Ford EcoSport was one of the most anticipated cars of the year. The car was unveiled for the Indian market in March 2013 and was due an official launch in June. Although now Ford India, who all this while sounded very confident about their EcoSport, has announced that it will be recalling the car from the market. The reason behind this has been explained as a mal functioning in one of the instruments which facilitates the car start up.
On this Thursday, Ford India gave a statement on this product recall saying that “As part of routine checks, we discovered a potential concern with EcoSport diesel variants related to the Glow Plug Module which requires relocating the module. We are contacting customers to take their vehicle to their Ford dealership to have the work carried out.” However the company has not given any information about the number of units that will be recalled.
Ford India also clarified that this step is a preventive measure it has taken. So far no incidents have occurred or complaints have been received regarding this defect. Ford India, in order to ensure its customer’s comfort and safety, is willingly recalling the cars from the market. The existing EcoSport customers can get their cars fixed at any Ford dealership.
EcoSport was launched last month and is available at a price of Rs 5.59 lacs. This car is available in 3 variants differing in their engine design. EcoSport comes with a 1.5 litre petrol engine, 1.5 litre diesel engine and 1 litre petrol with Eco boost technology.
The problem has been spotted in the diesel variant, whose current market price is Rs 6.69 lacs. The other 2 variants will continue to be on sale. The 1 litre ecoboost petrol variant is available at a price of Rs 7.9 lacs while the 1.5 litre petrol engine is offered at a price of Rs 5.59 lacs.
Ford India has started EcoSport manufacturing at its Chennai unit with an investment of $142 million. The company is setting up a new plant in Sanand in Gujarat with an investment of $1 billion. The plant will start its production by 2014. With both the plants in use, Ford India will have an annual output of 4.4 lacs cars and 6.4 lacs engines.
