Last week Ford confirmed that it had planned a new C-SUV to be co-developed with Mahindra for India. According to a report from Moneycontrol, the new Ford C-SUV's launch will take place around 2021.
In an interview with the business publication, Mahindra & Mahindra MD Dr. Pawan Goenka revealed a few details of the Ford-Mahindra alliance's plans. Speaking about the jointly-developed C-SUVs, he said:
The CSUVs as we call it, which will be a Mahindra platform on which there will be a Ford vehicle that will probably get launched – the Ford vehicle – somewhere in 2021 or thereabouts.
Detouring from the 'One Ford' strategy, Ford has decided to launch a made-for-India C-SUV instead of bringing down the globally sold Ford Kuga (Ford Escape). The company will likely use the next-gen Mahindra XUV500's platform for this model. It should offer higher safety than the current Mahindra XUV500's platform, as Mahindra plans to achieve a 5-star ANCAP safety rating for the next-gen Mahindra XUV500. The co-developed C-SUVs may share Mahindra-developed engines as well.
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The Ford C-SUV will compete with the likes of Jeep Compass and Hyundai Tucson in India. Its prices could start at well below INR 20 lakh (ex-showroom).
[Source: Moneycontrol]
[Source: GoAuto.com.au]
