Ford Reveals EcoSport Facelift With ST Look, 1.5L Diesel, and European Assembly

As some of you might be aware, the dorky-looking EcoSport was designed in South America several years ago as a replacement for the car we know as the Fusion hatchback. However, due to cost reasons, Ford of Europe decided to ship production of the European models to India, a move that resulted in quite a bit of criticism. But this 2018 model year version will be assembled at a factory in Romania, where it will take the place of the equally dorky B-Max tiny minivan.

The overall styling of the revised EcoSport is the same as what we saw on the 2018 U.S.-spec version. It borrows the new family grille and some upmarket features. But it's nowhere near as successful as the Renault Captur facelift, for example.

However, you can cover up the pimples with a bit of makeup - the sporty ST-Line body kit. It's available with up to 18-inch wheels, a blacked out grille, new projector headlights, and sporty accents at the rear end.

Under the hood, the EcoSport is available with Ford's popular 1.5-liter diesel workhorse, available on everything from Tourneo van to the Focus family car. For this application, it produces a produces a substantial 125 HP, which could be considered best-in-class, at least as far as the economic models are concerned. The 1.0 EcoBoost gasoline motor will be offered with 125 or 140 HP.

Around the middle of next year, the EcoSport will also get a 6-speed PowerShift automatic gearbox and a lower output 1.5-liter diesel that gets better mileage. An EcoBoost version with 100 HP of 1-liter goodness is also on its way.

Another highlight is the intelligent AWD system, also offered for the Kuga or Edge. It can split the available torque up to 50/50 in under 20ms.