Ford’s Ecoboost Engine To Make A Comeback In India

The EcoSport was the only Ford vehicle to sport the Ecoboost petrol engine in India

Ford has launched the thoroughly updated EcoSport in India. It not only features cosmetic updates, but changes in the engine and transmission departments as well. Prior to the facelift, the EcoSport was available in India with two petrol engines and a diesel motor. Ford has retained the diesel engine but both the petrol engines have been axed. At least that’s what it seems like. But Ford doesn’t want us to say that just yet!

Here’s what the company’s president & managing director, Anurag Mehrotra, had to tell us when we wanted to know why they dropped the 1.0-litre Ecoboost petrol engine from the EcoSport lineup in India:

“I think you should never say never. I think you have to just hold your judgement on whether it’s there or not. Give us some more time and we’ll come back with an answer on that. Don’t say that we’ve taken it off.”

Now, how would you interpret that?

Before this conversation, we thought that..

The new 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder engine fits the situation impeccably for Ford in India. With 123PS of maximum power on tap, it is as powerful as the 1.0-litre Ecoboost engine that made 125PS. It comes paired with both manual and automatic transmissions. The automatic is a conventional torque converter that should be cheaper than the dual-clutch unit that was there earlier with the 1.5-litre four-pot motor. This new engine is heavily localised and can be downsized to a 1.2-litre unit for the Figo and the Aspire. So, it brings to the table almost everything that the two petrol engines did earlier. Perfect.

And now we’re left with unanswered questions..

Why is the Ecoboost coming back if the new petrol engine fits the scheme of things like a dream? And if it has to come back, will it be in the same tune or some other? Or, is Ford thinking of putting it under the Figo and not the EcoSport?

It looks unlikely that the 1.0-litre, 125PS engine would make its way under the EcoSport’s hood especially after the arrival of the new petrol engine that is equally powerful. However, given that Ford exports cars with the Ecoboost engines from India, offering the same in the country won't do any harm. So, it will either have to be a more powerful version of this engine on the Ford EcoSport, or the 125PS version under the Figo or Aspire. Or, may be a completely new vehicle, probably over the EcoSport, with Ecoboost tech under its hood.

Read more about the EcoSport's new petrol engine here.