Ford EcoSport: Low Cost Crossover Released Into The Wastelands Of Europe

After spending a recent evening perusing various video reviews of automobiles in the UK, I learned how significant those CO2 taxes can be both there and in the rest of the EU; a shift of a few grams per kilometer can end up costing more in additional annual taxes than the difference in the fuel consumption itself. It's no wonder Ford's heavily pushing its 3-cylinder turbo gasoline engine.

@Felis Concolor Yes, the CO2 taxes are a big deal here in the UK. As an example, the annual tax on a Ford Mondeo (Fusion) is £270 per year on the 2.3 auto, but only £135 a year on the 1.6 Ecoboost manual. This is in addition to the heavy fuel taxes paid at the pumps - the current price of a US gallon is around $8. Some manufacturers e.g. BMW are better than others at gaming the system and optimising gear ratios etc for the test speeds.

I drove one with the 2.0 16V engine and it wasn't slow. But yes, the interior was dreadful, like most Brazilian cars.

@Athos Nobile hola atos, i don't think it's that bad. It's at least as good, or bad, as a civic's. Now, if you're talking about the previous one you're correct. This one, as the possibility of going to the first world since it's inception, the finishing is on par with rivals.

Hey motormouth! The EcoSPort was never a cheap car here. Average transaction prices are of around 55k reais which is about 27.5 thousand USD. You're absolutely right on the interiors of the first generation. Terrible! No matter, BRazilians wanted a jacked up, SUV-looking car. They wanted it so bad that the Eco has been credited with keeping Ford in Brazil. At one point, Ford's market share had dwindled to under 6%. Rumors abounded that Ford would close shop. While I never believed it, the EcoSport helped Ford get back to a healthier 10%, now they hover at 8 to 9%. The reasons for the EcoSport doing so well? It's all image baby! In a country where the cheapest SUV hovers at 70-80,000 reais, the EcoSport at 50 seemed like FOrd was giving them away. Add to that that Ford had this market all to itself (until the Duster came along, 8, 9 yrs after the Eco), Brazilians were feeling rich and enjoying greater credit than ever (0 down, split it into 60 payments, at a very reasonable 1.5% a MONTH! - Ford at one point offered a 72 monthly payment plan), wham bam, record sales. If the car sold at 45k instead of 55k, I bet they could get over 10 000 sales a month easy. Now this car has only the name in common with the 1st gen. It is now built on the New Fiesta platform whereas the old one rested on the old 90s Fiesta. The interior has been beutified and improved somewhat though plastics abound (nothing you don't see in cars of similar price though, in Brazil or elsewhere). If you like the Fiesta, you'll probably like this car.

@Marcelo de Vasconcellos First gen Marcelo. The one I drove was barely broken in (6K kms). That engine was brilliant, pulled strong on all gears and I pushed it to nearly 180 km/h. It got upset quite easily by the wind, even at 100 km/h A Japanese car is not a very good "benchmarking" example. I've seen one of the newest Megane and I am shocked at how nice the thing is inside. Also saw a 500 and horrors, heresy, Fiat, FIAT!!!!, can actually make a well finished car.

@Marcelo de Vasconcellos Marcelo, currency comparisons such as that don't work. The price of a model in a given market is set a price the OEM thinks a the market will pay, and bears no relation to any outside factor, such as the US$. That does not avoid the fact that cars produced in Brazil are absurdly expensive when considering how a lot of them feature old or reworked technology and low-grade materials. Why do locals keep buying them? Well, as you say, there's a glut of cheap credit (cheap in comparison to the late '90s), plus they have no comparison by which to realize how badly they're getting ripped off. The OEMs must love South America, and primarily Brazil, because they are making a killing in terms of margin on each vehicle sold. Now that's something you can compare to other countries! (If you can get those figures, please share.) Another point is the level of equipment in Brazilian cars. Two airbags over six when comparing a Brazilian model to its European counterpart, cheap stereos, expensive leather (which is odd considering how much beef is eaten in Brazil), no alloy wheels, the list is endless. Going back to the second-gen EcoSport, let's see how much that costs. If it's a sandwich less than R$80K, I'll eat my shorts. (Basing that on the mark up of the Fusion in Brazil, which in 2007 entered at about R$60K and now starts at R$93K.) (Athos, I drove the 1.0 first-gen EcoSport. It was shit.)

@motormouth Actually, come to think of it, the only reason that this second-gen EcoSport is using the new Fiesta platform is that it's going to be distributed outside South America. If it was only going to be sold locally, there's no telling what type of warmed-over tech would've been glued together for this new model. I think that this is a sign that Brazilan car buyers will no longer be getting such sub-standard vehicles in comparison to the rest of the world, as global OEMs will find it less expensive to share the latest products (like VW bringing MQB to Anchieta and GM using the Delta II for the Cobalt) than to maintain production of older platforms (and parts) in remote locations. But it's not before time.

@motormouth Hey motormouth! Agree, agree, agree. Now as to the watmed up tech. Partly it's because of the gov program. The more you showed you use tech developed in Brazil the more you can import and the less tax you'll pay. That is a factor.