Ford has recalled 16,444 units of the EcoSport in India to inspect and rectify a problem related to the rear twist beam bolt. The recall covers vehicles manufactured between November 2013 and April 2014 at the company's Chennai plant.

According to Ford, in some of the affected vehicles, there is a possibility that the rear twist beam (RTB) bolt may not be tightened to specification, which may cause the pivot bolt to break. This condition can potentially compromise vehicle handling and thereby increase the risk of an accident.

No accidents related to the concern have been reported.

Ford is writing to the owners of the affected vehicles, asking them to get their vehicles inspected at a local Ford dealer. If needed, the dealership will carry out necessary rework free of cost.

Ford's Chennai plant has produced its one millionth vehicle and engine. Vehicle number 1 million to be rolled of the assembly line is a Ford EcoSport.

The US$ 1 billion manufacturing facility at Chennai started commercial production in 1999. It is spread over an area of 350 acres and houses an engine assembly plant that started commercial operations in 2008. The facility has an installed capacity to assemble up to 2,00,000 vehicles and 3,40,000 engines a year.

The engine plant features Ford's single-flexible production line, configured to build both petrol and diesel engines simultaneously. Models built here include the EcoSport, Fiesta and Endeavour.

Apart from catering to the domestic market, cars manufactured at the Chennai facility are exported to more than 40 markets around the world, including some ASEAN countries, Europe, Middle-East and Africa.

Ford claims that it has implemented environment-friendly practices at the Chennai plant and it is one of Ford’s five zero-landfill facilities in the Asia Pacific region. The entire hazardous waste generated at the plant is either recycled or co-processed into allied cement industries.

Additionally, the company claims to have reduced its energy consumption at Chennai by 16% while water consumption by 30% in producing each car since 2009 through various process improvements. The plant also treats and reuses 100% of its water within the facility, making this a zero liquid discharge factory.

Ford Credit India has announced the launch of retail vehicle financing for consumers. This facility is available at certain dealerships across India. The step is expected to give customers the convenience of financing facilitated by the dealer along with the service of a company that specializes in Ford financing.

In the first phase of its rollout, the retail financing is available to customers in 17 cities - Delhi, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Ludhiana, Jhansi, Agra, Moradabad, Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Jamnagar, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Gaya, Dhanbad and Durgapur. More Ford dealerships will be included in the subsequent phases of launch.

Ford Credit India also launched its first special financing program. The company is financing the EcoSport at an interest rate of 8.99% per annum for contracts up to 60 months. Prices for the EcoSport start at Rs. 6,79,563 (ex-showroom Delhi).

Globally, Ford Credit has more than 55 years of experience. Ford Credit began financing new-vehicle inventory for dealers in India in March and added used-vehicle inventory financing a few months later.

Ford has launched the updated Ford EcoSport in India at prices starting from Rs. 6,79,563 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The refreshed EcoSport does not receive any changes to its exteriors and looks identical to the outgoing car. The car is now available in a new colour - Golden Bronze. The seven existing body colours (Mars Red, Diamond White, Panther Black, Kinetic Blue, Moondust Silver, Chill Metallic and Smoke Grey) have been retained.

The 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engine has been tweaked to produce 99 BHP - a gain of 9 BHP over the outgoing car. Ford claims that the engine can deliver a fuel economy of 22.27 kpl - down by 0.4 kpl. The engine continues to be mated to a 5-speed gearbox.

There are no changes to the 1.5-litre TiVCT and 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engines of the vehicle.

Ford has equipped the EcoSport with features such as signature light guides, automatic headlamps, DRLs, rain sensing wipers, auto-dimming mirror, a start/stop button and Sync with AppLink.

Ford has also introduced a new Trend+ variant for the EcoSport. It is available on the 1.5-litre TDCi and 1.0-litre EcoBoost versions of the car.

Prices:

1.5 TiVCT Petrol (Manual)

• Ambient - Rs. 6,79,563
• Trend - Rs. 7,75,363
• Titanium - Rs. 8,90,963

1.5 TiVCT Petrol (Automatic)

• Titanium - Rs. 9,93,363

1.0 EcoBoost Petrol

• Trend+ - Rs. 8,53,363
• Titanium+ - Rs. 9,89,463

1.5 TDCi Diesel

• Ambient - Rs. 7,98,144
• Trend - Rs. 8,70,244
• Trend+ - Rs. 9,18,244
• Titanium - Rs. 9,85,844
• Titanium+ - Rs. 10,44,344

Thank you to BHPians PratikPatel and LionX for sharing these images with other enthusiasts!

The updated Ford EcoSport has been spotted at a dealership stockyard. The images show that there is no visual change to the exterior of the car. As we had reported earlier, the car continues to carry its spare wheel on the tailgate. The only noticeable change is the addition of a new brown body colour.

Click here to see more images of the updated EcoSport

The brochure of the vehicle shows that while Ford has not bothered with cosmetic changes, it has made some mechanical changes to the diesel variant of the car. The 1.5 TDCi engine now produces 99 BHP - a gain of 9 BHP over the outgoing EcoSport. The torque figure of 205 Nm remains unchanged. There are no changes to the 1.5-litre petrol and 1.0-litre EcoBoost engines.

The updated EcoSport will be available in five trim levels - Ambient, Trend, Trend+, Titanium and Titanium +. An automatic transmission is available only with the 1.5-litre petrol engine and in the Titanium trim level.

