Ford Ecosport interior

On the transmission tunnel, storage cubbies made out of shiny, cheap-looking mouldings let you know you’re in something that hasn’t been specified to Ford’s usual European standards for perceived quality (which, relative to some other brands, isn’t that high anyway). Those in the doors do likewise, and they’re not lined with either rubber or felt so anything hard you drop into them will slide, rattle and clank around a bit.

Elsewhere, cabin storage is in disappointingly short supply; the car’s armest cubby (a bit wobbly and nastily covered with a shiny rubber pad) is deep but narrow, the glovebox small, and oddment space at the base of the centre stack pretty mean. Passenger space is a little more generous. There’s enough legroom for adults of average height to sit line astern in the car, just about. For that, rival crossovers certainly do better - but the Ecosport’s high roofline does make for a usefully tall boot (handy for those garden centre pot plants) and for good headroom in both rows.

Overall, it’ll be the Ecosport’s shoddy cabin quality that will remain its biggest barrier to convincing customers who know what else their money may buy. Want some more examples? How about a clunky boot parcel shelf that’s so cheap that you have to lift it by hand to get to your boot cargo (and will then inevitably forget to lower it, blocking your rearview mirror visibility almost entirely). Or an OBD port cover (the bit next to the steering wheel where the service engineer plugs in his laptop) so poorly secured that you feel like simply ripping it off and throwing it away? Or sharp, wobbly, unfinished mouldings in the driver’s footwell that you can snag with your feet when changing gear? These are not the stuff of any convincing new car in 2021, and Ford should do much better.