2018 Ford Figo facelift spotted testing in India

It seems Ford is not going to take rest till it succeeds the way it intends to. While the Ford Figo first generation was a hit because of its dynamic chassis and affordable price tag, the new gen Ford Figo is still a long way away from what its predecessor had achieved. This has mainly to do with Ford moving away from its traditional forte of making a strong, dynamic, driver oriented car to a more lighter and a not so eager to be thrown around new gen Figo, essentially diluting its USP.

While the newly launched Figo and Aspire Sports twins seem to claw back some of the lost reputation, these ‘Sport’ versions are still no way close to the way the iconic Ford Ikon and the Ford Fiesta Sports were ever been.

Anyways, our rants aside, Ford has been testing the updated facelift of its Figo and Aspire twins recently and new spy images of the same have emerged online. While we recently reported that Ford is developing a new low cost platform for its future premium hatchback and sedan, it has also been readying facelifts of its current Figo and Aspire.The new versions will be manufactured at the Ford’s facility in Sanand, Gujarat.

The refreshed Ford Figo will get updated front and the rear styling, which will be more in line with the latest design seen on the newer models sold abroad. On the inside, the dashboard design will be tweaked to accommodate the much need touchscreen infotainment system with support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

And even bigger news is that the facelifted Figo will get the all new 1.2 litre, three cylinder petrol mill from the ‘Dragon’ series of engines. The new engines are to be manufactured by Ford in India to keep the costs low. The engine boasts of latest technologies such as an integrated exhaust manifold, a rocker shaft with hydrodynamic bearings, a variable oil pump, a dual-valve independent valve control, individual ignition coils for each cylinder, spark plugs centralised in the combustion chamber and hydraulic tappets with rotor arms. All these improvements are supposed to make the all-aluminum engine atleast 10 percent lighter than the outgoing one.

The facelifted Figo and Aspire twins are expected to be launched by early next year.

Also read: Ford Figo Sports Road Test Review

[Image source: AutoCarIndia]