Ford Oz banking big on Escape

Ford Australia expects its rebadged, repriced and expanded Escape to be far more popular than the slow-selling Kuga it replaces.

In fact, it says the return to the global Escape nameplate and a tripling of its coverage in the medium SUV segment will make the facelifted model one of Ford's most important new models next year.

“Escape is one of our biggest opportunities to accelerate our brand transformation in Australia so it will be at the centre of much of what we do in 2017,” said Ford Australia president and CEO, Graeme Whickman.

“This vehicle is packed full of innovations and is perfectly sized and capable for young, urban families who need to get around town for work but get away to play on the weekends.”

Compared to its rivals, Ford’s outgoing Kuga has sold slowly. To the end of October (2016) the Kuga found just 3634 home – less than the Honda CR-V (6697), Kia Sportage (9101), Mitsubishi Outlander (10,066), Subaru Forester (11,325), Nissan X-TRAIL (15,108), Toyota RAV4 (16,438), Hyundai Tucson (16,814) and Mazda CX-5 (20,702).

But Ford Australia product marketing specialist, Allen Fong, says the company hopes the ‘more rugged’ Escape will give it a ‘greater share’ of the popular medium SUV sector.

“We think that it will do very well for us [especially] in terms of broadening our coverage of the medium SUV segment, [which is] currently at 28 per cent.

"[The wider Escape range] will give us 92 per cent coverage in the medium SUV segment.

“The name change to Escape will hopefully help Australians think differently about the Ford SUV range. Adopting the Escape name from our global strategy resonates with the public because it has heritage in Australia, and we think it’ll be picked up fairly easily by buyers in this particular segment,” he concluded.

Ford Australia announced the renaming and repricing of its mid-size SUV model last month, ahead of the 2017 Kuga's local release in January.

Priced from $28,490 (plus on-road costs), the eight-variant Escape range arrives cheaper than the Kuga by between $200 and $900.

Pricing of the optional Tech Pack has also been reduced, by $300 (see pricing table below for details). The only model to see a price increase is the top-spec Titanium TDCi AWD (turbo-diesel, all-wheel drive).

Like the Kuga, the line-up will again offer three trim grades – Ambiente, Trend and Titanium – and will include the entry-spec 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine in both front and all-wheel drive guise.

Standard across the range will be dual-zone climate-control, reversing camera, digital radio, an electronic parking brake and satellite-navigation as standard. Paddle shifters are also standard on all automatic variants.

On the infotainment front there is Ford’s SYNC 3 8.0-inch colour touch-screen array with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. MyKey technology, park assist and adaptive xenon headlights are also offered through the range.

The 'new' Ford Escape — a name last seen here on a badge-engineered Mazda Tribute in 2011 — is currently being assessed by ANCAP and is expected to achieve a five-star safety rating.

Drivetrains:
1.5 EcoBoost (turbo-petrol): 110kW/240Nm (man.); 6.3L/100km (ADR Combined); FWD and AWD
1.5 EcoBoost (turbo-petrol): 134kW/240Nm (auto.); 7.5L/100km (ADR Combined); FWD and AWD
2.0 EcoBoost (turbo-petrol): 178kW/345Nm (auto.); 8.6L/100km (ADR Combined); AWD
2.0 TDCi (turbo-diesel): 132kW/400Nm (auto.); 5.5L/100km (ADR Combined); AWD

Ambiente standard features:
SYNC3 with 8.0-inch capacitive touch-screen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Embedded satellite-navigation with Traffic Management Control (TMC)
Dual-zone climate-control with rear air-vents
AM/FM/DAB+ radio, six-speaker audio with USB input, Bluetooth streaming/telephony
Reversing camera and rear parking sensors
Cruise control with speed-limiter
Daytime running-lights
Push-button ignition
Front and rear foglights
Electronic parking brake
SYNC Emergency Assist
Ford MyKey

Trend standard features (in addition to Ambiente):
18-inch alloy wheels
Roof-rails in silver finish
Privacy glass
Automatic headlights and wipers
Electrochromatic rear-view mirror
Follow-me home lighting
Leather-wrapped gear knob

Titanium standard features (in addition to Trend):
19-inch alloy wheels
Smart keyless entry
Power folding mirrors with approach light
Bi-xenon HID headlights with auto levelling
LED daytime-running lights
Adaptive Beam Shape and Dynamic bending headlights
Leather upholstery
Heated front-seating
10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat
Front parking sensors
Enhanced Active Park Assist
Panoramic glass roof
Front and rear velour floor mats
Hands-free power tailgate
Multi-colour ambient lighting
LED tail-lights
Nine-speaker SONY audio

2017 Ford Escape pricing:
Ambiente 1.5 EcoBoost FWD manual — $28,490 (-$760)
Ambiente 1.5 EcoBoost FWD automatic — $29,990 (new variant)
Ambiente 1.5 EcoBoost AWD automatic — $32,990 (-$260)
Trend 1.5 EcoBoost FWD automatic — $32,990 (new variant)
Trend 2.0 EcoBoost AWD automatic — $35,990 (-$900)
Trend 2.0 TDCi AWD automatic — $38,490 (-$400)
Titanium 2.0 EcoBoost AWD automatic — $44,990 (-$200)
Titanium 2.0 TDCi AWD automatic — $47,490 (+$300)