2017 Ford Ecosport to inherit muscular look of Edge and Kuga

The 2017 Ford Ecosport will inherit the more muscular lines of the Kuga and Edge models.

The facelifted model is due to be revealed late this year, with sales kicking off in the start of 2017.

Jeremy Schofield, manager of SUV communications at Ford, told Autocar that the updated compact SUV will gain a similar face to its larger siblings.

This agrees with a development car spotted by Autocar's spy photographer during the summer, which wore a restyled front bumper with a new black section in the middle and lightly tweaked rear bumper.

This car wore a spare wheel on the rear, suggesting it is a mule for the South American and Chinese markets. The European-spec car will do away with the spare wheel to give the rear a cleaner, less rugged appearance.

The facelifted model looks set to introduce the Ecosport moniker to India, so this spare-wheel-wearing mule could also influence the car that reaches that market.

Across all markets, the 2017 Ecosport will inherit Ford’s Sync3 infotainment technology, as all of Ford's smaller models adopt the system from 2017 onwards.

It seems likely that the current car’s engine line-up - 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol, 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol and 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel – will be retained. But the option of four-wheel-drive may be added, with Schofield suggesting market trends could encourage it.

"15% of B-spec SUVs are four-wheel-drive," he said. "It's a small but significant proportion."

If an all-wheel-drive option is introduced, it'll only come available with the most potent engine or engines.

The facelifted car’s starting price is expected to stay close to the current car’s £14,645.

Next-gen model

Looking further ahead, the next Ecosport update will come when an all-new model is launched. That model will be based on the 2017 Fiesta platform and it'll share engines with that car too.