To bridge the gap between the Ecosport and the Endeavour in their model lineup in India, Ford will be launching a new C-SUV in the Indian market next year. While the upcoming Ford C-SUV was initially meant to be underpinned by the Mahindra W601 platform (the same that will underpin the Mahindra XUV700), with the joint venture between the two companies called off, Ford's C-SUV for India will now likely be underpinned by the platform of the Ford Territory, a mid-size SUV that the carmaker sells in markets like China and Brazil. Here we have a rendering of the Ford Territory facelift, which gives us a speculative preview of what Ford's C-SUV for India could look like.
This rendering of the Ford Territory facelift has been created by KDesign, and while the C-SUV for India won't be a true copy of the facelifted 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. 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.
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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. 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. Incidentally, the Ford C-SUV, while it was still underpinned by the Mahindra W601 platform, was designed by Pininfarina, the famous Italian design studio. Now an interesting fact to note here is that the Ford Territory platform is pretty similar in size and spec to the Mahindra W601 platform. That should allow Ford to not make much alterations to the original Pininfarina design of the upcoming C-SUV. The interior design too could be borrowed from the Territory, which itself feels quite premium with light colours, faux wood panels and chrome highlights. The highlight could be a 10.1-inch Sync touchscreen infotainment system.
Under the hood, the Ford C-SUV will likely be powered by the 2.0 EcoBlue diesel engine in India. Ford already manufactures this engine in India for use in the Endeavour and the carmaker could, in theory, install this engine on the C-SUV in a different spec of tune. This engine has already been used to power front-wheel drive vehicles like the Mondeo and the Edge, the latter a similarly-sized SUV, which means Ford wouldn't have to start from scratch for this. Ford could also plonk the 1.5L Ecoboost petrol engine under the hood of the C-SUV. Internally codenamed the CX757, it is expected to hit the Indian market sometime in 2022.
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