Ford has equipped the EcoSport with features such as signature light guides, automatic headlamps, DRLs, rain sensing wipers, auto-dimming mirror, a start/stop button and Sync with Applink.

Thank you to Sumukh Sharma for sending in this information. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts!

Ford India confirmed that it would launch three new models this year. The Figo Aspire compact sedan has already been launched while the new Figo hatchback and Endeavour will follow in the next few months. Ford's long standing volume driver i.e. the EcoSport is due for an update and it looks like the refreshed version of the SUV will be shipped out starting next month.

Sumukh booked an EcoSport EcoBoost 1.0 Titanium (O) in the "moondust silver" colour last month and was expecting the delivery by 15th September. On enquiring with the dealership, he was told that Ford has stopped production of the Titanium (O) model and the only colour options available are white and mars red. The reason cited was that the facelifted version would be shipped out from the middle of October. The EcoSport facelift may lose out on the push button starter, though that remains to be confirmed.

While the updated model may be shipped out of the Chennai plant early on, the official launch date in India remains uncertain as Ford has not revealed any plans to launch the updated version of the compact SUV this year.

The EcoSport is currently available with two petrol mills and one diesel engine option, with manual and automatic transmissions offered. Prices currently range from Rs. 6.75 - Rs. 10.20 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The Ford Ecosport has crossed the 2,00,000 sales mark in domestic wholesales and exports combined. The vehicle has managed to achieve this milestone in 2 years of its introduction.

When the EcoSport was launched it received an overwhelming response in India. Ford claims that 60,000 bookings were received within 30-days of introduction. The company also claims that there are more than 1,12,000 EcoSports on Indian roads.

The crossover is available with three engine options: a 1.5-litre turbo diesel engine (90 BHP, 204 Nm), a 1.5-litre Ti-VCT petrol engine (110 BHP, 140 Nm) and a 1-litre turbo petrol EcoBoost engine (123 BHP, 170 Nm). All three engines get a 5-speed manual gearbox as standard. The 1.5 liter Ti-VCT naturally aspirated motor can be ordered with a 6-speed dual clutch PowerShift automatic transmission.

The Chennai-made crossover is exported to South Africa, Taiwan, Australia and several European countries.

Ford has provided features such as SYNC with Ford AppLink on the EcoSport. This technology enables users to control some of their favourite smartphone applications through voice-commands.

Over the past few months, a facelifted version of the Ford EcoSport has spotted testing on Indian roads. This version does not have a spare wheel on the tail-gate and it was believed that Ford would eventually launch it in the country.

Now however, Ford officials have confirmed that the vehicle spotted is the Europe-spec version, which runs on run-flat tyres and does not need a spare wheel. For India, the EcoSport will continue to get a tail-gate-mounted spare wheel. Indian customers demand a full-sized spare wheel and the wheel on the tail-gate gives the EcoSport an SUV-like stance.

While the look of the India-spec vehicle is unlikely to be changed, the diesel variant is likely to get a boost in power. The 1.5-litre TDCI unit is now expected to pump out 99 BHP and 215 Nm of torque - a gain of 9 BHP and 11 Nm over the old engine. The uprated engine has also been used to power the upcoming Figo Aspire compact sedan.

The interiors of the EcoSport are also likely to be given a makeover to give them a more upmarket feel. 

Source: Autocar India

Here are some more images of the refreshed Ford EcoSport.

Ford had displayed the refreshed Ford EcoSport at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2015. Later, the vehicle was then spotted testing in India.

We have already seen that the refreshed EcoSport does not get a tail gate-mounted spare wheel. It is unclear whether Ford has relocated the spare wheel or given the EcoSport a tyre mobility kit as shown at Geneva. The EcoSport also gets a revised rear swing-gate that enables easier partial opening when limited space is available. This test mule has a revised rear bumper with a skid plate, and UK-spec alloy wheels. The car does not have roof rails.

The interiors of the EcoSport shown at Geneva featured a restyled instrument cluster with a chrome surround and light dimmer, chrome tips for the window switches, a repositioned handbrake lever, a 4-inch colour display, charcoal black lower instrument panel, centre console and door boards and partial leather seats. With Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki gearing up to enter the crossover segment, it could be possible that Ford considers giving the EcoSport updates on these lines to make it more appealing.

On the mechanical front, the EcoSport is likely to continue using the same engines as the current model. However, Ford could tweak them for more power. A revised suspension could be on the cards as well.

Ford has not yet announced any plans to launch the refreshed EcoSport in India.

Source: Fiat Moto Club - Facebook

Ford is one of the few manufacturers whose exports are higher than its domestic sales. The EcoSport compact SUV comprises of nearly 70% of the company's exports. The company is now likely to export this compact SUV to the US and Canadian markets.

Ford is gearing up to export as many as 90,000 units of the EcoSport annually. The company is said to have been developing a facelift version of the SUV for the North American markets and preliminary tendering procedures to source components have begun too.

The EcoSport might go on sale in the US starting October 2017. Still it hasn't been confirmed whether the SUV will be exported from India or Thailand, but the company seems to have begun negotiations with Indian parts suppliers to cater to the additional demand due to the higher export volumes.

Recently, Ford India opened its second manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat, in addition to the Maraimalainagar plant in Chennai. Its annual installed manufacturing capacity in India is 6,10,000 engines and 4,40,000 vehicles.

Source: Economic Times