously veer towards the Titanium variant are all present. Ford may be thinking, "Even if a small minority buys the base 1.5 petrol Ambiente for the price alone...never mind, we will absorb the loss and make up our margins in the Diesel segment by retaining the benefits we've got from lower excise."

So, one goes to the showroom salivating at the fact that the cool new Ecosport costs really less, and ends up spending anywhere between 8-10 lakhs......smack in the middle of where Ford wants them to be.

Just for a second, imagine if the Ambiente variant was not a part of the list. The cheapest Ecosport would have started at 6.5 lakhs ex-showroom, a whole lakh more for no ground breaking feature or creature comfort. The existence of the Ambiente variant is only to associate the 'value for money' concept/idea with the Ecosport.

Once that is done, the footfalls will happen naturally.

I don't deny that Ford has priced it well. All am saying is that it has not been priced that well either. Yes, it undercuts the Duster, but isn't that saying a lot about how Duster itself is overpriced for what it offers? Also remember, the Duster is its closest rival. That is not to say that it is a closely matched rival on the basis of function or purpose. The Duster has not been built or intended as a sub-4m pseudo SUV.

And I hope that this is not introductory pricing only to be hiked later. That would be disastrous.

Curtain airbags lay within the space where usually handles exist and ford's design doesnt allow handles being mounted on that area.

Side airbags are the ones within the seats, usually popping out from the sides towards the windows and sometimes embedded within headrest.

Though there are some seat cover manufacturers who make customised covers to support the side airbag system.

I am myself looking for such an option as fabric seats of titanium look ugly and I have to-have to have leather after being spoilt by my Elantra.

Hope that clears.

Fantastic pricing by ford. Too bad the dealers are acting greedy and fishy already. Although I feel, we the 'junta' are to be blamed partially for that. Pre-booking without test drive and booking even when forced to take accessories pack. Anyways, no better times for us. This is going to shake up the competition as well. Just hope that Ford has tested the car enough for it to be niggle free unlike the Figo. If it is, this may well be the biggest thing in the industry after the Swift D.
My case. I am still confused between Vento a/t, city a/t and ecosport a/t. Just waiting for the storm to die down a little.

Congrats on your would be urban suv. I can help you a bit here
1. It is not mandatory. If you have an existing insurance with ncb you can transfer it to your ecosport. You get to save a bunch. Check the forum. You will get a lot of info on how to do it.
2. I really won't recommend. But it's again personal choice. If things don't go wrong in 2-3 years of warranty it generally won't go wrong after that.
3. In fact it might be the other way round. Ford must have made doubly sure that the ecoboost is a success. They have high stakes in this engine. Also they have done a hell lot of tests in Indian conditions with" Indian " fuel.
I think you've made a great choice. I will go check out the car tomorrow in nigdi. Will wait a year, get vitamin M in place and mostly go for this very same car. Cheers!

1) No. Not at all. Most dealers make a lot of profit in this.
2) Don't know. Won't be going for it personally.
3) It's got the engine of the year award, very low chances of failure I would say!

MPL Ford, Teynampet sales person said test drive of the Automatic Ecosport will be available next week -hope he is correct. Waiting period for delivery of the automatic quoted as 4 to 6 months.

Are test drives of the automatic available anywhere in India? Has anyone, moderators included, driven or seen the Automatic version? Very keen to know how it drives...

...since my other options are Volkswagen Polo 1.2L GT TSI (automatic) and Hyundai i20 automatic. Any other car suggestions in this compact, automatic transmission, safe and reliable, preferably petrol (dislike the vibration and noise of the diesels) car bracket? please: 4 to 6 months may be too long to phase out one of our old cars.

I have a query:

- My monthly running is about 500 kms so I am considering buying petrol Titanium variant
- The Ex-showroom price difference in Mumbai between 1.5L and 1L Titanium petrol variant is INR 40,897. With addition of registration, taxes and other items this difference will increase to INR 45,000
- As per my calculation at current petrol rate of INR 74 per liter, I will have to drive 58,600 kms to recover INR 45,000 which would be around 10 years from now
- Even if petrol was to touch INR 100 per liter, I will have to drive 43,350 kms to recover INR 45,000 which would be around 7 years from now

Given this, do you think Ecoboost is worth it if my running is so less? Also, what should be the rational behind buying Ecoboost Vs 1.5L petrol engine?

Had just glanced through youtube for ecosport, sharing the one which I liked.. though its just a teaser, waiting for the final review from these guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjUSWvWgy5c&hd=1


Not necessary. Actually the dealers earn their cut on the insurance (usually there is a diff of atleast 6-8k from what I learnt with my car purchase) and the RTO charges. You can always tell them that you will get your own insurance. Make sure to get an insurance as soon as your car is ready with the VIN number, because for registration you will need it.

I had a ford earlier and if it was me, I would get the additional warranty keeping in mind of the parts cost if at-all something goes wrong.

My opinion on this:

If you plan to keep the car for a long period (6-7 years at least), buy the petrol version. If you want to sell your car after 2-3 year, you may get the benefit of less depreciation with a diesel vehicle. Just look around and compare the prices of 2-3 year old petrol and diesel cars and you'd understand what I mean.

Yes, you can't exactly "recover" the extra cost on the EcoBoost. But there are some things that you won't find on the balance sheet(but you will find it on the Spec sheet!!)

The EcoBoost has more power and much more torque, it is more fun to drive , more fuel efficient, better for the environment(low CO2) and it is the tech that will stay on in the future.

My family's monthly running will be about the same as yours(or even lesser), but all these reasons + the lack of Titanium+ in the 1.5 is prompting us to go for the Titanium+ EcoBoost