BY ROBBIE WALLIS | 10th Sep 2018
SMALL SUVs have never been more popular in the Australian new car market. In 2017, more small SUVs were sold than all passenger vehicle segments, bar small cars.
It was the fifth-best selling segment overall behind small cars, medium and large SUVs, and 4x4 pick-ups, and through the first eight months of 2018, has usurped large SUVs for fourth spot on the list.
Ford joined the small SUV race in 2013 with the Indian-built, Fiesta-based EcoSport, however the Blue Oval’s smallest high-rider has struggled to cash in on the small SUV boom, registering no more than 2453 yearly sales since its inception, and just 1364 in 2017 – a yearly drop of 25 per cent.
In December, Ford updated the EcoSport for the first time in an attempt to help it better cash in on the SUV boom that is currently in vogue.
Will the changes help Ford give the EcoSport a bigger slice of the small SUV pie?