Why EcoSport, not B-Max?

The Ford world has two options for a 'Fiesta plus' model that would be easy to park and yet roomy inside, fuel efficient and safe.

One is the Indian-built tiny-tot SUV, the EcoSport, and the other is the Euro-targeted B-Max MPV. The latter was never a serious option for the Australian market, but the EcoSport has quickly found favour in the right circles.

"We've done market research in Sydney and our product market team in Australia have been working on it for quite some time," said Sinead Phipps, Public Affairs Director for Ford Australia, who also admitted that the EcoSport rates as an SUV only by dint of its higher ride height and packaging. There's no four-wheel drive, no dual-range transfer, no lockable diffs...

"This is not an SUV for somebody who lives in the Kimberleys — or anything like that. It's Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane people... young, urban, trendy people."

Phipps was speaking to Australian journalists during the opening week of the New Delhi Auto Expo in India, where Joe Hinrichs , President of Ford's Asia/Pacific region, added his two cents' worth.

"Australians love SUVs, the Territory's been a successful product for us, and Australians — like all customers around the world — are getting more and more fuel conscious, because of the price of fuel. We're seeing consumers all around the world — in mature markets like Australia and others — are downsizing. What they want... great styling, all the technology and they want fuel economy. Well, this is an SUV on a smaller platform — on a B-segment [platform], same as the Fiesta — so it still offers that great fuel economy and efficiency you get, but it still offers you the styling, the seating position, the ground clearance of an SUV.

"So we think it's a great product for a market like Australia; again, because customers have high expectations for feature content, but they are downsizing, for fuel efficiency reasons."

The B-Max mentioned already (pictured) will compete in Europe against the Opel Meriva, which is expected to go on sale in Australia from 2013 — around the same time the EcoSport is due to arrive in Ford showrooms locally. It's a contest shaping up to be very interesting.

Has Ford got it right? Will Australians embrace the SUV-like EcoSport and turn their backs on the ultra practical Meriva? Does one necessarily have to follow the other anyway? Hinrichs firmly believes that Aussies will choose a vehicle that's closer in character to an SUV than one more like an MPV.

"Australians — at least in our research — are more interested in the SUV part of the vehicle than they are the MAV part of the vehicle... even though there are a lot of similarities. And this is an SUV. In the B segment we think it's a great opportunity to offer a new potential offering to customers that they don't have today."

"Customers are telling us they want an SUV, but they want the fuel efficiency of a smaller car. We're trying to combine those two — especially with the EcoBoost option in this product. We see great potential for it in markets like Australia and we've done research that supports that."

Ford's head of design, J Mays, hinted that some of the locally-built Territory's fortune might rub off on the EcoSport, explaining the newer model's mini-me resemblance to the heavyweight SUV at the front.

"If you see a little bit of Territory in the front end of this vehicle, that's not by accident. We create, when we're sitting in the design studio, a portfolio of vehicles; and even so, that the design might not be in every showroom around the world, I still like to get every vehicle up on the wall, spin them all around at the same time — and make sure we don't have a black sheep in the family. This thing [EcoSport] fits right into the portfolio."

Mays believes the B-Max (and the Meriva by extension) suits the purposes of a different type of buyer than those in the market for the EcoSport. The two cars have plenty in common, but Australians have traditionally steered clear of MPVs like Mazda's Premacy, to use one example, or Holden's Zafira, to use another. But SUVs seem to be much the same concept from a packaging standpoint, albeit with an elevated driving position for a commanding view of the road and the (unfulfilled?) promise of offroad ability.

"Similar size, but completely different customer, so the B-Max is more of a mini C-Max and more of a multi-purpose vehicle — as opposed to an SUV," Mays responds. "The B-Max is an entirely different customer set on this. This vehicle [EcoSport] is more like a small Kuga."

Photos courtesy of Photo 4

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