In the recent past, the trend of buying compact Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) is on the rise among Indian buyers and major car makers like Renault and Ford are competing against each other in order to gain a considerable market share. For Ford, EcoSport has received an overwhelming response in the Indian car market till now. The car has found a large customer base owing to its attractive pricing and power packed engine. On the other hand, Renault Duster also contributed a lot in reviving the fortunes of its maker in the Indian auto market. Currently both the cars of their respective companies are best sellers in their segment.
Since Ford EcoSport is available in both automatic and manual transmission options, it enjoys a new found advantage over Renault Duster, which is only offered in a 5-speed manual transmission. According to reports, Renault might be launching an automatic variant of Duster in near future owing to the stiff competition offered by Ford EcoSport. Industry experts are betting high that since the car of Ford is priced aggressively along with a low price tag , it could be difficult for Renault to offer its automatic Duster at a relatively low price. With this, Ford does not need to worry a lot from the upcoming automatic variant of Duster.
At present, Renault Duster is offered in both petrol and diesel engine options that have different specifications altogether. In case of petrol variant, its 1.6-litre K4M engine has an ability to churn out a maximum power of 102 bhp while generating a peak torque of 145 Nm. On the other hand, the 1.5-litre DCi K9K unit has been offered in differently tuned power options of 83 bhp and 108 bhp, having respective torque figures of 200 Nm and 248 Nm.
On the other hand, Ford EcoSport is offered in three engine options out of which 2 are petrol and the other being of diesel. The petrol version of EcoSport is available in 1.0-litre EcoBoost and 1.5-litre TiVCT engine options. As far as the power and torque levels of the EcoBoost engine are concerned, they stand at 123 bhp and 170 Nm. While the other, 1.5-litre TiVCT powertrain generates 80 bhp of power and 140 Nm of torque. EcoSport's diesel engine comes equipped with a 1.5-litre TDCi unit that has a capability to reach a maximum power of 65 bhp while generating 204 Nm of torque.
In case of transmission, the 1.5-litre TiVCT variant of Ford EcoSport is available in both manual and automatic transmission options. The manual gearbox comprises 5-speed shifts whereas the automatic version gets a six-speed dual clutch system. Whereas the diesel variant of Ford EcoSport is available in only manual transmission option and the availability of an automatic version is doubted as of now. For Renault Duster, the car is available in 5-speed and 6-speed manual transmission options.
As far as pricing of manual version of Duster is concerned, it is offered at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 7.99 lakh for the introductory variant while for top model, it stands at Rs. 12.18 lakh. So for the automatic variant of Duster, the expected ex-showroom price might be around Rs. 11 lakh. On the other hand, the base automatic variant of Ford EcoSport carries a price tag of Rs. 8.45 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) which further goes up till Rs. 9.37 lakh for the top-spec one.
