A new Ford EcoSport may be on the cards

Rumours of the Ford EcoSport being revived have intensified in recent months, with reports that a successor to the discontinued compact SUV might be built in Europe or India.

According to Motor1, the third-generation model may be built by Ford Europe in Spain and arrive in 2026 with petrol-electric and pure electric powertrains. It is also speculated that EcoSport production may resume at the Chennai factory in India where the vehicle was previously built.

In September Ford announced it intends to reopen the Chennai plant and did not give details of what it will build, but it sparked rumours in international media of an EcoSport return, reputedly as early as this year.

Ford has remained tight-lipped on the rumours but it is known that the blue oval wants to return to the budget SUV category which the previous EcoSport once ruled in South Africa.

“Would I like a new EcoSport, yes. But it has not been confirmed whether it is being built,” Neale Hill, president of Ford Africa, told TimesLIVE this week.

The first-generation EcoSport was built in Brazil and was a popular seller in South America. South Africans were first introduced to the EcoSport in its second generation in 2013. The versatile and affordable car for many years reigned as the country’s best selling small crossover SUV, a category that has grown with a barrage of new players.

The EcoSport was discontinued globally in 2022 and local sales ended in 2023 when Ford shut down the two plants that built the cars for export to South Africa: first the Chennai factory and later the Craiova plant in Romania.

It left the blue oval without an affordable player in the compact crossover class, which has grown into the country’s biggest passenger car segment and is dominated by models such as the Toyota Corolla Cross, Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, Suzuki Fronx, Toyota Starlet Cross, Nissan Magnite, Haval Jolion and Kia Sonet.

The Ford Puma was launched here in November 2023 as the brand’s smallest SUV but the Fiesta-based vehicle is not a direct EcoSport replacement and competes in a more premium category. The two Puma models priced at R573,500 and R617,500 are considerably more expensive than the EcoSport, which retailed for R311,000-R417,000 at the time it was discontinued.

The bulk of Ford’s local sales are accounted for by the locally-built Ranger bakkie which moves more than 2,000 units a month, but the brand’s passenger car sales have dwindled drastically since the demise of the budget friendly EcoSport and Figo hatch/sedan, the latter discontinued in 2022.

At its peak the EcoSport sold more than 1,000 units a month in South Africa, though in latter years it reduced to under 400 units as other brands launched modern new rivals to the ageing car.

Ford South Africa’s best selling passenger car today is the midsized Territory SUV introduced in 2024, which is much larger than the EcoSport and priced between R593,500 and R725,500. It sells about 300 units a month. The luxury Everest SUV has 200-250 monthly sales, and the Puma sells fewer than 100 units.

A high-volume model such as the EcoSport could help Ford regain lost local market share after slipping from fourth place. It is South Africa’s fifth biggest motor brand behind Toyota, VW, Suzuki and Hyundai.