Ford Escape PHEV delayed to late 2021

Ford Australia has confirmed the rollout of the much-anticipated Ford Escape PHEV will be pushed back by at least 12 months because of “supply chain issues”.

During a conference call with media today, Australian Ford officials distanced themselves from battery fires affecting the Ford Escape in Europe, where a stop-sale has been enforced while the car-maker investigates the battery charging module overheating.

Ford originally claimed the European stop-sale would have no bearing on the Australian rollout of the Escape PHEV.

However, while the rest of the new Escape range touches down in showrooms next month, the plug-in hybrid variant will be absent.

Speaking with carsales, Ford Australia spokesman Matt Moran said the Escape PHEV wouldn’t touch down in local showrooms until late next year.

“We are currently facing supply chain issues with the Escape PHEV, and while timing is not yet confirmed, we do anticipate it will be late 2021 before it arrives in Australia and New Zealand,” Moran said.

“We will continue to work with our global counterparts and if we can bring it earlier, we will.”

Pressed on whether the battery fires in Europe were to blame for the PHEV’s Australian delay, Moran said: “The Australian and New Zealand vehicles have not yet been built so they are not impacted by the recall.

“We’re here to focus on the Australian variants that we are here to launch today.”

Ford has yet to update the European stop-sale, or whether it has remedied the cause of the battery fires.

Ford Motor Company’s global product development executive, James Hughes, said the car-maker would make an announcement within the next week.

“I anticipate within a few days from now there will be some announcement that will come from Ford of Europe that will clarify the current status and will also point out the quality improvements we are making to mitigate the current situation,” he said.

Moran wouldn’t be drawn on how much volume the Escape PHEV will command when it lands in Australian showrooms, nor whether Ford had missed a key sales opportunity because of the battery fire issue.

As it stands, Toyota and Mitsubishi are the only contenders in the mid-size SUV segment with hybrid options.

News of the PHEV variant delay comes as Ford announced that the Escape has achieved a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating across the launch range – based on the 2019 assessment criteria, not the more stringent 2020 protocols.

ANCAP director of communications and advocacy Rhianne Robson highlighted the new Ford Escape’s advanced driver-assist tech, and its crash performance across other areas of assessment.

“Prioritising not only the protection of its occupants, the active collision avoidance safety systems fitted to all variants of the Ford Escape saw it achieve a high score of 82 per cent for the protection of vulnerable road users,” she said.

“The Escape also scored well in ANCAP’s three other key areas of assessment against 2019 criteria with scores of 92 per cent for adult occupant protection, 89 per cent for child occupant protection and 77 per cent for Safety Assist.

“Close to full points were scored for its ability to detect and avoid or mitigate collisions with pedestrians and cyclists across a range of daytime and night-time scenarios through its standard-fit autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system.”