This is the 'new' Ford EcoSport

We’ve never been massive fans of the Ford EcoSport. A facelift in 2015 improved things a bit, but not so much we could do nothing but down tools and wave money in Ford’s metaphorical face until it sold us one. Perhaps this new one will change things. Yes it’s another facelift, but a much more thorough one than before. 

Set to be revealed proper at next week’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the ‘new’ Ecosport gets revised styling (as inspired by the bigger Kuga/Escape and Edge) and an interior borrowed from the latest Fiesta, complete with SYNC 3 infotainment system, Apple CarPlay, B&O Play stereo and 8in display. New ST-Line models get big alloys and different bumpers plus “sports-tuned driving dynamics”. 

There’s a new 1.5-litre diesel engine that’s good for 123bhp and 221lb ft when paired with Ford’s ‘intelligent’ AWD, which splits torque 50/50 between front- and rear-axles in under 20 milliseconds. The EcoSport will continue to be offered with the ubiquitous 1.0-litre EcoBoot motor, with between 99 and 138bhp, too. As for tech, you get (or can have) cruise control, auto climate control and blind-spot monitoring. 

This is supposed to be Ford’s littlest SUV, although an SUV-ified Fiesta Active is coming next year as a kind-of halfway house between a regular Fiesta and the taller, more SUV-y EcoSport. Sold?