Ford EcoSport Continues Its Search for a Sales Ceiling

If the Ford EcoSport was Elon Musk, there’d be a special online site created to champion the tarring and feathering of the writers at this publication. While we’re in agreement that the subcompact crossover space is a much-needed segment for Ford, especially given its plan to ditch conventional passenger cars, we question the automaker’s decision to bring the EcoSport here.

One of our readers wasn’t too thrilled with his experience behind the wheel, but we’ll all reserve final judgement until after we spend a week in one. There’s further reviews on the way. (Maybe it’ll hack our lives and our emotions.)

Having said that, the EcoSport, which saw its first ever U.S. deliveries in January, sees its monthly sales continue to climb. Much to the chagrin of a certain PEI resident, it seems Americans have taken to the thing.

Last month, Ford moved 5,481 examples of the little Indian-built vehicle in the United States, beating the subcompact Fiesta’s tally of 5,110 units. Note that Fiesta sales grew 22 percent, year over year, last March. And yet the less-expensive vehicle was still trounced, if marginally, by the EcoSport’s volume. Maybe Ford’s on to something here…

Putting that figure into context, the EcoSport outsold the Toyota C-HR (4,366 sales in May), the Mazda CX-3 (1,823 sales), and the equally new Hyundai Kona, which recorded 5,079 deliveries last month. Chevrolet Trax sales figures remain a mystery (thanks, GM!), but the monthly average for 2017 works out to roughly 6,600 vehicles, and the first quarter of 2018 isn’t far off that mark. Still, the only subcompact offering that can legitimately claim to have beaten the EcoSport is the perennially popular Honda HR-V, which recorded 8,773 sales in May.

One month in the auto industry doesn’t count for much, and it remains to be seen where the EcoSport plateaus — and for how long it can sustain its sales compared to the competition. Already, we’re seeing more incentives pile up the little ute’s hood. In the Detroit area, for example, there’s up to $5,000 waiting for existing FoMoCo owners with good credit who finance through Ford.

Two grand in customer cash seems to be a country-wide offer on the EcoSport, along with the usual college, military, and first responder bonuses.

Soon, however, there’ll be a rival boasting a base MSRP that’s five bucks cheaper than an entry-level EcoSport with $2k in customer cash hiding in the glovebox. That model is the front-drive-only Nissan Kicks.

[Image: Ford Motor Company]