Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater to look sportier than Marazzo

The JV between Ford and Mahindra is going to soon produce its first car – the Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater. This has been decided by the executives of both companies. Ford needs a proper MPV to show it’s presence in the people carrier segment.

Thus a car based on the Mahindra Marazzo is going to be the way forward for the company. Apart from that, the JV has made it public that they have plans for three SUV for Ford and their cooperation in electric vehicle development.

Below we discuss the price and all other details about the platform, design and features that we predict will be made available on the upcoming Ford 7-seater.

Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater Launch

Ford has previously thought of taking on the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, but the investment for this vehicle was too high for the Indian market. Now due to the joint venture with Mahindra, Ford has access to the Marazzo platform. At the launch, we are not just expecting a rebadging. There will be a lot of changes in the vehicle from new features, better Ford interface, new headlights and alloy wheels. Read our design section below to know more about what we think will change and how the exterior will look.

The launch of this vehicle is expected to take place in 2020. We expect the vehicle to be ready for production by February 2020. Ford will make sure the car is not only made to Indian standards and it will be made to fulfil the demand of Ford’s export market.

Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater Price in India

The pricing of the Rs 15 Lakh Ford will be more than the Marazzo. We expect that the number of variants will be lesser than the Marazzo. Ford will have special editions as it does with the EcoSport to make it look more sporty and appel to younger crowds. The design will be bolder.

The vehicle will have the same powertrain as the Mahindra Marazzo. We expect it to start from Rs 10 lakhs and go well above Rs 15 lakhs initially. Ford being an American brand, will want to add it’s own signature touches to the car and so simple rebadging of Mahindra Marazzo will not be happening. Ford might push for some kind of hybrid powertrain and technology to be included on the MPV. Many features we see on the Ford 7-seater will be later seen on the facelifted Mahindra Marazzo.

Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater Platform

The Ford Marazzo MPV will be based on the platform of the Marazzo. This is a platform that is a mix of the front-wheel-drive with ladder frame chassis. Being a ladder frame chassis vehicle might be subjected to some amount of body roll. But the front-wheel-drive of the vehicle will make it easier to drive in the city.  This makes the engine mounting on the car in a transverse method. What Ford will do with the platform is that it will retune the suspension and change the wheel size so that the vehicle rides and handles differently from the Mahindra Marazzo. We expect that Ford will drive more car-like. Ford will tap on its RS heritage for inspiration and will adopt bigger wheels and brakes.

Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater Engine

The engine on the vehicle will be Mahindra’s 1.5-litre diesel engine. This is available with an option of both manual and AMT gearbox. The 1.5-litre turbo petrol will be a much likely engine for this ford vehicle. As ford cars are known for their big engine. The turbo petrol will provide enough punch for the vehicle. The diesel engine produces a power of 121 bhp. But it has a massive torque of 300 Nm. All this means that the car will not have to struggle when it is completely loaded.

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Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater Interior

The interiors of the Ford 7 seater will resemble the Ford Ecosport. Expect a lot of back and blue touches in the dashboard, Black leather upholstery, captain seats for the middle row and Ford will adopt the surround cooling system from the Marazzo. We do not expect a sunroof or electrically adjustable seats. As of now, we can expect that the car will be very different from the beige interior of the Marazzo.

They’re already big players in this segment like the Toyota with products like Innova. The Mahindra Marazzo has not been able to crack the trust factor that people have with brands like Toyota and Maruti.

So the interiors will have the fancy bits. It will get cooled glove boxes.

The infotainment system will have Android Auto and Apple Car Play. The plastic quality in the cabin might remain the same as in the Marazzo. We could see Ford add Connected Car feature too. Safety will also be paramount with

Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater Design

The exterior of this vehicle will not be like the Mahindra Marazzo. This is where Ford’s new generation European design will come in. There will a lot of inspiration taken from cars like the Focus ST, Fiesta, Focus RS and the Mondeo. We could see the Focus headlights as shown in one of the online renderings of the car, a new grille and big front splitter. On the side, we expect that to curb costs, the Ford MPV will use the same door panels as the Marazzo and so will the roof be the same. The shape of the mirrors can become more sporty and sharper. The rear will see new taillamps, new latches and different glass areas.

Ford will make sure their car looks more sporty, better in terms of aesthetics and uses less chrome and more matte or piano black pieces.

Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater Colors

We expect the car to be available in the following colours

• White Gold Metallic.
• Smoke Grey.
• Ruby Red.
• Oxford White.
• Moondust Silver.
• Ford Racing Blue.
• Absolute Black.
• Olive Green

Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-seater Competition

The Rs 15 Lakh Ford 7-Seater Marazzo has a head-on competition from the Maruti Ertiga, Mahindra Marazzo, Toyota Innova, Renault Lodgy and the Maruti XL6. The features it offers and the different look it projects will add to it’s wow factor.