Photo: Ford
They are small, cheap and easy to drive - subcompact crossovers are slowly catching on in the US. That's reason enough for Ford to launch the EcoSport, which could arrive in 2017 as a 2018 model year.
According to recent reports, the Blue Oval is busy tuning the EcoSport to suit American consumer tastes. It needs a bigger engine, a sharp throttle and some styling tweaks.
Automotive News has spotted a revised model testing near the Dearborn headquarters and believes the EcoSport will land next year.
Even though the EcoSport won't be as appealing as the Mazda CX-3, it's the only small crossover Ford has got. Originally, it was designed in South America for the local market, but Ford later brought it to India and started assembling it there for the European market. The initial response was overwhelmingly negative, so the company did a full refresh, adding EcoBoost engines and getting rid of the external spare tire.
It's not surprising that Ford will bring this car to the US, since the automaker had already outlined plans to bring four new sports utility vehicles to the US within the next few years.
The EcoSport will have no shortage of rivals. The Nissan Juke, Mazda CX-3, Jeep Renegade, Honda HR-V, Fiat 500X and Chevy Trax are all desperate for attention. But even though it's old, we would not be surprised if the EcoSport becomes more popular than the Fiesta.
Ford-brand SUV sales totaled more than 740,000 vehicles in 2015, representing an increase of nearly 7 percent over the previous year. Escape sales in 2015 reached 306,492 vehicles, which is a record. Sales of the new Edge grew 14 percent, with Explorer sales increasing by more than 18 percent.
Automotive News has spotted a revised model testing near the Dearborn headquarters and believes the EcoSport will land next year.
Even though the EcoSport won't be as appealing as the Mazda CX-3, it's the only small crossover Ford has got. Originally, it was designed in South America for the local market, but Ford later brought it to India and started assembling it there for the European market. The initial response was overwhelmingly negative, so the company did a full refresh, adding EcoBoost engines and getting rid of the external spare tire.
It's not surprising that Ford will bring this car to the US, since the automaker had already outlined plans to bring four new sports utility vehicles to the US within the next few years.
The EcoSport will have no shortage of rivals. The Nissan Juke, Mazda CX-3, Jeep Renegade, Honda HR-V, Fiat 500X and Chevy Trax are all desperate for attention. But even though it's old, we would not be surprised if the EcoSport becomes more popular than the Fiesta.
Ford is betting on continued robust sales in the US
The automaker is being driven in part by increased SUV sales to find out what else its customers want.Ford-brand SUV sales totaled more than 740,000 vehicles in 2015, representing an increase of nearly 7 percent over the previous year. Escape sales in 2015 reached 306,492 vehicles, which is a record. Sales of the new Edge grew 14 percent, with Explorer sales increasing by more than 18 percent.
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