With Ford deciding cease local vehicle manufacturing in India, plans to introduce the EcoSport facelift, which was spotted testing multiple times, have been axed. The facelift for the EcoSport that was being tested would, if launched, have been the second facelift for the SUV since it went on sale in India back in 2013.
- Ford EcoSport facelift won't make it to dealerships
- Ford stops local vehicle manufacturing
- Will sell only fully-imported cars and SUVs in India
The EcoSport has been the most popular Ford in India ever and in fact, started the compact SUV trend in India when it was launched in June 2013. With the EcoSport, Ford was one of the first SUVs in India to take excise benefits offered by the government for sub-4 metre cars. Since then, the EcoSport has been chugging along with multiple mechanical, equipment and cosmetic updates. The SUV was also to receive Mahindra's 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine as a replacement to the EcoBoost powerplant, but those plans also fell through since the two firms decided to part ways earlier this year.
The EcoSport has been a major pillar for Ford's India ops not just for its stellar performance in India in the initial years but also in the export market, becoming one of the first made-in-India compact SUVs sold in multiple European markets. Ford even started building left-hand drive versions of the EcoSport in Chennai that were sold in the North America since 2018. Ford recently started exporting the EcoSport to markets like Argentina after Ford announced closure of its local manufacturing operations in markets like Brazil which was a major production hub for the EcoSport sold in that region.