[Orion]

While there is no shortage of CUV's to choose from, a new rival to the segment is worth mentioning. Nissan's upcoming Kicks is looking to be a worthy competitor, with impressive features and tech bundled into an affordable package. I do think its main drawback is the lackluster powertrain, that's unfortunately only offered with a CVT. Here's how they compare on paper.

 

[workingclasshero]

Nissan could benefit by pulling in more of what they do to Infiniti to Nissan. Even with just subtle cues throughout design that hints towards its bigger brother. Nissan products are nice but need some extra edge. However at this rate if the Kicks sells well enough, you can completely forget about that.

 

[Orion]

Ford is going to have to make further adjustments to the Ecosport's pricing as more rivals like the Kick enter the segment and undercut them on price. I personally don't know why anyone would drop an additional $6k on the Ecosport, considering how similar the specs are on the Kicks.

 

[workingclasshero]

Ford might have to absorb some of the cost if it means moving more of these. Or just ride out the storm till they're ready for a next generation EcoSport. It doesn't help that the current EcoSport has some years on already from being sold overseas.

 

[Orion]

I think if it wasn't for the popularity of the Ecosport in foreign markets, that we would've already seen some significant changes for the NA market. Though Ford has continuously made improvements to this platform over the years, I don't think they've struck the right balance between price and performance.

 

[workingclasshero]

Problem is they don't have enough going on but the whole move to revamp its line up could be part of that.

A high performance version of the Taurus was needed but never happened. Yeah we had the SHO but it still wasn't good enough.

 

[Orion]

I'm not saying that we need an ST badged Ecosport or anything, but this model offers less power and cargo space than most of the other CUV's in the segment. I also think it would benefit from a significant redesign.

 

[workingclasshero]

I think it can happen given how much it'll be priced around, and that is within the lower trim range of an Escape, the low to mid $20k price range.

 

[Orion]

I would imagine that Ford also has plans for a hybrid/ev variant in the next few years. Both the Kona and Niro already have PHEV variants and will be getting full EV models in the coming months. Ford is a fair bit behind with their electric lineup, and they need to start getting models out that they can improve upon.