Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - v2 - 20

* MAY 2017

FASHIONABLY LATE
'Earth-changing' technology said to offset
the FORD ECOSPORT'S tardy arrival
to a category with well-established rivals
By JEREMY SINEK

TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

ORD DIDN'T
invent the wildly popular compact-utility-vehicle segment,
but the original
Escape went on to
become the longtime segment sales leader in
Canada.
But times and market
demand change, and other
automakers have inserted
smaller utility vehicles to fill
in new gaps in their model
ranges. Honda has the HR-V
nestled in below the CR-V,
and Nissan has slotted the
new Qashqai between the
larger Rogue and the Sentra
subcompact-sedan line.
Yet, the Ford Escape has
no understudy. The current generation is in its fifth
model year, and despite a
freshening for 2017, it's los-

ing ground to a growing
band of fresher competitors.
It's not as if there wasn't
already a suitable product in its global portfolio:
The EcoSport was launched
in Brazil in 2003. The second-generation EcoSport
launched in early 2014 and
spread to other markets
including Europe.
Ford finally announced
last November that it will
introduce the EcoSport
in Canada and the United
States, but it's not exactly rushing the Fiesta-based
compact utility to market
as the projected on-sale date
is January 2018. By then,
the basic design will be four
years old, though of course
it will have been freshened
and adapted for the North
American market.
Asked at the Canadian
International AutoShow in
Toronto in February why
Ford waited so long to bring
the EcoSport to Canada,

Competitors such as the Honda HR-V and Nissan Qashqai
will have a giant head-start on the Ford EcoSport, which
is expected to arrive in early 2018. ( P H O T O : F O R D C A N A D A )

The EcoSport fits into a peer group
that includes the Chevrolet Trax, Honda HR-V,
Jeep Renegade and Mazda CX-3. ( P H O T O : F O R D C A N A D A )

Gonzalo Contrera, Ford
Canada marketing manager
for SUVs, said: "That's when
we can get it."

I don't think
being late
hurts because
that segment
[CUVs] has
a long way to
grow.

FAST-GROWTH SEGMENT
"We are making changes, adding options, adding
SYNC, to make it work for
the North American customer."
Contrera added that the
segment is growing fast and
is getting crowded.
"It used to be one per cent
of the industry, now it's getting close to 2.5 or three per
cent and may go even higher
than that. And there are others coming, too."
Ford announced the coming of the EcoSport just
days after Donald Trump
was elected president of the
United States last November.
Trump has excoriated
American automakers for
moving manufacturing operations outside the United
States, mostly singling
out Mexico. The EcoSport
doesn't come from Mexico
(or Brazil), but it's not a
domestic either; the North
American version will be
built in Chennai, India.
That long supply pipeline will be a factor for dealers, said Dan Deboer, dealer/partner at Parkway Ford
in Waterloo, Ont., and vicechair of the Ford dealers'
National Round Table, an
elected body that works with
the manufacturer.
"Factory orders will be
almost nonexistent. If a customer wants something specific it could take four to
five months. For that reason
they've packaged it very sim-

DAN DEBOER

Dealer/partner,
Parkway Ford,
Waterloo, Ont.
ply, with very few combinations [which] should make it
easier to stock.
"I'm going to step up and
order as many as I can out of
the gate," he added. "I think
we need to have a lot of them
here and have a good selection."
At just under 4.3 metres
long (European version) the
EcoSport fits a peer group
that includes the Chevrolet
Trax, Honda HR-V, Jeep
Renegade and Mazda CX-3.
It will be offered in four trim
grades in Canada with a
choice of two powertrains: a
1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged with front-wheeldrive; or a non-turbo 2.0-litre
four-cylinder with all-wheeldrive. Both will be paired to
six-speed automatic transmissions.

IMPORT FIGHTER
Deboer isn't concerned
about the EcoSport's age.
"I don't think being late

hurts because that segment
still has a long way to grow,"
he said. "If you look at some
of the competition they don't
have earth-changing technology. I think we're going to be
competitive. And it's never
been seen here in Canada so
that makes it new."
David McQuilkin, vice
president and dealer principal at Whiteoak Ford Lincoln
in Mississauga, Ont., is
equally bullish.
"It has the benefit of
already being in production
and of proven quality. It's a
beautiful import fighter, it's
the right size, and I anticipate we'll sell a ton of them."
With the market launch
still eight months away,
Contrera could not speak to
pricing or sales volume.
"We will see what customers say. We are here to compete and sell as many as we
can. We are the number-one
SUV brand in Canada."
- ANC

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - v2