The Ford EcoSport Is Leaving The US Market Soon

After Ford ended sales of the Focus and Fiesta subcompact cars in its home market, they began to import the India-made EcoSport subcompact crossover to take their place. The EcoSport's awkward proportions and basic standard features had US customers turning to GM's more stylish offerings like the Chevrolet Trailblazer. As Ford shutters their plant in India where the EcoSport is manufactured, every model that is produced there will be discontinued.

The EcoSport's low popularity in the US is backed by numbers, as just over 60,000 examples were sold in Q1 2020, and sales have apparently decreased by 22 percent since the pandemic hit. Even though slow sales are thought to have played a role in the EcoSport's demise, it's really due to the closure of the Chennai factory, and cancellation of imports from the plant.

In an official statement, Ford CEO Jim Farley said, "Despite investing significantly in India, Ford has accumulated more than $2 billion of operation losses over and past 10 years and demand for new vehicles has been much weaker than [expected]." The closure of this plant doesn't just affect the EcoSport, but it also spells the end for the Endeavor, which is the Indian market Everest, and the Aspire, Freestyle and Figo, which are different versions of Europe's Ka and Ka+.

Ford's second Indian factory in Sanand will also cease production of vehicles, but will not be shut down. Instead, 500 employees will be exporting engines for the Ranger pickup, and another 100 will work for distribution of parts and customer service. Ford also said that the Mustang sports car and its Mach E electric crossover counterpart will begin importing to India to broaden the model range after the absence of the discontinued models.

Ford says the EcoSport will soldier on until at least mid-2022, and will still have support for aftermarket parts and services. As for the European market, Ford will continue production of the EcoSport in Romania, since buyers are more fond of it there.

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Images: Ford