Ford EcoSport Could Enter At a sub-6 Lakh Price Tag, Duster Coming in July at 7 Lakh

It’s all happening in this segment of compact SUVs. It was pioneered by Premier’s Rio and segment is getting its share thick and fast. Premier’s Rio 1.3 multijet, Mahindra’s mini-Xylo, Maruti’s Ertiga MUV, Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport.

Ford EcoSport

We have been following every little detail Ford has to offer on the EcoSport as it looks the most promising buy till now. It has got that desirability factor going in its favor. The main rival Duster, although a big hit in foreign markets, just seems to be second in this space. Maruti’s Ertiga is more of a MUV and has a different advantage of being a 5+2 seater whereas the other two are 5 seaters only.

Now the biggest surprise of all: Hormazd Sorabjeet of AutoCar India has speculated a possible entry price of Ford EcoSport at ‘sub 6 lakhs’! Ford has suffered by pricing the Fiesta way too over the car’s actual image. It would not want to do that again with EcoSport, more so, since the initial hoopla is all going positive. It being a sub 4 meter car, getting advantage of lesser excise will also help matters. Plus Maruti’s superb pricing for Ertiga petrol and decently good pricing for the diesel variant might also have Ford in consideration.

EcoSport would make it to the markets early 2013 as we had already said.

Renault Duster

On the other hand, late entry of EcoSport to the scene might give that initial advantage to Renault’s Duster which is scheduled to make way in July this year at a price band of 7-10 lakhs. With the Premier’s 1.3 multijet about to hit the markets and Mahindra’s mini-Xylo too in the foray, customers are definitely up for a gala time. Let’s hope manufacturers do not spoil the mood by breaking it in pricing these products.

 

By,

Saad Khan

Editor MotorBash

 

2 thoughts on “Ford EcoSport Could Enter At a sub-6 Lakh Price Tag, Duster Coming in July at 7 Lakh”

  1. Good to know both Ford and Maruti are focussed on Indian market.
    Renault’s focus is to get Duster to the UK market first, that explains why Renault has provided so much clarity to UK customers on the exact date of launch ( online booking with only 100 pounds booking amount starts June 28th 2012). There are no such plans for India ( June?, Oct ?, Diwali ?). The fact is once UK requirements are meet, any excess production will be available for India, that could be the only reason they are not ready to commit anything for India.

    Also, Renault is positioning Duster as a VFM 4×4 in the UK, and expects to get good sales numbers. Which explains why they are non-commital on 4×4 availability in India. The chances of 4×2 leftovers are higher than 4×4.
    In short, UK will have higher priority in sales, spares, support, dealer network etc. over India.
    Another reason for Renault shying away from providing any details in India could be the fact that simply they lack the confidence to take on the biggies like Mahindra, Maruti and Ford who would shortly come up with competing compact SUVs. India is still a difficult market for them as all their products have flopped, not that they were serious about India on these products either. Another possibility is given the bad economic conditions, Renault may want to play safe by going in for low volume, high return markets first and sell any excess production to Indian market.
    At this moment it seems to be a big gamble to buy Renault Duster. Makes sense to wait for other competing products like Ford Ecosport, Maruti Alpha to also get launched and then take a call. I really have a doubt Renault’s half hearted second attempt to make a mark in India is going to bear fruits

    Reply
    • I really do not think Renault will again want to see themself as failed, then they will be left with no image in Indian market like Fiat had till last few years. Indans are too much concern about the pricing part & there these japs & westerns try to make us fool. But there is compitetion this time, quality will matter.

      Reply

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