Indonesia - Ford EcoSport makes local premiere

The Ford EcoSport, beaming in a Mars Red/Savannah Orange paintwork, was revealed to the Indonesians at the Indonesian International Motor Show 2013 last week. Ford is keeping everyone in the dark on its launch date, but the local media is reporting that cars would come from Ford's Rayong plant in Thailand.

The information on Ford Indonesia's website is not too helpful in guessing a launch date or unraveling the specifications. The literature is sounding very determined when it says the EcoSport can turn "speed bumps into blips" and "flash floods into puddles" with its high ground clearance and roadabilty. How much confidence 200mm of ground clearance can give the Ford marketer?!

Now that Renault has announced its re-entry in the Indonesian market with the Duster, it shouldn't be long before Ford fires shots at it by undercutting on pricing and introducing variants that are rich in features.

The EcoSport is belting out big volumes in the Indian market, and there is a huge anticipation for it from Ford's camp in Europe.

Ford will manufacture the car for some ASEAN markets at its Thailand plant while part of the European demand could be diverted from Chennai to the Ford-Sollers Tatarstan plant in Russia once it comes on stream in the second half of next year.

[Image source - AutoNetMagz.com]