SPY PICS: Next Ford Escape exposed -- inside and out

With the fourth generation of the Ford Escape mid-size SUV just months away from being revealed, these fresh spy photos of a test mule snapped in Europe show it will be barely recognisable from the current version.

Released in Australia last September, the current 'MY18.5' Ford Escape is an updated version of the facelifted and renamed MY17 Escape, which replaced the unloved Ford Kuga that in turn replaced the second-generation Escape in 2012.

To keep pace with newer and more popular mid-size SUV competitors such as the Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Tucson, the next Ford Escape is expected to be longer, wider and higher-tech than the current car.

Ditching the existing Escape's C1 platform for the all-new chassis architecture under Ford's brand-new Focus, the next Escape is also expected to be lighter, stiffer, better handling, more efficient and safer than before.

Not only does the new Escape employ a low-set, corporate Ford grille similar to the latest Focus models, it also features an entirely new side window line that, with its clean sweep from A-pillars to C-pillars, looks a lot more graceful than the current Escape's truncated rear glassware.

Although it wears a specific styling language, the new Escape doesn't look too dissimilar from the mechanically similar Focus Active crossover due to launch in Australia this year.

Not only did the spy photographers get an accurate view of the external looks of the next-gen Ford Escape, they also got a peep at the new dash layout, which shows considerable changes are also in store there, including a clean-up of the generally overdone style evident in the current model.

Looking pretty much like a direct lift from the new Ford Focus, the dash features a single binnacle containing the instrument readouts, while there's a clean sweep – disturbed only by a large, free-standing display screen – from centre-stack to the passenger-side extremities which lends a cleaner, more spacious feel to the front compartment.

So far, drivetrains are the subject of speculation, but it's certain Ford's latest 134kW/240Nm 1.5-litre three-cylinder EcoBoost turbo-petrol will be the base engine, connecting to either a front-drive or an on-demand AWD system through the eight-speed torque converter auto currently employed in the Focus.

EcoBlue diesel power, as employed in Euro Focus models, would seem pretty likely for the new Escape too, while it's certain the extensive suite of safety technology adopted in the Focus will carry over into the SUV.

The biggest tech news, however, is that a hybrid variant is also likely to be a starter when the new Escape arrives -- as the kW gauge in this interior spy shot clearly suggests -- possibly in both regular and plug-in form.

With the new Ford Escape expected to be revealed internationally some time this year -- perhaps at the Geneva motor show in March or the Frankfurt show in September -- it would be reasonable to speculate that we could see it appearing in Australia during the first half of 2020.