Ford to roll out compact SUV Ecosport early next year
25 Sep 2012
US carmaker Ford would roll out its first India-made compact Sports Utility Vehicle " Ecosport" from its manufacturing facility in Chennai from early next year.
Top Ford officials revealed this when they called on Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa today to invite her to launch the vehicle scheduled to be rolled out in February or March next year, according to a state government release.
The company, early this year, displayed SUV-Ecosport at the Auto Expo held in New Delhi.
Ford Motor Company (Asia Pacific) president Joe Hinrichs, Ford India, president and managing director Michael Boneham and Ford Business Services, executive director, Joginder Singh informed the chief minister the company would recruit in excess of 1,200 people within a year, across its Chennai and Coimbatore centres.
The company manufactures and distributes automobiles and engines from its manufacturing facility at Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai.
Among the models the company manufactures are the hatchback Figo, mid-size sedan Ford Classic, premium SUV Endeavour and premium sedan global Fiesta.
Ford India's operations also include business services, comprising Ford Business Services Centre and Ford Technology Services, located in Chennai, New Delhi and Coimbatore.
These support Ford globally in the areas of IT, accounting and finance, among others.
Ford India has a 5,200 strong workforce at its manufacturing facility and business services division
Meanwhile, the all-new Ford EcoSport is set to debut at the Sydney Motor Show next month
The starting price of the model is $25,000 making the EcoSport, Ford's cheapest SUV ever.
With the EcoSport, drivers in small cities get an alternative that delivers compactness and agility as also contemporary SUV styling. The new SUV would be launched with Ford's 1.0-L three-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine, that had won the international best engine award 2012.
The engine comes with turbocharging, direct injection and twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT) to deliver power and performance to rival a traditional naturally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol engine.
The three-cylinder engine would debut in Australia in the updated Ford Fiesta city car, which would reach local showrooms ahead of the EcoSport.
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