BEIJING MOTOR SHOW: Ford's Aussie Escort

Ford has staged the world debut of an all-new small sedan that resurrects the Escort name and was created in Australia for China.

In what North America’s second-largest car-maker says underlines its global product development capabilities, the born-again Escort was designed and engineered in Victoria and will be the latest model manufactured in China by Ford’s local joint-venture partner Changan.

It’s not the first time Ford Australia has developed a new model for overseas markets, following the latest Ranger ute sold in more than 160 countries, the Ranger-based Everest seven-seat off-road SUV, which made its Chinese debut in concept form alongside the Escort, and the pint-size Figo for India.

The modern-day Escort follows the reveal of the Ford Escort Concept in Shanghai last year and is just one of the 15 new models Ford has committed to releasing in the world’s biggest car market by 2015.

Ford forecasts China’s compact car segment will grow to 7.2 million vehicles by 2017, eclipsing the total automotive market in Germany, the US and France combined.

Apart from developing its last ever Falcon and Territory models for local release between October and the same month in 2016, when Ford will end local manufacturing, Ford continues to lead the development of a number of other global model programs, including the midlife Ranger makeover.

Revealed today at Auto China 2014 -- now Asia’s largest motor show -- Ford says the new-generation Escort delivers outstanding safety, exceptional roominess and elegant design in a compact car.

But on the same platform as Ford’s global best-seller and C-segment stalwart, the Focus, the Escort is powered by a 1.5-litre Ti-VCT engine.

Ford says the new Escort, which is unlikely to be sold outside China given Ford’s Focus sedan is sold practically everywhere else, was designed specifically to meet the needs of Chinese consumers.

It will be the latest addition to  Ford’s offerings in China’s fast-growing compact car segment, which accounts for more than 25 per cent of the country’s total vehicle industry.

“The Ford Escort is a perfect example of how Ford’s global approach can be fine-tuned to meet the needs of individual markets by listening to customer feedback,” said the president of Changan Ford Automobile, Marin Burela, a former Ford Australia chief.

“Taking Ford’s hugely successful C-car platform as a foundation, the all-new Ford Escort puts us in a perfect position to serve Chinese customers looking for an alternative and attainable compact car.”

Ford said its Australian-based Asia Pacific design team worked closely with the Ford Research and Engineering Center in Nanjing to create the Escort.

“Even as the Ford Focus remains the best-selling nameplate in China, we recognise that many consumers in China are looking for something else in a compact car,” said Luo Minggang, Executive-President of Changan Ford Automobile.

“The Ford Escort is the answer to the question of what these consumers really want and value in a car for themselves and their families.”

Exterior design features include a heavily chromed five-bar inverted trapezoidal grille, jewelled headlights with ‘floating’ turn signals, LED signature lighting and even chrome graphics within the lens that are designed to resemble China’s lucky number eight.

There are also elongated tail-lights, sculpted rear shoulders and chrome highlights around the foglight bezels that mimic the letter E on the Escort’s rear-mounted nameplate, plus more interior space thanks to an extended wheelbase and relocated wing mirrors.

Key highlights include six airbags, electric power steering, the Bluetooth-operated Connect Radio system and Device Dock -- a central dock located above the centre console that can store, mount and charge mobile phones, MP3 players and navigation systems, as well as integrate them into the car’s infotainment system.

Ford also presented its new Mustang in China for the first time and expects it to be a big seller there too. Last year Ford increased its vehicle sales by 49 per cent to a record 935,813, while in the first quarter of this year its sales are up a further 45 per cent.

China’s SUV market also grew by almost 50 per cent last year and is expected to be a key market for the all-new Australian-engineered Everest SUV, which goes on sale here next year alongside the new Mustang, new Mondeo and facelifted Focus.

“We are committed to delivering on Henry Ford’s promise to open the highways to all mankind,” said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. “As we are demonstrating here today, that promise means delivering a full family of quality, fuel-efficient, safe and smart vehicles to our customers in China.”