The upcoming Ford SUVs from the Ford-Mahindra joint venture will be designed by the iconic Italian design house, Pininfarina. Yes, the once that has designed many a beautiful Ferraris and Alfa Romoes.
If you are an automotive enthusiast, you’d certainly be familiar with the name Pininfarina. Now what if we told you that future Ford SUVs for India would be designed by Pininfarina? Yes folks, that’s what’s the new word around town. Pininfarina is one of the most iconic automotive design houses in the world, having designed many a Ferraris and Alfa Romeos. It was also already known that Ford and Mahindra are jointly developing a few new SUVs for the Indian market, and it’s these Ford SUVs that will be designed by Pininfarina.
The first pair of products to come out of this Mahindra-Ford joint venture will be the next-gen XUV500, and the Ford-derivate of the same. Although the platform and engine on both the SUVs will be identical, it will be Ford’s version of the SUV which will be first Pininfarina-designed Ford SUV for India. It will sit above the likes of the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos and will take competition up to the Tata Harrier and MG Hector. Ford will launch their SUV after the launch of the next-gen Mahindra XUV500 early next year and they are likely to share their 180hp, 2.2-litre diesel and the 190hp, 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engines.
But that’s not all. Following the C-Segment SUVs, Ford and Mahindra also have a B-Segment SUV coming up next to rival the likes Creta, Seltos and Nissan Kicks. This is slated to debut in the second half of FY22 and with this new B-Segment SUV, Mahindra will also be having their much awaited XUV400. Just like the C-Segment SUV, this Ford SUV will also be designed by Pininfarina. These SUVs are expected to be powered by a 163hp, 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine from Mahindra’s mStallion engine family and a 123hp, 1.5-litre diesel engine.
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What else? Well, the current-gen Ford EcoSport is too nearing the end of its lifecycle and its replacement is already under development. Originally slated for a debut in 2021, it could arrive a little later owing to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. There’s a word that the next-gen Ford EcoSport too could be designed by Pininfarina. The first original sub-compact SUV making a return designed by Pininfarina, those are genuine bragging rights. The next-gen Ford EcoSport will likely carry forward its upcoming engines from Mahindra on the soon-to-be-updated current EcoSport.
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Ford and Mahindra have also stated that although their SUVs will be sharing their mechanical components, they will completely unique in terms of styling. However, it’s not yet known if the Mahindra SUVs too will be designed by Pininfarina, the latter owned by the former, incase you weren’t aware. Ford also promises that their upcoming SUVs will retain the fun-to-drive character that Ford cars are known for.
