Ford EcoSport: Has Ford Messed Up Things? 5 Stinkers!

Ford Ecosport has been a media darling ever since it was unveiled. A striking design powered by a revolutionary engine and most importantly a ground-breaking price point took the Ford EcoSport’s popularity ratings sky high.

However, it now seems most customers would think twice before going ahead with their EcoSport bookings or should they?

Ford-EcoSport Price Rise and Feature Deletion

There are more than some glaring reasons why Ford appears to have messed up things. Let us take a look:

  • Insane Waiting Periods:

At the Goa Media Drive of the EcoSport, Ford’s top honchos were repeatedly announcing that, Ford is NOT like those manufacturers who extort money from its customers and make them wait for eons of years for their cars to be delivered.

After its launch, it appears that things have turned on Ford’s own head. EcoSport is running with waiting periods ranging from 3 months to 12 months for all its variants. So, aren’t you just like THOSE manufacturers, Ford?

Ford took its own sweet time to launch the EcoSport and it was dearly expected of them to have ensured quicker and wider production.

Ford-EcoSport (4)

  • Price Hike With NO Price Protection

The biggest USP with EcoSport was its extremely good price. Now, Ford has raised prices of all variants of EcoSport ranging from Rs 25,000 to 40,000. More that the price hike, it is the price protection that should have been provided to all the people who have booked their cars prior to the hike! The most atrocious thing Ford has accomplished is that it has asked customers to accept the price hike, even those who had booked the EcoSport before the price hike.

  • Rs 5.69 Lakh 1.5L Petrol Manual; Does it exist?

Ford is very aggressively promoting the Rs 5.69 Lakh sticker price tag for EcoSport, which no doubt lured tonnes of people to Ford’s showrooms and in turn book a car in haste and impulse! Now, interestingly, this variant is nowhere to be found! Ford is extremely slow in delivering this particular variant.

Since this variant attracts higher excise duties and hence, costs Ford the most, it is very clear that Ford is intentionally moving it out very slowly! A  clear case of marketing something else and providing something else! Dealerships are also discouraging customers to book this variant citing very high waiting periods…!

  • Feature Deletion

Very recently, Ford deleted Push-Button Start and Keyless Entry from the Titanium trim citing ‘proper differentiation’ with the Titanium Plus trim as the reason! We ask: Shouldn’t this have been planned before launching the product? What about guys who are waiting for the Titanium variant for the last 3 months? Are you going to provide them with these fitments?

  • Dealerships Monopoly:

We have received reports of many dealerships taking advantage of the EcoSport craze and forcing customers to buy optional accessories and insurance from them citing them as mandatory!

Popular demand has translated into the inability of Ford India to overcome the widening demand-supply gap.

Ford-EcoSport (2)

Renault India and Tata Motors adopted a very fair approach in similar situations. When the prices of Tata Nano had to be increased, Tata Motors decided to exempt from the price hike those customers who had booked the vehicle before the price rise.

Similarly, Renault India had also protected those customers who had booked the Duster before the price hike. Simply put, if a customer is ready to buy your car and it’s your inability in handing over the car to him, the customer should not be made the scapegoat of a price hike and all the bookings should have been shielded!

Above mentioned reasons as well as the decision to leave a portion of customers out in the open could turn out to be a big blunder for Ford India.

Ford-EcoSport-Dashboard

The proceedings risk becoming an albatross around the neck of Ford India. Customers could turn away to Renault Duster as it has minimal waiting periods. Other car manufacturers are also offering massive discounts. We have newer players coming in this very segment! Ford India should have never really dabbled around with these moves, and at least some of them were really unavoidable!

16 thoughts on “Ford EcoSport: Has Ford Messed Up Things? 5 Stinkers!”

  1. Congratulations, Motorbash.com, for taking the bull by the horns! All the renowned auto magazines in India are keeping quiet and not talking about the mess that Ford India has made of a winning product – the Ecosport. Is it because they have been promised substantial advertising from Ford in the coming months?? Nobody will know.
    Just go to the Ford Ecosport Facebook page and go through the columns where people are pouring out their wrath on the Ford management….
    How can Ford renege on their promises… Many people are wanting to cancel their bookings at Ford and go for other options. Maybe if all those who have booked the Titanium versions of the Ecosport were to get together and cancel their bookings,it might rouse Ford from its complacency and taking the customer for granted.

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    • I completely agree with you my friend.You are dead right.I too congratulate Motorbash.com for exposing Ford’s cheap marketing tactics.
      I too had initially pre-booked Ecosport Diesel Titanium variant and cancelled the booking later for forcing me to opt for the “Ford preferred insurance” and the “extended warranty”.The dealer refunded the amount after almost a month of my cancellation date deducting Rs.3000/- and that after I warned the dealer of the legal consequences he might have to face for the delay.

