The EcoSport is based on the Fiesta B2E platform and it has its root from Brazil. B-Segment SUV will be the next hot car for this decade, as all the big clumsy SUVs start losing their fame, especially when everything in Malaysia increase in price, yet the government still tell the people inflation rate is low. Except for the chic and trendy outlook, this car almost share everything from the Fiesta. Ford Malaysia is likely to make the 1.5L unit available for a start to check out the market sentiment of the mini SUV, which should keep the price low. Power is delivered via the same 6-speed Powershift unit, with about 110hp/140Nm on the tap. It it were the 1.0L Ecoboost engine, it shall make 123hp/170Nm of power, but you need to pay more for newer technology. However the old Ti-VCT engine is proven at least for the past decade.
We are into the end of 2013 now, thus the official launch should be 1st quarter of 2014. I am guessing the price could range from RM100k - 100k, pricing it slightly below the Peugeot 2008 which should be available during the same period as well.
The car will have all the safety you need, with all round airbags, hill start assist, ABS, traction control and the similar Ford Sync that allow you to talk to the car or it could read out your SMS to you. With 200mm ground clearance, it is good to avoid most flash flood we get here. Your wife or girlfriend will like this car as seating at a higher position allow them to have better all round view, making parking easier, thus you could ditch the idea of having a reverse camera. The car should also hit the parking curb first instead of the wall due to the height, saving scratches of the front lip.
Let's hope Ford will make this available fast, in some funky colours, and it is time to see more of these mini SUV on the road. We are just fed-up of looking at CRV and Harrier! The Mars Red as shown here is fabulous. What about some green tone!
