Ford to launch Mahindra Marazzo-based MPV in India

Ford and Mahindra joined hands last month and formed a joint venture (JV) for India. It was then revealed that the JV will spin out three new SUVs for Ford and both the companies will share energies over electric vehicle development. A few days back, we brought you a report on the possibility of other vehicles this JV may result in and one of them was then a Marazzo based MPV by ford. Now, the same has been confirmed in a report by ACI. According to a report, the Ford and Mahindra JV will also churn out a new Ford MPV that will be based on the Mahindra Marazzo.

No, it won’t be another badge re-engineered vehicle like in the case of the Maruti Suzuki Baleno-Toyota Glanza. Instead, Ford will utilise the existing Marazzo platform and its technologies but the MPV on a whole will be different than the Marazzo. What will be the same is the ladder-frame chassis and front-wheel drive combination which is unique to the Marazzo. Further, the powertrain options will also be shared between both the SUV. Ford’s version of the Marazzo will use a BS6 version of Mahindra’s 1.5-litre diesel engine and the MPV will be offered with both manual and AMT gearboxes. On the Marazzo, this engine develops 121 Bhp of power along with 300 Nm of torque and the same is likely to be offered on the Ford MPV, though the engine response and tuning could be tweaked.

Another engine that is likely to be on offer is the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol unit which is currently being developed by Mahindra. The details of this engine are not yet confirmed but it will be a BS6 unit. Coming to the differences, the report suggests that Ford’s take on the Marazzo will result in an MPV that will sport a completely new body designed to retain the look sported by Ford’s global MPVs, like the B-Max. Further, the cabin will also carry a different theme as well as layout compared to the Marazzo. It could be sold in seven-seat or eight-seat configurations. What Ford could also do is to position this MPV as a more premium version of the Marazzo, somewhat similar to what Maruti recently did with the XL6-Ertiga.

Before this JV with Mahindra was materialised, Ford has plans to introduce an MPV in the Indian market which would take on the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. However, the American auto manufacturer held back on its plans as doing so would result in high investments and for the volumes projected, it would have been a bit too much. But now since the manufacturer has an MPV under its belt in the form of the Marazzo, an MPV is again in Ford’s mind.