Fashioned Sense

New Name, Not-so-new Car — But Impressive Nonetheless

- Kartik Ware

I’ve been standing on a hot and dry lake bed in Rajasthan all day. The sun has roasted my skin and hair, dust has settled on both, and the sun has baked that, too. Without the mercy of shade, I’ve been distracting myself with relevant questions like ‘What is a compact utility vehicle?’, ‘Does such a thing exist?’, ‘Does it need to exist?’, and ‘And if it does, what do people think of it?’ Of course, the sun hasn’t quite managed to drive me mad just yet. I’m posing these questions to myself thanks to what stands in front of me — the new Ford Freestyle. Well, at least that’s what the name would have you believe.

The Freestyle follows in the tyre tracks of crossover-ed hatchbacks (crossbacks?) like the VW Cross Polo, Toyota Etios Cross, Fiat Urban Cross, Hyundai i20 Active… hang on — the Freestyle is hands down the winner when it comes to the name as it neatly avoids being crossed or suffixed. And that’s already a refreshing sign, especially considering it’s based on the Figo hatchback. Which, of course, is no bad thing. Not when the Freestyle takes things up a notch.

Visually, I find this sub-segment of cars a bit amusing, like little boys trying to look as scary as they can. The Freestyle gets suitably rugged garnishing in keeping with its adventurous aspirations. A new grille and a more aggressive front section are the biggest changes to a familiar face. It gets 15-inch wheels that add to its 190-mm ground clearance and black cladding running along its bottom. That’s about it for the major aesthetic changes. And it manages to not look funny, too.