Next Ford EcoSport to Become More Fiesta-like: Report
Once the Fiesta drains from North American Ford lots following its May 2019 discontinuation, it’s up to the company’s subcompact EcoSport crossover to draw entry-level buyers into the Blue Oval fold.
Imported from India, the second-generation EcoSport, which first arrived on these shores at the dawn of 2018, kicked off for the 2013 model year overseas, making the EcoSport anything but all-new. Luckily, there’s a replacement in the works.
Spy photos published by Britain’s Autocar reveal Ford might align the third-gen model’s styling more closely with that country’s new Fiesta — a vehicle we’re not allowed to have here. In comparison, the current EcoSport resembles an Escape sandwiched between two transports on an icy highway. A contemporary body would no doubt garner applause from North American critics.
Even though the Fiesta leaves us this year, its platform does not. The model’s 2011-vintage B2E architecture continues in service beneath the EcoSport, and will soldier on even after the redesigned EcoSport appears — likely in 2020 as a 2021 model. For the seventh-gen Fiesta, bowing in 2017, Ford upgraded the platform with a stiffer front subframe and new rear torsion beam.
Autocar suggests Ford might do something about a product name that hasn’t resonated all that well in the UK market, but there’s no confirmation of this. Remember, it’s “echo sport,” not “eco sport.” As for powertrains, those could be a carryover.
In spite of jokes emanating from various corners of the internet, the EcoSport’s first year on the U.S. market was not a bust. Ford sold some 54,348 EcoSports in 2018 — nearly 3,000 more than its Fiesta platform mate (which happened to be the only Ford car to see a volume increase last year). Put another way, the EcoSport outsold the Toyota C-HR by roughly 4,000 units and moved triple the number of vehicles as Mazda’s CX-3.
[Image: Ford]
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Ford cannot have the pronounciation of eco both ways depending on if it is ecosport or ecoboost. They need a better name.
Autocar has always been amazed how bad the Ecosport is. When the Gen 1 came out 2012 they wondered how a Fiesta could go so horribly wrong simply by raising it on stilts. They gave it two out of 5 stars which means it was rubbish and bottom of class. When the Gen 2 came out just before the Ecosport debuted in the US, it was already made in Romania for Europe. The hundreds of improvements raised its rating to 3 grudging stars. It's still rubbish. 54,000 customers for this thing is just the sweepings off the dealer finance office floor, people who ended up not qualifying for a bigger loan for a bigger Ford. Captive customers on tenterhooks waiting for credit approval. What, does anyone think anyone but a paid-up Druid would buy an Ecosport after test-driving anything else? Not a chance.