Sleekier but also much sportier-looking cars seem quite likely the norm nowadays, especially in the robust global car marketplace that seems to exponentially grow to ever-changing complexity with each passing year.

This in turn, perhaps better reflects the recently ongoing stiffer competition occurring among top corporate car giants whose collective willing hands just seem to can’t get enough of that much-coveted chunky slice of pie as car revenues from the US automotive aftermarket continue to trickle in and is best projected to gross close to a jaw-dropping $372 billion by 2024, according to Statista.com.

By the looks of it, when it rains it does pour.

However, the same thing can hardly be said about Ford Ecosport, particularly about its “lackluster sales performance” which was mentioned in another article.

But this article will try to do a bit of justice by honing in on some of the former’s other desirable attributes.

Pros

EASY TO PARK

Owing to its relatively compact size, the Ford Ecosport is a breeze when zipping through heavy traffic yet easy to manage especially in parking between stops but for a small car, it does not get good gas mileage according to some folks who own one of these “extra-small” crossover SUV yet amazingly, this little bug on wheels has a 2000-pound tow rating capacity, how about that!

IT HAS A ROOMY INTERIOR ALTHOUGH A BIT OF CRAMP ON REAR

From the outside, one would think Ford Ecosport would never fit three, much less two fully-grown people inside but surprisingly, it does as the front is way spacious with headroom of 39.6 inches and legroom of 42.9 inches of agreeable space while seating arrangement, particularly for the driver can be configured either manually or through electronic means.

But the rear seats pose a severe setback for fully-grown adults since they wouldn’t be comfortably settled in there for far too long especially on longer trips as it offers a restricting 36.7 inches of legroom and 37.5 inches of headroom; dimensions better suited for either kid or young adults.

WIDER CARGO AND TRUNK SPACE

For a very small car in the SUV B-segment, kudos must go to Ford Motors for providing Ecosport with a chunk of trunk and cargo space.

Come to think of it, both the cargo and trunk hold might just as well be a thoroughly laid-out plan as trunk space comes in at 20.9 cubic feet of space, enough to carry five overnight bags and when the rear seats are folded flat, Ecosport provides 50 cubes of space for the transport of other more highly specialized loads.

What’s more, tight little cubby holes or storage spaces are strategically placed throughout the cabin as a means to contain trinkets and other what-nots.

ECOSPORT HAS A FANCY SYNC-INFOTAINMENT UNIT INSTALLED BUT ONLY IN TOP-SPECCED TRIMS

The Ford SYNC is an integrated communication and entertainment system using voice commands for hands-free telephone calls, music options, and control of car interfaces such as the steering wheel.

This cutting-edge technology developed by Ford Motors (in conjunction with other third-party developers like Microsoft) is seamlessly wired into every Ford Ecosport but the fancy ones or upgraded SYNC systems like the SYNC 3 can only be found embedded on the top-specced SE trim while the base S variant is blandly equipped with a rather basic version of SYNC which comes in with a 4.2-inch color display.

Lately, though, the Titanium+ AT variant no longer provides Sync3 because of ongoing issues with pricing venues.

CONS

LACKS THE LATEST SAFETY FEATURES

True, the Ford Ecosport does have blind spot-monitor systems (BSM) that help in minimizing car lane crashes but automatic emergency braking (AEB), was a no-show as the former lacks this technology which greatly spells the difference between imminent death and simply plain car-related injuries.

This high-tech device which uses cameras, radars, and infrared sensors or lasers can potentially save lives by automatically overriding brake applications during a potential forward collision to further avoid or mitigate car crashes.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the AEB system is the wave of the future in braking technology.

(AEB in action)

Working in tandem with dynamic brake support (DBS) and crash imminent braking (CIB) systems, AEB initially alerts the driver during a potential car collision, and in the event, the driver fails to take corrective measures, the AEB system along with the other two systems takes over the situation by automatically supplementing the driver’s braking action either by slowing down or stopping the vehicle altogether during an imminent car crash.

But what’s more disappointing about Ecosport’s safety features was the fact that you’d have to shell out a few more bucks as blind-spot monitors cost extra in some other trims.

AFFORDABLE YET STILL SOMEHOW EXPENSIVE

By US standards, Ford Ecosport comes in cheap at $20,000. However, translate this US currency to the Philippine peso and see the sticker price sky-rockets to a whopping one million-forty six-something figure. With this amount of money, you can already buy the other locally top-branded Ecosport which are valued within this price range but that’s not saying much either since not everyone can afford the former’s price tag.

HARDLY A VALUE WHEN YOU CONSIDER OVERALL FEATURES

With a truncated and unappealing external design, low-budget grade upholstery in the interior features like cheap cloth seat covers, poor seat padding, odd-looking cutlines inundated with small trim pieces, unresponsive steering capabilities, “underpowered base engine”, and a host of other er, complaints,( which later matured to recalls for inefficient car parts) were sadly just some of the several cues one would normally expect while behind the wheel of an Ecosport, especially from behind the cockpit of the spartan kind. So, don’t say we didn’t warn you in the first place though, but otherwise, still interested?