[tirumalavoleti]

Definitely Ford has used the opportunity. Ford should not have used as an ad, rather as a campaign to encourage safety features. I am glad that this indirectly promotes safety awareness.

On this particular ad, since its owner view point, Ford has not done anything illegal. But definitely its unethical. They should first test their cars as done by Tata and officially claim the safety.

[kjayant]

While beyond 5 stars is a little cheeky, everything else is okay IMHO.

I think with Figo in 2010 and products coming after that, Ford did a goody-all marketing which gave them decent success -never unprecedented!

With attention spans depleting by the day (and I am keeping bhpians out of that ambit) a product marketer really needs quick, drastic, and polarising ad content to keep audiences interested; secondly existing customer referrals & experiences have gained stratospheric proportions in digital age - to a marketer each customer is an influencer and that’s the second piece they have got right.

And finally, the marketer has done his customer research and understood their lingo, rituals, and beliefs very well. I was mighty impressed with ‘Thud’ being equated to sturdiness. After all opening-closing doors to determine sturdiness is one of top 4-5 definite rituals of an Indian car buyer.

I don’t see the harm.

[Haroon]

Leaving aside the facts in the Ad, I personally think this ad itself is a sub-standard work from an Ad agency.

It looks more like an automobile journalist or Youtuber putting out his long unending flowery words when reviewing a car rather than a Car Advertisement. Most of the camera shots are how journalists shoot their car reviews rather than a lively car advertisement which smoothly integrates facts & emotions! Afterall a car purchase is a combination of what your heart & head tells you.
Just my opinion

[BLACNWYTE]

While it's perfectly alright for Ford to use a user testimonial in the advertisement of their product, I'm not enthusiastic about Ford silently mocking the crash tests/ ratings. The thud, plastic quality and an accident survival doesn't discredit the NCAP testing procedures. What happens if tomorrow an accident survivor from an Alto says this and MSIL uses it in one of their ads claiming safest cars at cheapest prices and crash test procedures be damned. Will that go down well with all?

If thud, precise steering and handling, solid build quality are parameters for safety then the Germans and Italians should be the safest cars out there. No doubt Ecosport is a solid car but I personally feel no manufacturer should promote safety if not properly tested.

[Mango]

The "way above 5 stars" line is very cheeky, considering even the international ecosport got 4 stars in Euro NCAP (which is a very respectable score imo since Euro NCAP is far more stringent than Global NCAP) and i have a feeling that the same car would score 5 in Global NCAP too but the question is if the Indian-spec version would do it. There was news sometime back that the international ecosport got some fairly big changes while the indian version continued as it is. Ford is really just taking advantage of the time and even tho I blindly trust ford with their cars, an actual rating will go miles to help them sell more cars than these cheeky little ads.

[84.monsoon]

Ford could have omitted the comment on the rating. I think they are building on the popular perception of it being a safe car due to the apparently heavy build. My mom says she “intuitively feels” it is the safest car she has ridden in - among a Verna, Innova, Polo, Punto and even a BMW!

Ford could have spoken about the fact that it weighs more than the average compact SUV, has greater water wading capability (500mm) than others, and maybe the only one in the price bracket to have six airbags, ESP, TCS etc. They could have spoken of the number of miles and terrain it has been tested on. They could have talked of the global heritage and safety consciousness of Ford. All this would have been factual. But saying it is rated beyond 5 stars is not only factually inaccurate, but also belittles the NCAP rating system and encourages other manufacturers to make false claims or not have their vehicles tested.

[iamahunter]

In this advertisement, Ford jumped the gun at 0:31 to 0:34 by mentioning the 5 star ratings.

If they can just edit the commercial and take out that part, rest of it seems quite alright to me.
As most of it is a real life accident, ecosport's handling, features & service bills.

Just like any other car commercial (Not made by any advertising agency, but some youtube vlogger).

[Turrrb0]

Originally Posted by styx71

Also, the thud is only on the front doors, the rear doesn't feel like solidly build; they feel more like Hyundai - yup I currently own the 2018 EcoSport. So, the thud is only expected to make the front passengers feel safe?!

