The Ford Ikon was launched in India way back in 1999 and to day remains one of the more fun to drive sedans in the country. The  major facelift came along in 2003 when Ford revamped the interiors with better quality trim  and more equipment and the 1.6 ROCAM engine was also re-tuned for better economy.

The Ikon hasn’t been doing good for Ford for quite sometime now, even the recent revisions in price have failed to pep up sales. Better late than never, Ford will launch the new version of the Ikon in November which will be its second facelift. The external changes this time around are substantial with all new front, revamped interiors and slightly revised rear end.

The short stubby grille at the front give it an aggressive look while the new head lights do their bit accentuate the aggression. The subtle front has styling cues taken from the European Fiesta. The rear has been left almost untouched with just slightly redesigned tail lamps. The interiors are much the same too except for the instrument cluster which gets all new dials.

The big news comes by the way of the diesel engine option. The baby Ford will now get the 1.4 diesel engine from Fiesta which has built itself a name for itself for fuel efficiency and refinement. The overall performance is expected to be strong too given that the Ikon is considerably lighter than the Fiesta. Its a s “rise of the pheonix” for the Ikon and it seems the car will be very much here in the Indian market for times to come.

The new Ikon is expected to be priced competitively with the diesel version starting at around 5 lakh rupees, undercutting both the Logan and the recently launched Dzire. The times ahead seem good for Ford India only if the company can get rid of its “high on maintenance” tag.