Just days after the launch of Maruti Vitara Brezza, Ford India has slashed the price of its EcoSport compact SUV by up to Rs 112,300 across its variants. The realigned model lineup now starts at a prices of Rs 668,800 for the 1.5-litre (petrol) Ambient variant, while the top-end 1.5-litre (diesel) Titanium+ will cost Rs 975,000 – ex-showroom, Delhi.

Commenting on the price revision, Anurag Mehrotra, executive director Marketing, Sales and Service at Ford India said, “Ford EcoSport was the first to create a new compact SUV segment. With enhanced value for money proposition, we are extending its appeal across segments, including Rs 6 Lakh – 8 Lakh price band which has been growing at 40% since 2013."

Even as the company has deemed the price revision as an 'enhanced value proposition,' it is amply clear that the move has come as a reaction to the Vitara Brezza's aggressive pricing strategy. Maruti Suzuki entered the compact SUV segment with the launch of the Vitara Brezza at Rs 6.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Ford India began production of the EcoSport, which had its global reveal at the 2012 Auto Expo in New Delhi, on June 17, 2013. The vehicle had received a very good initial response from Indian customers, bagging a record 60,000 bookings within 30 days of introduction.

Maruti Suzuki's Vitara has already received 5,600 bookings in 2 days with a waiting period of 6-8 weeks.

The EcoSport is the only SUV in its segment to be run by petrol engines – the naturally aspirated 1.5-litre Ti-VCT and the turbo 1.0-litre EcoBoost which is available in both manual and automatic gearboxes.