April 3, 2014

MIAS 2014: Ford Previews 2015 Escape; Destined to Bring the Fight to Subaru Forester?

Photos by Ulysses Ang
The demise of Ford’s C-segment crossover in the Philippines is greatly exaggerated as the company used the Manila International Auto Show to preview the all-new 2015 Escape—a crossover that’s expected to bridge the gap between the EcoSport and Explorer in terms of both features and price. Though no official specs were given during the preview, Ford Philippines Managing Director Kay Hart announced that the 2015 Escape will be formally launched in the fourth quarter of 2014 with deliveries to start soon thereafter.

Leveraging their global product portfolio, the all-new Escape is a completely-built up (CBU) unit sourced from North America. Based on what we saw at the Ford pavilion, the initial unit the company has brought in is the Escape in the Titanium trim. This means it is powered by a 2.0-liter EcoBoost with 240 horsepower putting it squarely even with the Subaru Forester XT; in fact, the Escape out torques the Forester XT at 350 Nm vs 366 Nm. This engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission and may either a front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive variant. In terms of wheels, the Escape Titanium rides on beefy 19-inch rims.


“We are excited to bring the all-new Escape to the Philippines, which further expands our unmatched lineup of SUVs in the market and addresses the various needs and requirements of every market segment,” said Kay Hart, Ford Philippines Managing Director.

Though everything is purely speculative at this point (and we don’t know for certain what variant Ford is bringing in), the impending arrival of the all-new Escape is certainly welcome news. Here’s hoping for a renewed compact crossover battle that’s (currently) convincingly won by the Subaru Forester.


10 comments:

  1. still Subaru Forester XT

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  2. $32,000 in the US... How much would that be here?

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  3. The 2.0L variant is most probably a diesel engine, as some US previews had mentioned.

    http://blendcars.com/2015-ford-escape-preview-and-release-date
    http://www.carreviews2015.com/2015-ford-escape-changes/

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  4. Ford, i am loving your new cars. Graduate nako sa Toyota. Next purchase is this!

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    Replies
    1. Well, I just hope the maintenance of their newer cars are much better than their mid/late-2000s models. A lot of those issues make me wish I was driving a Toyota instead.

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  5. Probably from 1.4 to 1.9 for the top of the line. My guess is that it will be close to Mazda's CXs and way higher than the koreans crossovers (Sorento 5 steater, sportage and tucson). But Ford is Ford :)

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  6. The Estimated Price is 2,200,000 Pesos

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    1. What's your basis? If that's the case, its price is too close to the explorer. I highly doubt they will price this at 2.2M

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    2. Ford is introducing amazing cars with very reasonable pricing. Guess it wont exceed 1.5m.

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  7. I got my fiesta last year, I'm looking forward of getting an escape soon, but in my opinion, if base price would cost around 1.2m up, that's no longer competitive, I consider it as luxury and its not for me na. tucson (my 2nd choice) is just around the corner. I bet base price will be 1m up competing with tucson. imho.

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