There has always been talk of Ford looking to enter the immensely competitive mid-size SUV segment in India. While Ford have not quite revealed their plans on trying to make their presence felt there, it is said that the automaker is currently working on one. Codenamed the CX757, the mid-size SUV is slated to come here sometime during 2022.
Now, there is some interesting news coming out regarding the CX757. It is being said that the responsibility of designing the mid-size SUV will be in the hands of Mahindra-owned Pininfarina S.p.A. This will be the first time that the famous Italian design house will be styling a vehicle extensively for the Indian market.
We can expect more Ford cars to be arriving in the coming years with design inputs given by the Italian firm. This is because Ford have handed over the job of designing their future India specific vehicles to Mahindra, which in turn went to none other than Pininfarina. However, Ford have come out to say that this has nothing to do with any link regarding Mahindra and Pininfarina.
In fact, there is even talk of Mahindra entering the scheme of things as well. This is by virtue of developing a mid-size SUV of their own in partnership with the American automaker. For those who are not aware, Ford decided to hand over its India operations last year to Mahindra, with the partnership set to commence from 2021 onwards.
This includes the latter having a 51 percent stake in Ford’s Indian arm of operations. Both the brands will be jointly developing their vehicles for the Indian market and as per recent sources, there are quite a few interesting launches planned which could be hitting our market soon. Coming to the CX757, it could be the first of the products coming from the joint venture under the Ford badge.
The CX757 is set to come powered by a 2.2-litre, four-cylinder diesel motor which might produce power in excess of 180 BHP. Other than that, there will also be a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, slated to make around 190 BHP of power. Both these engines are borrowed from the new Thar, although they could be tuned to produce a bump in power.
The upcoming CX757 will be based on the next generation of the XUV500, which in turn will be arriving here next year. When launched, it is expected to be priced at around Rs. 20-25 lakh, which is on par with most of its rivals. These include the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V, MG Hector Plus and of course, the new XUV500.
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Also see: Ford developing a mid-size SUV for India, reported launch in 2022
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