When Ford and Mahindra called off their joint venture earlier this year, it inevitably killed a lot of models that were in the pipeline as part of the JV from both companies. Perhaps the most important of these was the Mahindra XUV700-based (W601) Ford C-SUV that was being developed for India. Internally codenamed the CX757, it would have been a very important model for Ford India, bridging the gap between the Ecosport and the Endeavour. More importantly, Ford was quite far into the development of this C-SUV, even having finalized its design by Pininfarina.
With the JV called off, thankfully, Ford did not completely scrap its plan of a C-SUV for India. Instead, it went looking for a new platform from their own stable, and as per reports, the CX757 will be built on a Ford platform that's similar in size and spec to that of the new XUV700. Now, this platform already underpins the Ford Territory SUV sold in Chinese and Brazilian markets. In fact, Ford shares this platform with Chinese carmaker Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC). What will work in Ford's favour here is that like the Mahindra platform, this too is engineered at a low-cost base. This will help the carmaker price the C-SUV very competitively against models like the Tata Harrier.
The platform which underpins the Ford Territory has a similar wheelbase of 2,716mm as Mahindra’s W601. What this means is that Ford will be able to keep alterations to the CX757's Pininfarina design down to a minimum. Here, we have a rendering of the upcoming facelift for the Ford Territory. While the C-SUV for India won't be a true copy of the Chinese model, it won't be a surprise to see it look a fair bit like its donor. The vehicle in this rendering looks like a hybrid of the Ecosport and the recently unveiled Ford Equator. While the hexagonal grille and the high bonnet are reminiscent of the Ecosport, the split LED headlamp setup seem to be inspired by the Ford Equator.
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We particularly like how the LED DRLs span across the width of the SUV, which a very cool detail indeed. In typical SUV fashion, this Ford SUV has been imagined wearing heavy body cladding all around with contrasting silver skid plates. In profile, the SUV gets a floating effect for the roof with the B- and C-pillars being blacked out. It also gets a pair of functional roof rails, blacked-out 5-spoke alloy wheels and ORVM-mounted turn indicators. There's also a strong character line along the sides that start from the front fender to meet the tail lamps at the rear.
The rear end of the Ford Territory facelift seen in the rendering looks very muscular and distinct in this rendering. It gets a pair of sleek LED tail lamps that are connected by a light bar. With the number plate positioned on the tailgate, it has a nice layered effect to it and the black chunky bumper with dual exhaust tips round off the look. The Indian version from Ford will likely continue with many of these design details, which should make the vehicle look as contemporary as the Tata Harrier. In India, the new model will be likely powered by the 2.0-litre EcoBlue diesel engine and the 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrol engines.
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