Ford Australia Showcases All-New EcoSport at AIMS

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Mix the right amount of robust capability and confident stance with a friendly, outgoing spirit and the result is the all-new Ford EcoSport.

That’s the secret formula for the latest global One Ford product – a unique compact SUV that will be previewed at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney next month.
The all-new EcoSport gives customers accustomed to small city cars a smart alternative that is about driving fun and freedom, compactness and agility and a contemporary family SUV shape that puts them in command of the road.

“EcoSport is a tough and robust vehicle and a perfect fit for our SUV portfolio, which includes Kuga and the award-winning Territory,” said Bob Graziano, Ford Australia President and CEO.
“EcoSport is great for crowded urban streets and it will inspire customers to seek adventure away from the city too. When EcoSport arrives our customers will have more choice.”

With a contemporary shape and bold front-end treatment, the EcoSport conveys confidence while combining refinement and an adventurous spirit in an intelligent and modern package.
It sports key SUV cues that easily identify it as part of the Ford Australia SUV family - such as the confident stance and command driving position.
The new vehicle from Ford, which will eventually be sold in nearly 100 markets around the world, has the road presence of a larger vehicle.
The EcoSport’s compact footprint is small enough for the city, yet it’s strong and rugged enough for trips to the mountains or countryside.

EcoSport also debuts Ford’s newest EcoBoost engine – a 1.0-litre EcoBoost, which offers the performance of a conventional 1.6-litre engine with less than 140 g/km CO2 emissions. The 1.0-litre has recently been voted the 2012 “International Engine of the Year”.
Ford is introducing its global EcoBoost powertrain technology for the first time in a three-cylinder EcoBoost engine, complementing the EcoBoost engines in Focus ST, Mondeo and Falcon.

Shaped for global appeal
Ford Australia believes this combination of style and practicality, along with smart technology, will make the EcoSport a popular choice with customers.
It has a completely modern look, shaped by Ford’s new global design language, aerodynamic honing for fuel efficiency, a short, raked hood and distinctive profile. It combines the agility and practicality of a compact car with high ground clearance, a command driving position and integrated lower body cladding for robustness.

EcoSport’s wide bonnet sweeps into the sculpted body-lines, conveying kineticism and refined surface language to convey honed strength and a dynamic spirit of energy in motion.
Its modern, oblique headlights frame a high-mounted trapezoidal grille which gives the vehicle an element of pride and a signature Ford face.
The windshield is steeply raked and blacked out B-pillars unify the side glass into one elegant shape, conveying a clean, modern profile, complementing a shape honed in the wind tunnel for efficiency.
The back of the vehicle is marked by a large rear window which wraps around to the sides, distinctive tail-lights and the spare tyre attached to the swing-out door, which is part of the unique EcoSport design character. This signals EcoSport’s practicality and spirit for adventures off the beaten path.
Customers can expect the interior of the vehicle to feature the same high levels of craftsmanship, material quality and quiet isolation from noise that have been central to other new-generation Ford global products.

First One Ford global product design in South America
The all-new Ford EcoSport is the first One Ford global product to be designed and developed in South America, marking that region’s increasing importance in Ford’s global product development system.
The creativity behind the new EcoSport was sparked in Brazil, a nation dominated by compact cars, which has become one of the world’s key emerging markets. Like the Ford Australia Design Centre, the design centre in Camacari, Brazil, is now part of a global network of Ford design studios collaborating on new global products.
“EcoSport really shows our commitment to developing our design centres to create global products around the world,” Graziano said.
“Ford Australia showed the way with the new Ranger pickup and now EcoSport joins the stable. Ford produces great design no matter where the studio is based. Having designers based in an emerging, compact-car market obviously helps products like EcoSport stand out.”


More details about the EcoSport will be released closer to launch.







Source: Ford Media