Ford Freestyle

Synopsis

The American multinational automaker, Ford has unraveled a cross-hatch version of the Ford Figo with a little more changes in the mix and have named it Ford Freestyle. It claims to be India’s first CUV.

For starters, some of the major changes include increased height, a new noteworthy front grille with a honeycomb design, increased bumper size with a silver skid plate and fender extensions, superior machine-cut 4-spoke alloy wheels, power tuning manifestation, C-shaped fog lamp enclosures and lot more.

The Ford Freestyle is the first Ford segment to acquire a 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine that is known to produce a maximum power of 96 HP @ 6500 rpm and an utmost torque of 120 NM @ 4250 rpm. The diesel variant gets a 1.5 Litre, In-line 4-Cylinder engine that produces a maximum power of 100 HP @ 3750 rpm and a torque of 215 NM @ 1750-3000 rpm.

The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox with a much lighter clutch to handle the traffic well. Coming to the rear of the car, a silver plastic skid plate, faux vents, and a raised bumper give an overall clean look. 189 mm of increased ground clearance makes the cross-hatch an edge to tackle the Indian roads more precisely.

You can see a fully loaded interior in the Ford Freestyle which is something different from the Figo hatchback. A reddish brown dashboard gives a much more vibrant look with an overall chocolate black look gives the car a fresh feel. It supports a 6.5-inch screen Sync 3 touchscreen infotainment system which is a first for a Ford segment and is rather appealing.

The infotainment system gets two USB ports and is compatible with Bluetooth, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay. The keyless ignition, automatic climate control, convenient storage options and instrument cluster have taken the gear level up a bit. The car also gets Ford’s MyKey function that is perfect for managing the volume and speed limits to avoid any unwanted accidents.

Dual airbags and ABS are standard for every Freestyle model. Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Active Rollover Protection (ARP) and Traction Control (TSC) are also enabled in the higher versions of the cross-hatch.

The bookings for the Ford Freestyle will be starting on April 7, 2018, in India though, there has been no information regarding the launch date of the cross-hatch. We can expect somewhere near a month for its effective launch. When launched, it is expected to be priced in India at a starting price of INR 6.40 Lakh for the petrol variant and INR 7.30 Lakh for the diesel variant.