Ford EcoSport is quite a car that is making its presence felt in emerging markets. Recently it was launched in Brazil and a while back we reported that the Indian launch is most likely to happen in the month of February next year. The car is eagerly awaited in India and so is in China.
While the prospective buyers in India are ready to accept the EcoSport in any form, buyers in China do have a small demand. They want the EcoSport to have a longer wheelbase than standard version being sold in Latin America, Europe and soon-to-arrive in India. This Ford EcoSport Long Wheelbase version will be sold in Chinese market only to start with.
China is the world’s largest auto market and any manufacturer who wants to enjoy volumes will have to sincerely look into the demands of the customers. Ford couldn’t overlook the long wheel base version demand in China and thus will develop the same specifically for the biggest auto market.
In most of the international markets, EcoSport will boast a wheelbase of 2490 mm which is pretty decent for an SUV of this size. However, for the Chinese version, the company will extend the wheelbase from 2490 mm to 2530 mm, an increase of 40 mm. Moreover the length, width and height will also gain a few millimeters; Length: 4280mm (110 mm increase), Width: 1785mm (35 mm increase), Height: 1658mm (8 mm increase).
The EcoSport will be manufactured in partnership with Changan at the Changan-Ford’s joint facility in Chongqing. Although the car will arrive in India next year, for the Chinese market the launch is scheduled for before the year end.
Initially the EcoSport Chinese version will be introduced with a 1.5 litre MPFI petrol engine. This engine will produce 118 BHP of max power and will be coupled to either a 5 speed manual transmission or a 6 speed automatic transmission.
The award winning 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine is also expected to make it to the engine options list, but not before early 2013. We will keep an eye on the updates of the upcoming Ford EcoSport and all related news about it, stay tuned to Car Blog India for the updates.
source- China Auto Web
