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Ford Cuts EcoSport Price


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https://www.autoblog.com/2020/01/14/ford-ecosport-crossover-lower-price/

 



CarsDirect reports that Ford lowered the price of the entry-level 2020 EcoSport S trim, taking $420 off the $20,485 price. That resets the MSRP to $19,995, the same as it was in 2019; after a $1,095 destination charge, the subcompact crossover runs $21,090. Sticker prices for SE and Titanium don't change, the former at $24,545 after destination, the latter, $27,360.

The CarsDirect report said the automaker sent a letter to dealers citing "competitive pricing action" for the change. The outlet suggests Ford could be trying to reach more buyers searching for vehicles below $20,000, with competitors like the Nissan Kicks and Hyundai Kona already under that number, and more products like the 2020 Hyundai Venue and 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer coming to expand the under-$20K bracket. And though Ford is still selling quite a few affordable small cars that remain on its lots, other brands are picking up buyers that Ford might have hoped to convert to its small crossovers.

The EcoSport hasn't sold as well as Ford hoped since the carmaker imported the tiny goer from Europe in 2018. The numbers took a healthy 19.1% turn upward last year, with dealers finding homes for 64,708 units in the U.S,, compared to 54,348 in 2018. That kept the EcoSport ahead of the Kicks (58,193), which doesn't offer all-wheel drive, and the Toyota C-HR (48,930), which does. But the sales figure lags the Hyundai Kona (73,326), and falls way behind the more expensive Honda HR-V (99,104), Buick Encore (102,402), and Chevrolet Trax (116,816).

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5 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

The EcoSport hasn't sold as well as Ford hoped since the carmaker imported the tiny goer from Europe in 2018 

 

Isn't the U.S. market EcoSport imported from India?

 

Anyway, it looks like Ford's "hack job" approach to field an entry in the U.S. subcompact crossover segment as soon as possible has run its course.

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23 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

 

Isn't the U.S. market EcoSport imported from India?

 

Anyway, it looks like Ford's "hack job" approach to field an entry in the U.S. subcompact crossover segment as soon as possible has run its course.

 

Yeah, it's doing so poorly that sales increased 19% last year and outsold Kicks and C-HR.

 

It's definitely not the ideal product, but let's not act like it's doing extremely poorly.

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I bought a '19 Ecosport SES 2.0L at the beginning of this year, A plan and cash on the hood and decent rate it was a no brainer. It was bought to replace our MKC lease. It will be taking my daughter to college so lets hope its trouble free! And to be honest. I don't have a ton of seat time in it yet. But the lil 2.0 isnt all that bad. 

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10 minutes ago, wildosvt said:

I bought a '19 Ecosport SES 2.0L at the beginning of this year, A plan and cash on the hood and decent rate it was a no brainer. It was bought to replace our MKC lease. It will be taking my daughter to college so lets hope its trouble free! And to be honest. I don't have a ton of seat time in it yet. But the lil 2.0 isnt all that bad. 

 

I see a decent amount of them around, more then the other products it competes against. Its basic transportation for the vast majority of people out there that just don't care. 

 

Can it be improved-of course, but it seems like its selling Ok for what it is till something better comes along. 

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Looking at those sales numbers, I'd like to think there is serious potential for vehicle conquest if ford can knock it out of the park with the baby Bronco. Those are serious numbers! The ecospoet and focus as they are don't stand a chance.

 

If ford can get a nice, somewhat lower cost baby Bronco hopefully they can not only compete but dominate the small utility market again. 

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5 hours ago, probowler said:

Looking at those sales numbers, I'd like to think there is serious potential for vehicle conquest if ford can knock it out of the park with the baby Bronco. Those are serious numbers! The ecospoet and focus as they are don't stand a chance.

 

If ford can get a nice, somewhat lower cost baby Bronco hopefully they can not only compete but dominate the small utility market again. 

 

The baby Bronco is going to be a "premium" aka cost more Product.

 

Cost structure:

Ecosport

Escape

Baby Bronco

Edge

Bronco

Explorer

Expedition

 

Ford could use something under the Ecosport. 

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4 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

 

The baby Bronco is going to be a "premium" aka cost more Product.

 

Cost structure:

Ecosport

Escape

Baby Bronco

Edge

Bronco

Explorer

Expedition

 

Ford could use something under the Ecosport. 


a sub subcompact? The subcompact cuvs are barely usable as they are now, going any smaller would be a waste of resources.

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4 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

 

The baby Bronco is going to be a "premium" aka cost more Product.

 

Cost structure:

Ecosport

Escape

Baby Bronco

Edge

Bronco

Explorer

Expedition

 

Ford could use something under the Ecosport. 


a sub subcompact? The subcompact cuvs are barely usable as they are now, going any smaller would be a waste of resources.

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22 hours ago, 630land said:

In this are, the Buick Encore is a hit. Who would have predicted this 10-15 years ago?

 

EcoSport? Looks like a 4th grade art project, of paper mache'.

