Saar: It comes with an all-new 1.2-litre petrol engine from Ford’s Dragon series.

Ford India has finally launched the much-hyped Freestyle CUV at a starting price of Rs 5.09 lakh (ex-showroom India). Before you wonder, the abbreviation CUV stands for Compact Utility Vehicle. That’s something Ford has come up. Probably, the Americans have taken a leaf out of Maruti Suzuki’s book, which tagged its compact MPV Ertiga as a LUV – Lifestyle Utility Vehicle. Nevertheless, this car for Ford is an important one because not only it becomes the first crossover from the company in India, but also becomes the platform for a brand new engine. More on that later. Here’s the variant-wise, introductory, price-list (ex-showroom India):

It does look remarkably similar to the Figo but Ford has tried to make the Freestyle a bit more hardcore. The first, unmissable aspect is the plastic cladding all around the lower sections of the hatch. The front grille has a mesh filling and both the bumpers have been redone to give a more macho look to the Freestyle. The C-shaped foglamp housings and the skid plates in both the bumpers help accentuate the ‘machoness’. The decals on the side are similar to the ones found on the Figo S. But the Freestyle rides on fatter rubber, which is wrapped around a set of 15-inch alloy wheels.

Inside the cabin, the dash-mounted 6.5-inch immediately catches the eyes which comes with SYNC3 and support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Other features include 6 airbags, Ford MyKey, Emergency call assistance, automatic wipers and headlamps, push-button start/stop and automatic climate control. All variants come with dual airbags, ABS + EBD, seat belt reminder, reverse parking sensors and high-speed alerts at 80kmph and 120kmph.

Also Read – Ford Freestyle: Here’s All You Need To Know

On the engine and transmission front. The Ford Freestyle comes with a new 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine that puts out 96PS of power and 120Nm of torque. Diesel lovers will get the same 1.5-litre unit that does duty in the standard Figo and produces 100PS/215Nm. Unfortunately, there is no automatic transmission on offer, yet. Both engines come mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox which feeds the power to the front wheels only. Mileage figures, as per Ford, are clocked at 19kmpl and 24.4kmpl for the petrol and diesel engines respectively.

As far as competition is concerned, the Freestyle takes on the likes of Toyota Etios Cross, Hyundai i20 Active, and the Honda WR-V.

Also Read: Ford Rejigs EcoSport’s Equipment List; Bumps Up Prices