Pune-based Force Motors has launched the Force One SUV with Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador. There is only one variant that will be on sale now. Vehicles will reach dealer showrooms on September 1st. Force Motors as positioned the One in the premium segment. The company is not interested in developing small cars or sedans. Only people carriers will continue rolling out of Force’s factories. The tagline for the SUV is “Be the Force.”
Force One gets a Mercedes-Benz licensed 2.2-litre common rail diesel engine producing 141PS of power and 321Nm of torque. This is the same unit that was powering the old C-Class. The engine is completely localised and built at Force Motors’ facility at Pithampur. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox which is also from Mercedes-Benz. It gets dual mass flywheel which is first in the segment. Mercedes-Benz Technologies has validated and certified the engine and associated electricals. This SUV will come with a 3 years or 1 Lakh Km standard warranty.
The ladder-frame chassis of the Force One has been tweaked by its in-house R&D department to take the stresses and loads according to Indian conditions. Handling gurus Lotus engineering with whom Force Motors has a long term technical service agreement has worked on fine tuning the ride with three prototypes shipped to the UK for testing and validation. Feature list includes chrome grille, projector headlamps, daytime LEDs, electric ORVMs with indicators, 16-inch alloys standard, chrome twin exhaust tip and more. It gets three rows of seats and each row is equipped with bucket seats.
Visually, the Force One is almost as large as the Ford Endeavour meaning great road presence. Force One is available in 4×2 version only and the 4×4 will come in March 2012. ABS variant is expected by end of 2012.
Prices? The Force One is available at Rs 10.65 lakh ex-showroom. The company has started new dealership network for this SUV and for other products to be launched under its personal car division and plans to sell 4000 units in the first year.
Technical specifications of Force One SUV –
- 2.2 Litre CRDI Diesel Engine
- Max Power 140Bhp @ 3800rpm
- Max Torque 321Nm @ 1600 RPM
- Wheel Size 235/70/R 16 Alloy
- Wheel Base – 3025 mm
- Overall Length – 4860 mm
- Overall Width – 1780 mm
- Overall height – 1885 mm
- Gross Weight- 2510 Kg
Features of Force One SUV –
- Power Steering, Titable Steering, central lock , power windows, Rear spoiler
- Projector Head lamps with day night adjustments.
- Wooden Finsh panel
- A/c vents in all 3 rows
- 2 din Audio system with USB , Aux Audio and Bluetooth controls on steering wheels with 4 speakers
- Cruise Controls easily adjustable on steering wheels.
- Keyless Entry
- Reverse Sensor.
- Rear Defogger
- Socket availability in front and 2nd row to charge the gadgets.
- 16 point Multi information Display
- Illumination Control
- Tacho meter, odometer, glove box, sun visor, front Fog lamps , door warning in 3 modes etc…
5 shades available in Force One SUV –
- Intense White
- Enphatic Grey
- Robust Blue
- Bold Black
- Fierce Red
3 variants available in Force One SUV –
- Force One five seater
- Force One six seater
- Force One seven seater
For now, Force one will be available in only one variant with 3 options – 5 seater (4+D), 6 seater (5+D) and 7 seater (6+D).
Price of Force One SUV –
- Delhi – Rs 10,65,000 (Ex-showroom)
- Mumbai – Rs 11,11,000 (Ex-showroom price)
Force Motors has priced the SUV very competitively at Rs. 10.65 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi) and Rs. 11.11 lakhs (ex-showroom Mumbai), but at this price point Scorpio and Safari are much better options because the build quality of Force One is not up to the mark, it is based on chinese SUV Foday Explorer. Also, Force One has no ABS, airbags and the 3rd row of seats is comfortable only for kids.
Also see– Spied – Force Motors’ Force One interiors
