Since the passenger car market has been on the downturn from past nine months, the compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) segment gained a lot from this development. The sales of vehicles falling under this segment have seen a spurt owing to the new launches. Major car companies like Renault, Ford and Mahindra & Mahindra are competing with each other in order to eke out a significant market share. According to industry experts, the competition will further stiffen once Nissan introduces its Terrano model in India. The car has already found the attention of Indian car buyers and is expected to effect the demand of segment leaders like Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport.
While on other hand, Ford EcoSport has performed remarkably well in the Indian car market till now and it would not be easy for Terrano to outpace the sales of its counterpart. Industry experts are of a view that Nissan Terrano and Ford EcoSport will pose a serious challenge for each other and in order to choose a winner amongst the two, a detailed comparison is as follows.
Nissan has revealed each and every detail of its upcoming Terrano model except the price it will carry. So talking about the engine specifications of the upcoming compact SUV of Nissan, it will come equipped with an option of petrol and diesel powertrains. In case of petrol version, Nissan will give the 1.6-litre MPFI engine that possess the ability to generate 102 bhp of power alongside 145 Nm of torque. While the diesel version of Terrano shall be powered by the 1.5-litre K9K DCi engine that would be available in different trim levels, having power outputs of 83 bhp and 108 bhp.
Ford EcoSport's petrol version is offered in 1.5-litre TiVCT and 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine options having respective power outputs of 110 bhp and 123 bhp. The diesel variant of EcoSport carries a 1.5-litre TDCi engine that gives 89 bhp of power and 204 Nm of torque. The petrol version of EcoSport does take the lead on Terrano but in case of diesel variant, Nissan Terrano definitely triumphs over its Ford's counterpart. In terms of price, industry experts are predicting that Nissan Terrano would be priced higher than its sibling Renault Duster. All this means, Nissan Terrano will be offered for around Rs. 9 lakh for the base variant whereas Ford EcoSport carries an ex-showroom price of Rs. 5.82 lakh for the entry level variant, which makes it a preferable option.
Taking the exterior appearance into account, both the vehicles bear distinct design philosophy. T he car of Nissan is designed on the same platform of Renault Duster thereby making it look more of a conventional SUV having muscular front fascia. On the other hand, Ford EcoSport is built on entirely different platform having sportier shape that gives the car a much more aero dynamism as compared to Terrano. The features of both cars are almost the same but still Nissan Terrano will maintain its edge over Ford EcoSport owing to advanced functionalities and safety equipment.
So as far as the rivalry for market share between Ford EcoSport and Nissan Terrano is concerned, industry experts are predicting that Nissan might gain a considerable market share of EcoSport in the initial stage. According to them, Nissan might take advantage of huge supply backlog of EcoSport that is hampering its demand, which in turn would be beneficial for Terrano.
