Like Tata Motors, Ford will launch two versions of
its C-SUV in India, one with five seats and the other with seven seats,
suggests a report from The Economic Times. Ford’s made-for-India C-SUV was
announced in March 2018, when the company signed a MoU with Mahindra to
co-develop it. “A firmed-up agreement on C segment SUV will be announced within
a month,” a person in the know of the alliance partners’ joint projects has
told The Economic Times.
The report says that the sourcing for the C-SUV
codenamed W601 and W605 has begun, suggesting that a duo like the Tata Harrier and the Tata H7X is planned.
This doesn’t come as a surprise, though, if the recent market trend is
considered along with the fact that the platform underpinning Ford’s C-SUV will
have the capability of spawning a seven-seater.
The made-for-India Ford C-SUV will share
underpinnings with the next-gen Mahindra XUV500. Reports suggest that Mahindra
will scrap the current XUV500’s platform and use an all-new platform for the
second generation model. Production of the Blue Oval’s C-SUV will likely be
assigned to Mahindra’s Chakan factory.
Ford and Mahindra had agreed to evaluate
co-development of a B-SUV and an electric vehicle also last year. Regarding
those, the source mentioned above said: “Negotiations for the B-segment SUV and
an electric vehicle architecture are progressing well.”
