Hey guys,

Getting off the highway on my way home from work a few weeks ago and I noticed an unfamiliar Ford in my rearview. At first glance I thought it was a new Escape, until we both got off and he got next to me.

Is this the "EcoSport"? Got a feeling it is, though I thought it was only available to the India market. Any word if this will be on the US market?

Thanks!

Chris

 

It certainly looks like the Ecosport, although the Escape and C-Max are close too. They used to make the Ecosport in Mexico, but the last year for that was 2010. Wish the pic was a bit larger.

 

Definitely wasn't a C-Max or Escape. Although I thought it was an Escape at first. Looks like a squashed Escape!

Chris

 

Isn't it pretty hard to get the foreign versions of the cars into the US because of them not passing most safety and/or emission regulations?

 

Tried to make it bigger, hope it works!



Chris

 

Found a press pic. Definitely an EcoSport.




I think you will find it being less and less of a problem as many manufacturers are now making "world" cars. Vehicles that with little or no mods can be sold in any country.

 

Hmm good to know. I've always found the world car version of the sport trac interesting.

 

There may be subtle differences, but basically the same vehicle. Biggest differences will probably be drivetrain. Here are some examples.

Fiesta - India, US, UK
http://www.india.ford.com/cars/new-fiesta
http://www.ford.com/cars/fiesta/
http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/Fiesta

Focus - Australia, US, UK
http://www.ford.com.au/cars/focus
http://www.ford.com/cars/focus/
http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/Focus

If I remember correctly, both the Fiesta and C-Max came over from Europe.

 

Any car under 25 years old can not be imported if the manufacturer has not gone through the DOT mandated crash tests and emissions testing. Read up on Bill Gates and his Porsche 959. He tried to import one and it sat in customs for several years before he was able to convince/buy the Feds to change the rules an allow him to bring it in as a museum piece. His was one of several that belonged to extremely wealthy people that could not import a 959.

If you try to bring in a light duty truck you will also be subject to the 25% "Chicken Tax" that are on all trucks not made in the US/Canada/Mexico.

 

Nevermind just looked it up, it's the world ranger.
http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2010...w-ford-ranger/

Pretty close looking to a sport trac but still pretty cool imo.

 

Forget about it! The VW crowd has been going nuts to import the VW Amarok for years. They have gone so far as to register it in Mexico where it is legal and drive it here on the Mexican tags. To my knowledge they have all been caught and fined for breaking the import laws.

 

Dang, that thing looks really similar to the ford world ranger too.

 

Have seen one or two of these roaming on manufacturer plates obviously in my town. Pretty cool looking in person. Definitely caught me off-guard at first.

Chris

 

Yup, there's a certain segment that wets their pants thinking of a TDI 6 speed manual small truck. They are the ones that scream the loudest about not being able to get one of these. Truth be told the people that really would opt of one of these over the current full sized trucks we have is really small. It ain't worth the trouble to bring them here since the full size truck has tons more capability and doesn't cost much more.

 

Yea I've seen some pictures of them on other forums lifted on some 33-35's and they looked pretty sick.