Did you know that the Duster is the highest selling Renault car in the first five months of 2013? The Duster has changed the fortunes of Renault India, selling 5000 units on an average every month, accounting for 80% of Renault’s sales in India. The Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport are big competitors all over the world. In Brazil, the EcoSport has been outselling the Duster. Both cars are compact SUVs with a front-wheel drive layout and monocoque chassis (the Duster is also offered with 4-wheel drive in select markets but not in India). The competition between both vehicles is extremely intense. Both cars are manufactured in India with heavy localisation (the Duster is already being exported to Europe, while the EcoSport will soon be exported to Australia, South Africa and Europe).
Just looking at the styling of both vehicles, the Duster looks more SUV with its flared wheel arches and muscular body style, while the EcoSport looks more like a jacked up hatchback with aggressive design and tail gate mounted spare wheel. Ford has launched the EcoSport in India, priced so aggressively that even Renault is shocked. The EcoSport range starts at Rs. 5.59 lakhs ($ 9391), going up to Rs. 9.00 lakhs ($ 15,120). There are 10 variants across 3 engines on offer. The Duster range starts at Rs. 7.90 lakhs ($ 13,272) and goes up all the way up to Rs. 12.18 lakhs ($ 20,462). These prices are pre-registration and insurance. The price difference between the top-end Duster and top-end EcoSport is a massive Rs. 3.49 lakhs ($ 5863).
The pricing from Ford is indeed jaw dropping, even other automakers are worried as the EcoSport now becomes an alternative to sedans and hatchbacks which are offered at similar prices. Even though the Duster is priced very high, Renault doesn’t offer much equipment. The Ford EcoSport has 6 airbags, climate control, button start, keyless entry, leather seats, SYNC system over the Duster. The higher priced variants of the Duster come with a more powerful diesel engine (1.5-litre k9k diesel is offered in two states of tunes – 85 PS and 110 PS, the EcoSport’s diesel engine produces 91 PS of power).
So how does Ford price the EcoSport so aggressively? The company has taken 18 months to launch the vehicle after first showcasing it. There has been extensive localisation on the EcoSport and if you have read my review HERE, you will notice cost cutting has been done very smartly (rear bumper is black and not painted, no engine guard or engine cover is offered, etc). The EcoSport is also a sub 4-metre vehicle which means it gets crucial excise duty benefits. While Renault pays 24% duty on the Duster, Ford only pays 12% (on all models except the one powered by the 1.5-litre petrol engine, i.e. the starting two petrol variants and Automatic variant).
Now Renault will have to respond with a price cut otherwise the EcoSport is sure to run away leaving the French automaker in dust. A quick visit to the Ford dealer tells the story. There are so many people standing in a queue with ready cash (full amount too), willing to pay a premium to get the car sooner. The waiting period is already 3 months and the car was just launched yesterday.
Faisal Ali Khan is the editor of MotorBeam.com, a website covering the automobile industry of India.
I didn’t realize until this article that the EcoSport has an external spare! Most “cute-utes” seem to be steering away from it (both the RAV4 and CR-V now lack them), though it makes sense that this is the way it has to be for the EcoSport to have ANY kind of cargo space behind the rear seats.
It just looks especially odd that the spare tire is “naked”, without any kind of casing to prevent dirt/damage/theft. Maybe they ditched the cover in the Indian version to keep costs down?
NetCarShow’s gallery of the EU-version of the Ecosport shows a tire cover:
http://img2.netcarshow.com/Ford-EcoSport_EU-Version_2014_800x600_wallpaper_13.jpg
The spare wheel cover is an accessory in India. Ford’s research showed that Indians like the spare wheel without a cover. The cover is priced at Rs. 7000/- (around $120).
hello, bro,what do you think why ecosport are sold so cheap?
Don’t care what it doesn’t cost, this thing is hideous. Truly ugly, its design team has never heard of the word “proportion.” even the dashboard is comically tall. How is this stuff getting out there. It looks like every car designer in world retired, or were fired, en-masse and replaced with anime artists. I don’t want my cars designed for the “Hello Kitty” crowd.
I like it. It looks good in an ugly way
Yeah, it’s not so bad. Not pretty, but cheap. I’d expect to see them all over the place in Canada (we like smaller cars, eh) if it was offered here.
You might find it ugly Lightspeed, people in India just love it. Remember we don’t get any CUV here. No Qashqai, Juke, etc.
Not the sort of thing Ford Australia wants right now. I would leave it in India.
I’m happy to see Ford doing well against a foreign make, and I want them to win. But wow is that thing ugly. I like the Duster much better myself.
Duster is very expensive and has no features AMC.
yeah, I agree with you,I also love duster, but you know, ecosport are very cheap in india,now adays the booking of ecosport is so hot, some customer would like to buy the cheaper one, what do you think why ecosport can be sold so cheap?
24% duty versus 12% duty? Kinda says it all. She ain’t really all that ugly once you get to know her. Does she have a sister?
If you call Fiesta her sister, then yes, Fiesta is here.
