Ford EcoSport ‘Black Edition’ launched

Words by Abhishek Wairagade

Ford India has introduced a ‘Black Edition’ of its popular compact SUV, EcoSport, in the wake of a slowing demand.

The new edition will be available in three variants namely, Trend+, Titanium and Titanium+. It gets black exterior bits like the front grille, smoked headlamps, 16-inch alloys, ORVMs, fog lamp bezel, roof rails and roof cross bars. The interiors have not been tinkered with and will remain as they were.

The EcoSport ‘Black Edition’ will not see any changes on the power front. The choices are the 1.5-litre diesel and the 1-litre turbocharged petrol EcoBoost that can be had with the 5 speed manual gearbox option only and the 1.5-litre petrol that can be had with both, the manual and the 6 speed DCT gearbox options.

In terms of creature comforts, the EcoSport gets auto headlamps and wipers, DRLs, Follow-Me headlamps and push button start. The Trend and Titanium variants get front dual airbags as standard while the top-of-the-line Titanium+ gets 6 airbags.

The move from Ford India has not been surprising seeing the staggering response to Maruti’s Vitara Brezza. Looking at the sales figures from April 2016, Ford India managed to sell 3,789 units of EcoSport whereas Maruti Suzuki sold a whopping 7,832 units of Vitara Brezza in the same period. Also, introducing a ‘Black Edition’ seems to be a strategic move by Ford India.The Brezza has a dual tone paint scheme that really makes the SUV stand out among the rest and is one of its USPs. Ford had slashed EcoSport’s prices by over Rs 1lakh when the Brezza was launched. Clearly, Ford India is taking note of the threat the Brezza poses. Would the ‘Black Edition’ fill the void for the EcoSport? Ford India really hopes so.