Here’s what to expect from the Ford Freestyle

The car isn’t on sale yet, but here’s what you need to know about the New Ford Figo-based cross-hatch and its variants. You get a typical crossover-like exterior in comparison to the hatch. So, there’s a new bonnet, grille, skid plate, alloys and blacked-out headlamps. The car also features metallic roof rails, extra body cladding and it rides on bigger, wider 185/60 R15 wheels.

The Freestyle will be on sale in six monotone colours – Canyon Ridge, Smoke Grey, Moondust Silver, White Gold, Oxford White and Absolute Black. You can also get hold of a roof wrap and body strip as optional extras. The car is raised by an extra 15mm to improve ground clearance, and it features a different steering and suspension set-up from the Figo hatchback. Under the hood will be the new three-cylinder, naturally-aspirated Dragon series of petrol engines that we saw debut on the new EcoSport. The new Freestyle will have a 1.2-litre petrol engine that makes 96hp and 120Nm. It promises a fuel efficiency figure of 19kpl. It will also be on sale with Ford’s 1.5-litre diesel engine that produces 100hp and 215Nm. The engines will be mated to a five-speed manual as standard but the petrol will get an automatic option in the future.

There will be four trims on sale for each engine – Ambiente, Trend, Titanium and Titanium+. Safety kit like ABS with EBD, dual-front airbags, three-point rear seat belts, reverse parking sensors and rear fog lamps are standard even on the base car. The Trend version is fitted with a rear-view camera, and front and rear fog lamps, the higher Titanium offers Hill-start Assist, ESP and traction control. The top-spec trim has four more airbags and an emergency assist system.

The base Ambiente variant gets folding rear seats, power windows in the front, a 12V socket, keyless entry, a day/night rear-view mirror and adjustable front seat headrests. If you decide to go for the mid-spec Trend, you get all four power windows, a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system with USB and Bluetooth connectivity, navigation, steering-mounted audio controls, a tachometer with a gear shift indicator and a boot light. The Titanium and Titanium+ trim come fitted with follow-me-home headlamps, rear washer and wiper, automatic climate control, auto up and down functions for the driver’s side power windows, a height adjustable driver’s seat and front seat belts, push-start button and electrically adjustable and folding outside rear view mirrors.

What you also get on the top cars are an automatic day or night inside rear view mirror, automatic headlamps and wipers, an additional USB port for the infotainment system that comes with Ford’s Sync3 (with voice control) and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility.

Ford will announce a launch soon, and you can expect the car to be priced in the Rs 6-8 lakh range.