She’s not so ugly, folks…in fact, makes the Duster look way outdated. If you are a Ford shareholder, then she is beyond beautiful. This car will be a huge hit and will contribute massively to Ford’s market share gains in India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and even markets where it hardly has a presence now such as Indonesia.
EcoSport has been selling well since the time it was launched it was launched in Brazil in 2003.
Why, containing a wee-tiny engine, must the front end be so stupidly blunt and tall. Is this what pedestrian protection has brought us to?
Or is it just *spasm* s t y l i n g?
Aerodynamic as a loaf of bread.
NO strict pedestrian norms for BRIC countries, specially India.
Leather seats in India? Is this not offensive to the local Hindus? Without India slaughtering cattle for meat, how does Ford locally source leather for setting?
elephants of course
Nah, no one is bothered.
But India does slaughter cattle. Some states specifically ban the slaughter of female cows of productive age. India exports more beef, mostly Buffalo meat, than Brazil, Australia or the US. There are Hindus who don’t mind leather seats and there are Hindus will not even enter a house where there’s beef cooking in the kitchen.
Ford needs this in the US…diesel and all.
It’s not coming in the US, confirmed by Ford.
I’d buy it in a heartbeat. All the design whine…hilarious when $$$ talks.
Bingo, that is what makes it sell.
The Duster looks Soviet in comparison with those heavy window frames and dull lighting units. Yeesh.
The Duster looks better in person than in pics. Even that grill and headlights, when I saw it in pics my reaction was like yours. Now, seeing them everyday, in the flesh, it works.
Like the author, Faisal, said, the Duster is much more SUV-looking. I have to admit that I kinda of like it.
Duster has been selling on its macho looks in India too.
The Ford looks great! It follows with the OneFord styling cues that they’ve used around the world. It looks modern and very first world. If you don’t think the Indians will pick up on that you’re very much mistaken.
I wonder what M&M and Tata will do now? It makes their offerings look dated and lumpy. Can they bring forth a model with that sort of pricing? And Maruti must follow! Maruti should have something similar available worldwide. Getting it made for such a good price might be a challenge but they’d be the ones who would be able to do it if it was anyone.
Dimwit, Tata and Mahindra are in big trouble now. Both are making similarly sized SUVs. Maruti Suzuki can price it at Ford levels but they will end up cannibalizing their own Swift and DZire models.
MahindraQuanto.com is a comic little car, but available in diesel. Lucky for Tata it doesn’t have anything in this segment.
Suzuki could maybe fatten up the Jimny, if it can ever satisfy the order backlog for existing models.
http://www.zigwheels.com/gallery/slideshow/2013-suzuki-jimny-in-pictures/14766/1
To my mind styling is quite attractive.
In light of the price, now I really want one!
Everyone wants one at that price. I too have booked one in white ;-)
I see the EcoSport every single day (and the Duster, too) as it’s selling very well. The design is interesting, but it does have some awkward angles. Especially head on, in white moreso, it looks like a Star Wars stormtrooper. Have to agree that it does look modern.
Faisal, I’m shocked at the prices! In Brazil both start at upwards of 25,000 USD. The Duster is much bigger, specially inside. In Brazil, when questioned about that, Ford Brazil said it was because of the Indian excise tax. Doesn’t seem to be frightening away buyers. Seems like here, the EcoSport would be the first pick for most, unless they have small kids or big teeanagers. In those situations, the Duster wins.
Finally, the tyre in the back was defended by Ford Brasil ar launch. According to them, market clinics showed that consumers of this type of car wanted that tyre out there to aid the impression of this being a real jeep. The old EcoSport had an indenture in the bumper to fit it. The new one doesn’t have that, and the tyre is literally stuck there as apparently buyers in Europe wouldn’t tolerate it (and that’s why the Duster doesn’t have it). Do you know if the cars going to Europe will or won’t have the tyre there?
Marcelo, tyre will remain in the same position. There is no other place to fit it. In BRIC countries, people like the tail gate mounted spare wheel so the design was done to please them. Prices in Brazil are always higher than India. You can get two EcoSports here for the price of one in Brazil ;p
I doubt that Ford skimped to get the EcoSport so low; it was probably more a case of the fact that Ford has more resources and can afford to have lower profit-margins…or maybe that the EcoSport is cheaper for Ford to produce in the first place.
I wonder how cars like these would sell here in the States…
“I doubt that Ford skimped to get the EcoSport so low”
Have you checked out the driveshaft on a Mustang V6 lately?
Ford having more resources than Dacia (which is part of Renault-Nissan) is simply not believable. Maybe Ford wanted this win worse, or simply got lucky, or hired the right local product planners… Who knows? But good lord, Ford having deeper pockets to lose money than Renault-Nissan? Nah.
As the article says parts are localized. Many are made in India, and it is also assembled in India. Expains the price.
They launched the new Fiesta without localisation, it was priced quite high, it failed miserably. They did not want to fail so went aggressive with the price.
So when they bring this to North America and make a Lincoln version what will they call it? MKE?
CX1, they are definitely not getting it to North America.
Great to see indian auto stories being covered on TTAC. Great work!
And ya fantastic pricing by ford, The car seems amazing considering the price, features and some of its dinosaur age competitors. ;)