It doesn’t have the freshest exterior styling on the block, but the price is oh so right.
FordFord’s new subcompact SUV, the 2018 Ford EcoSport, is landing at dealerships as I write this. And if you hop online to configure one, you’ll end up staring at a pretty sweet lease incentive.
Ford’s 2018 EcoSport configurator is now live, and there aren’t many surprises. As we reported back in September, the starting price is $19,995 for a base EcoSport S with a 123-horsepower, 1.0-liter I3 mated to a six-speed automatic. An extra $1,500 will net you a larger I4 engine and all-wheel drive.
As the price rises, so does the equipment. The $22,905 EcoSport SE adds rear parking sensors, the Sync 3 infotainment system, a power moonroof and automatic climate control. The $25,740 Titanium trim improves the audio system, and it adds navigation and leather-trimmed seats into the mix. At the top of the pyramid is the $26,740 SES trim with blind-spot monitoring and a sportier suspension — AWD and the 2.0-liter I4 are standard here, too.
What’s most interesting, though, is that Ford has already foisted a large incentive on its newest US offering. All trims are evidently eligible for a $2,750 incentive right off the bat. It appears that you have to sign up for a lease in order to take advantage of it, but Ford’s apparently willing to lose a bit of cash off the top in order to pull as many buyers toward its new car as possible.
There’s money to be made in the subcompact SUV segment. Two of the segment’s most popular cars — the Jeep Renegade and Honda HR-V — regularly fall between 7,000 and 9,000 sales per month, which is not a small chunk of change for any automaker.
(Hat tip to Joey Capparella of Car and Driver for pointing out the incentives!)