I concur, this is the same way it is in the tiago as well. Front doors have a nice heavy tank-like thud, but rear doors are maruti-esque..

[SideView]

Oh Fordy ford, did you really have to get yourself into this mess. One shouldn’t throw stones at enemies sitting in a glass castle.

Indian spec ecosport hasnt even been tested yet.

How many Indian owners knew that? Now with all this backlash I am sure owners would become aware of false sense of safety “thud” provides.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by styx71

Also, the thud is only on the front doors, the rear doesn't feel like solidly build; they feel more like Hyundai - yup I currently own the 2018 EcoSport. So, the thud is only expected to make the front passengers feel safe?!

Actually compared to the rear doors of other cars the EcoSport’s back doors require a different kind of push to close and they also generate a decent thud if not at the same level as the front ones. In the earlier days of my ownership of the EcoSport whoever sat for the first time would need a second attempt to close the rear doors especially (both sitting inside and from the outside).

[Grand Vitesse]

Well Ford surely seems to want to hide behind "It's the customer's experience" reasoning. Well figure this: Tough to believe, yet, I am sure there will be many more Suzuki customers who staunchly believe that Suzuki cars are safe enough! With some effort, Suzuki can produce many more such They-Say-So videos!

Why couldn't the government stipulate crash-test rating requirements for a car to be launched in India? Home-grown players, M&M and Tata, have already demonstrated their safety credentials. If the government does so, it could be a win for the Indian customers and manufacturers!

Though I like Ford, I ask myself how different is Ford from some other manufacturers who set different standards for themselves when it comes to catering to customers in India!

Also, are crash tests performed in-house by any of the car manufacturers?

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

You are mistaken my friend.

Here's the American version dimensions for your reference. And mind you they don't get the tail-gate mounted tyre as well. 161.3 inches converts to ~4.1metres

IIRC this was discussed in 2013 itself when the car was first released. Our stupid 4m rule forces manufacturers to chop off bumpers or boot itself(as is the case with Tivoli a.k.a XUV3OO)

Well the difference in length between the Ecosport in India and USA is because of the bumper only - no sheet metal changes were made for the USA variant. I know this as I used to work on the Ecosport project until a few years ago.



XUV300 like we both agree, was a chop job where the rear was chopped down, eating into much of the cargo space from the original Ssangyong model.

[Guite]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

They are mentioning 5 stars + rating which is anyways not possible so either you conduct the crash testing or you don’t mention some illogical rating. Keep the ad till the part where you say it has a solid thud when you close the doors and the best in class handling with steering feel.

While I agree with you that implying rating more than the highest possible score is misleading, the "thud" of the door is not the correct assessment of a car's safety. To say so in an advertisement would in fact be laughable.

Yes the door thud do indicate the construction quality of the car, however it may also just mean that the door is heavy. That by itself is no indication of safety.

Various dynamics come into play for safety: primary and secondary restrain systems, handling, ABS, EBD, crumple zones, cabin integrity, etc.

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Well the difference in length between the Ecosport in India and USA is because of the bumper only - no sheet metal changes were made for the USA variant.

Let me re-quote Vid6639's post form page 1.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The Ecosport that did go was export spec with additional safety kit.

Ford also made 300 upgrades to the Ecosport for the European market some of them including for safety and additional reinforcements. These changes were only for export models and not ones sold domestic.

https://www.team-bhp.com/news/indian...tweaked-europe

https://indianautosblog.com/ford-eco...europe-p127118

https://autoportal.com/news/ford-has...rket-1369.html

Here it mentions the export variant had gone through as many as 300 changes & most important being that of a stronger body structure. This was for European version. Circled the part here.



Now if the same is applied to Indian ecosport or not is what I didn't find anywhere documented. A GNCAP test would be the best way to find out IMO.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Let me re-quote Vid6639's post form page 1.

Here it mentions the export variant had gone through as many as 300 changes & most important being that of a stronger body structure. This was for European version. Circled the part here.

Absolutely. Several changes were made, I wouldn't disagree to that. However, my original point was that Indian version of the Ecosport was not a 'chop job' of a longer body variant sold abroad and I still stand by that.

I also have already stated that they cannot claim much about safety unless they have a GNCAP score to attest to it