Ford Ecosport Bookings Suspended in India Due to Scaling Demand

Ford India has temporarily stopped accepting bookings of some of the variants of its EcoSport sports utility vehicle (SUV) due to their incapability to meet huge demand for the vehicle.

The crossover EcoSport had launched on a fantastic note in the sub-continent and global auto market. The vehicle received more than 30,000 bookings within the first 17 days of its launch in India on 26 June, and auto lovers are still heading to various dealerships to place orders.

"We are witnessing an extended waiting period on certain variants and have temporarily stopped taking bookings on a few variants," a Ford India spokesperson told PTI.

However, there is no official confirmation about which EcoSport variant is facing currently suspension. According to reports, some dealers have stopped accepting orders for the diesel variant, while others have halted bookings for the top-end EcoBoost petrol variant. The company also did not divulge information about the back-logs of the vehicle. Earlier, it was reported that the waiting period for the SUV has been extended to six months due to increasing demand.

EcoSport is marketed in India at a starting price of Rs.5.59 lakh. Several factors like price and features of Ecosport have escalated the demand for the vehicle in India, even at a time when the auto market is facing a slowdown. In addition to this, the hype for compact SUVs in the Indian market has also made EcoSport more popular. Although the company had recently recalled the EcoSport diesel model in India to fix the issued with the glow-plug module, demand for the vehcile is still at all all-time high.

The vehicle, which is pitted against Renault Duster, Mahindra Quanto and Premier Rio, competes with India's current auto market leaders - Maruti and Hyundai. It is also priced to compete with DZire and other fast moving hatchbacks in the country.

Ford EcoSport specifications and price overview:

    1.5L petrol (Ambiente, Trend and Titanium)
    1.5L diesel (Ambiente, Trend, Titanium and Titanium (O))
    1.0L EcoBoost engine (Titanium and Titanium (O))

Price:

        1.5L petrol MT - Rs.5.59 lakh
        1.5L diesel - Rs.6.69 lakh
        1.0L EcoBoost - Rs.7.89 lakh
        1.5L Petrol Auto - Rs.8.44 lakh

Source: http://tinyurl.com/mlnlxhw