xcel
11-29-2006, 11:24 AM
Even with added features, Ford officials said the Escape's price should come in lower than the $19,780 for the 2007 base model. (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061129/AUTO01/611290357/1148)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2008_Ford_Escape.jpg Scott Burgess - Detroit News - Nov. 29, 2006
The once amiable Ford Escape has gone ornery.
And Ford Motor Co. wants to flaunt that new-found mean streak when it unveils the redesigned 2008 Escape at the L.A. Auto show today.
Cold chrome replaces the honeycomb grill, and sharper angles and higher beltline cut away those fuzzy rounded edges.
Inside, the Escape takes on a more modern feel, bathed in "cool blue" instrument panel lighting and a reconfigured center console.
"The older design had a more friendly look to it," said Stephen Lash, the program manager for the Escape. "This is more rugged."
The idea, Ford said, was to match customers' expectations to the compact SUV, even as that customer base has changed.
"We used to see the small SUV segment as a stepping stone segment," said Usha Raghavachari, the Escape's marketing manager. "People would buy an Escape and then move on to an Explorer, but the dynamics have shifted, and it's become a destination segment."
The new Escape, which rolls into showrooms early next year, looks more like a baby Explorer than the sporty crossover segment it's been placed in because of its unibody construction. It's still cute enough to continue to attract female customers, but now adds a toughness more fitting to its Ford truck DNA.
"There's no way you're not going to know this is a Ford," said Monte Doran, a Ford spokesman, while presenting the new Escape in Dearborn. "It's certainly more grown up."
The grown-up look may serve the vehicle well, said Rebecca Lindland, associate director of Global Insight's Global Automotive Group, a Lexington, Mass.-based consulting firm.
"There's nothing wrong with looking more like the Explorer," Lindland said. "The competitiveness of that (small crossover) segment is really growing."
What was a niche segment when the Escape debuted as a 2001 model has exploded into the fastest-growing segment in the auto industry. According to Autodata, the Escape is one of 44 vehicles in the small crossover segment. While Escape sales are down 6 percent in 2006, it's still one of the group's best sellers.
However, Ford still takes issue with the crossover label, which most automakers embrace.
"We consider it a small SUV because that's what our customers consider it," Raghavachari said.
Even with added features, Ford officials said the Escape's price should come in lower than the $19,780 for the 2007 base model.
Revised and refined
Whatever the designation, the new Escape is refined. Its refreshed exterior includes chrome accents and new lights all around giving it a bejeweled appearance. It looks taller, and bigger, though it remains the same size.
Upgraded models can fit 17-inch wheels, another first for the Escape. It will keep its base 2.4-liter I-4 and higher trim 3-liter Duratec V-6 powerplants, and of course, the Escape comes in a gas-electric hybrid version as well.
The interior has undergone even more changes including new two-tone options and seats made from 100 percent recycled products.
The entire plan for the Escape interior was to give it a cleaner, more sophisticated look, said Evelyn Bowman, Ford's color materials chief designer who worked on the new vehicle. "We wanted to create a different space for our customers."
Ford also cleaned up the center console, making it appear narrower and more user-friendly, outlining it in piano black trim.
Lash added that designers moved the emergency brake from the center stack to the floor to give the driver more room, used thicker glass on side windows and a number of other enhancements to reduce interior noise by 15 percent.
The importance of upgrading the interior reflects Ford's changing philosophy of the type of people buying compact SUVs.
Raghavachari said Ford expects one-third of its Escape customers to come from small SUVs, one-third from cars and the rest from larger SUVs.
That raises quality expectations, added Lindlind.
"As consumers downsize, whatever the reasons, they don't want to give up very much," she said. "On the inside, they want a smaller version of the Eddie Bauer (Explorer)."
Which is exactly what they get.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2008_Ford_Escape.jpg Scott Burgess - Detroit News - Nov. 29, 2006
The once amiable Ford Escape has gone ornery.
And Ford Motor Co. wants to flaunt that new-found mean streak when it unveils the redesigned 2008 Escape at the L.A. Auto show today.
Cold chrome replaces the honeycomb grill, and sharper angles and higher beltline cut away those fuzzy rounded edges.
Inside, the Escape takes on a more modern feel, bathed in "cool blue" instrument panel lighting and a reconfigured center console.
"The older design had a more friendly look to it," said Stephen Lash, the program manager for the Escape. "This is more rugged."
The idea, Ford said, was to match customers' expectations to the compact SUV, even as that customer base has changed.
"We used to see the small SUV segment as a stepping stone segment," said Usha Raghavachari, the Escape's marketing manager. "People would buy an Escape and then move on to an Explorer, but the dynamics have shifted, and it's become a destination segment."
The new Escape, which rolls into showrooms early next year, looks more like a baby Explorer than the sporty crossover segment it's been placed in because of its unibody construction. It's still cute enough to continue to attract female customers, but now adds a toughness more fitting to its Ford truck DNA.
"There's no way you're not going to know this is a Ford," said Monte Doran, a Ford spokesman, while presenting the new Escape in Dearborn. "It's certainly more grown up."
The grown-up look may serve the vehicle well, said Rebecca Lindland, associate director of Global Insight's Global Automotive Group, a Lexington, Mass.-based consulting firm.
"There's nothing wrong with looking more like the Explorer," Lindland said. "The competitiveness of that (small crossover) segment is really growing."
What was a niche segment when the Escape debuted as a 2001 model has exploded into the fastest-growing segment in the auto industry. According to Autodata, the Escape is one of 44 vehicles in the small crossover segment. While Escape sales are down 6 percent in 2006, it's still one of the group's best sellers.
However, Ford still takes issue with the crossover label, which most automakers embrace.
"We consider it a small SUV because that's what our customers consider it," Raghavachari said.
Even with added features, Ford officials said the Escape's price should come in lower than the $19,780 for the 2007 base model.
Revised and refined
Whatever the designation, the new Escape is refined. Its refreshed exterior includes chrome accents and new lights all around giving it a bejeweled appearance. It looks taller, and bigger, though it remains the same size.
Upgraded models can fit 17-inch wheels, another first for the Escape. It will keep its base 2.4-liter I-4 and higher trim 3-liter Duratec V-6 powerplants, and of course, the Escape comes in a gas-electric hybrid version as well.
The interior has undergone even more changes including new two-tone options and seats made from 100 percent recycled products.
The entire plan for the Escape interior was to give it a cleaner, more sophisticated look, said Evelyn Bowman, Ford's color materials chief designer who worked on the new vehicle. "We wanted to create a different space for our customers."
Ford also cleaned up the center console, making it appear narrower and more user-friendly, outlining it in piano black trim.
Lash added that designers moved the emergency brake from the center stack to the floor to give the driver more room, used thicker glass on side windows and a number of other enhancements to reduce interior noise by 15 percent.
The importance of upgrading the interior reflects Ford's changing philosophy of the type of people buying compact SUVs.
Raghavachari said Ford expects one-third of its Escape customers to come from small SUVs, one-third from cars and the rest from larger SUVs.
That raises quality expectations, added Lindlind.
"As consumers downsize, whatever the reasons, they don't want to give up very much," she said. "On the inside, they want a smaller version of the Eddie Bauer (Explorer)."
Which is exactly what they get.