 

 

 

 

 

I did... I predicted the B-segment CUV will be a 500k unit segment in the US when Ford made the original decision to not sell the EcoSport in the US and GM went ahead with Encore. I said that was a huge mistake and Ford is going to regret not competing in this segment. And I was roundly ridiculed on these forums for making such an outlandish prediction ? 

 

I wasn't arguing for importing EcoSport as is... I was arguing that Ford wasn't prepared to compete. And it is still not ready. Talk about a badly missed product decision...

Edited by bzcat
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6 hours ago, T-dubz said:


a sub subcompact? The subcompact cuvs are barely usable as they are now, going any smaller would be a waste of resources.

 

He was obviously talking about price not size. EcoSport is too small and too expensive as a FWD Fiesta and entry level Focus replacement and the unnecessary AWD just adds to the costs. Ford positioned EcoSport as a Kona/HR-V/Trax/Renegade type competitor but those are more substantial and better designed vehicles. What Ford needed was a Fiesta and entry level Focus replacement, in addition to a competent sub-compact AWD CUV. EcoSport is frankly neither of those things.

 

All the car companies are replacing entry level cars with faux-CUVs. For example, Hyundai is replacing Accent with Venue, Toyota effectively replaced Yaris with CH-R, and Nissan is replacing Versa Note with Kicks. All three example I cited are FWD subcompact hatchback with an extra inch or so of suspension lift. It's basically still the same idea as their predecessors but just now they have higher ground clearance. And let's not forget about Kia Soul, another FWD only hatchback that is slightly faux-CUV... it more or less pushed Kia Rio into rental fleet only. That's what Ford needs as an entry level vehicle price below EcoSport. 

 

And of course, Ford also needs a competent EcoSport to compete with Kona/HR-V/Trax/Encore/Renegade/Countryman etc. 

 

 

Edited by bzcat
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12 hours ago, bzcat said:

 

He was obviously talking about price not size. EcoSport is too small and too expensive as a FWD Fiesta and entry level Focus replacement and the unnecessary AWD just adds to the costs. Ford positioned EcoSport as a Kona/HR-V/Trax/Renegade type competitor but those are more substantial and better designed vehicles. What Ford needed was a Fiesta and entry level Focus replacement, in addition to a competent sub-compact AWD CUV. EcoSport is frankly neither of those things.

 

Well Ford has the Puma, but that appears it will be too expensive for anything but the EU market. The supposed Small CUV that will be built with the Transit Connect and C Class Pickup would fix the Ecosport issues, but you still have the low price issue to address-Maybe that is that quick turnaround skunk works project they where talking about last year-a subcompact FWD only tall hatchback that would be based off the Fiesta or maybe the Escort from China?

Edited by silvrsvt
Puma not Kuga
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45 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

I actually think the Puma would do well here.

I'm not sure how well it would actually do-it seems like it would hurt sales of the Ecosport and Escape. Its only about $3600 cheaper vs the Kuga in the UK. Add in the upcoming Fusion crossover which should be a bit more expensive then the Escape and around the price of the Baby Bronco, I'm not sure how many sub 30K cars Ford can afford to sell here without cannibalizing too sales from one another. 

 

IMO I think Ford needs to fix the low end of its offering in the US- Offer a FWD Only B-class lifted Hatchback as its entry level and replace the Ecosport with a more competitive product that would be built in Mexico. I've heard rumors about a 3 row C class product, but that would put it into Escape/Baby Bronco pricing.

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21 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

I'm not sure how well it would actually do-it seems like it would hurt sales of the Ecosport and Escape. Its only about $3600 cheaper vs the Kuga in the UK. Add in the upcoming Fusion crossover which should be a bit more expensive then the Escape and around the price of the Baby Bronco, I'm not sure how many sub 30K cars Ford can afford to sell here without cannibalizing too sales from one another. 

 

IMO I think Ford needs to fix the low end of its offering in the US- Offer a FWD Only B-class lifted Hatchback as its entry level and replace the Ecosport with a more competitive product that would be built in Mexico. I've heard rumors about a 3 row C class product, but that would put it into Escape/Baby Bronco pricing.

 

Oh I was thinking it'd replace EcoSport altogether.

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34 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

I'm not sure how well it would actually do-it seems like it would hurt sales of the Ecosport and Escape. Its only about $3600 cheaper vs the Kuga in the UK. Add in the upcoming Fusion crossover which should be a bit more expensive then the Escape and around the price of the Baby Bronco, I'm not sure how many sub 30K cars Ford can afford to sell here without cannibalizing too sales from one another. 

 

IMO I think Ford needs to fix the low end of its offering in the US- Offer a FWD Only B-class lifted Hatchback as its entry level and replace the Ecosport with a more competitive product that would be built in Mexico. I've heard rumors about a 3 row C class product, but that would put it into Escape/Baby Bronco pricing.

 

But should automakers worry about canibalization in the situation where platforms and architectures are common to all products? I mean, being relatively cheap to develop different C2 cars, shouldn't Ford cover more body styles and possible attract different consumers?

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