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  2. Good analysis of situation. This clearly shows ford india did not anticipate such success. Completely unprepared for the huge demand. I myself pre-booked the Ecosport AT on the first day when pre-booking started on 13th June. It’s more then 3 months now and have no clue on delivery dates. If ford did not want to produce this varient in adequate number, why take pain of launching it?

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  3. I am also thinking seriously to cancel booking of Ambient diesel. It will be better to wait till proper csuv competition arrives in india. I feel I am being cheated with price hike although I had booked long before.

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  4. I had booked Ecosport Ecoboost Titanium variant. My 8 year old son was very excited about it. Recently I applied cancellation with the dealer primarily because Ford REMOVED the important FEATURES also apart from the price rise. I thought this was highly unethical and unprofessional on the part of Ford. My son was unhappy that I cancelled. Then I explained to him to his friends in the language they could understand about the ‘ethical’ part of the whole thing and asked them how they felt about the company. Their conclusion was that cancellation was the right thing and FORD is certainly not a good company to deal with.

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    • @ Yatin: Hats off to you for standing up and talking this decision, not many people would do this. Great!! Hope there are many others who will stand their ground.

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  5. The dealer in Mangalore till now not recived the demo vehicle for test drive.I complained,send fax to MD of ford,but all in vain.They give false information like 20,30,40… car deliveried.My friend’s office is very opposite to dealer, he said hardly 2-3 car deliveried in last two months.More over last week I am in Mangalore RTO for 3 days for my reregistration of bike I can’t find even a single ford car came to there for registration.

    Reply
    • Even after a year of launch, the dealership in Noida does not have any petrol ecosport for test drive ! They suggested me to talk to Petrol model owners to have their experience.

      It may be most awarded engine but booking a vehicle without even testing it … .. Wake Up Ford

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  6. Great work guys!! You are first to blow the whistle. Ford has been historically not known for good ethics and robust business governance (google ford pinto case), so this does not come as surprise to me. They are just greedy because after 2 decades they have a good product at their hands which people are actually keen to buy. Unlike Renault or M&M who halted exports Ford has decided to continue with it showing the importance or lack of it towards local markets. Ford is typical company and I see many people regretting buy Ecosport because of high maintenance cost. Ford will milk the owners in that area, I am very sure.

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  7. I too booked ES top model before price hike. But at the time of booking i was not told that i will have to buy accessories worth 20k along as compulsion or they wont give it even after waiting for months. And now this price hike. I wasnt even given a booking number at that time as this is my first car and i wsnt aware of all formalities. Got the info after some research but lost 1 month. Just because of this unethical and non reliable behaviour i opted for cancellation. Although i liked this car most but to put to simple words my judgement says these are bad signs and i dnt wnt bad exp with ES.

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  8. The Ford Ecosport is an over-rated vehicle in terms of its functionality and price perspectives. The car isn’t stable under hard braking at speeds in excess of 100 kmph. The interiors are cramped in terms of leg-room for the second row of seats, this is a common nuance applicable to all Ford cars. Add to all this Ford’s woeful Service Center back-up, the staff are an untrained bunch of jerks and lazy too. Its better to opt for the Renault Duster or the Nissan Terrano Diesel models. The only good car Ford has ever launched in India was the Fiesta classic/old Fiesta Duratorq TDCi.

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  9. It is sad that there are so many complaints. Perhaps bucking the trend, I have been using Fords for many years(Mondeos, Explorer, Figo and now the Ecosport AT is my 5th Ford)…I do not have any really negative experiences to recount – not even being forced to buy accessories…Ford service has been good, repairs and replacements when required have been done efficiently, and so far all is well.

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  10. Thank you Motorbash.com for highlighting the plight of people who have plonked their hard earned money in Ford.Every forum is abuzz with tales of frustration by the people who have booked and dealers are happy accepting cancellations.I am myself waiting for my Ecoboost titanium for the past six months and have been told to wait another 2-3 months and to get ready for a price hike in Jan.The weak rupee has made Ford’s management greedy and they are interested only in exporting the Ecosport,once this car gets launched in other countries,I expect the situation to get more worse.Why launch a vehicle in the first place if you don’t want to sell it.

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  11. It’s understandable the wrath from people whom had booked the car…..and waiting for it….But I feel the amount of head turns it gives suffice u to wait for the darling…..I can only say have a heart and wait……ull love to drive when u possess it…..amazing vehicle……. With the sync tech…no fumbling to attend ur calls..play ur favourite songs…..and please remember the henry ford who gave birth to disel engine…….. As no lunch is free…… E

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