2017 Ford Escape | new car sales price

Ford Australia has cut the price, improved fuel economy and will double its marketing effort to promote its latest mid-size SUV, the Escape, as a more worthy successor to the outgoing Kuga.

The Escape – Ford Australia’s latest E-word SUV after the EcoSport, Everest and next year’s Edge – is basically the renamed and facelifted replacement for the Kuga that in 2016 sold 4395 units for ninth spot in the segment.

Ford has lopped $760 off the opening price to start at $28,490 plus on-road costs for a front-wheel drive Ambiente manual with a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine.

The moves are designed to put Ford back on the shopping list for family-size SUVs and buoy the attractive wagon to prevent it being swamped in a segment crowded with 28 competitors.

Ford said that the Escape will be its most significant launch this year and plans to attract a wider audience through more variants. 

The new line-up retains the three trim levels of Ambiente, Trend and Titanium but there are eight variants including diesel, petrol, manual, automatic, all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive priced from $28,490 to $47,490 – a breadth the company said will meet the needs of 92 per cent of mid-size SUV buyers against only 76 per cent for the Kuga.

Some models have the same prices as the outgoing Kuga but Ford said all have increased safety, comfort and convenience specifications to make them a more effective value-for-money proposition.

Ford hopes to win new buyers through pricing and features.

Ford Australia marketing manager Daniella Winter said the company would commit “significant” funds to support the Escape and that it had never invested as much in Kuga compared with the program for the re-named version.

Ms Winter said the Kuga suffered by being almost invisible in the market and admitted research showed many SUV buyers were not aware Ford had an entrant in the mid-size segment.

Despite the more aggressive focus on marketing the new model, Ford is playing a soft line in its relationship with the fleet sector.

Ms Winter said there were no plans to push hard to boost fleet sales of the Escape, aware that this could have damaging effects on the private and used markets. She also said the Escape would not be the subject of heavy discounting.

She said the sales growth would come from retail sales and that Ford wanted a solid “growth trajectory” in the future.

Ford hopes to win new buyers through pricing and features, tweaking its appeal with some light design changes that start with a new front end, including a more up-to-date grille, as well as a fresh tail-light design.

The standard fare has been improved, with an 8.0-inch colour touchscreen monitor across the range, including a digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and a satellite navigation system sitting within Ford’s Sync3 multimedia pack.

Other standard equipment for all models includes front and rear foglights, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, cruise control, dual-zone climate control and Sync3.

The Titanium empties the top shelf of the parts warehouse, replacing the Ambiente's steel wheels with 19-inch alloys and then adds front parking sensors with automatic reverse-park assistance, swivelling bi-Xenon headlights, electric folding mirrors, LED tail-lights, electric tailgate, panoramic glass roof, keyless auto-entry, ambient interior lighting, nine-speaker Sony audio system, and leather trim with heated front seats.

But there is no across-the-board upgrade to the safety inventory. The Escape does not have auto emergency braking, blind-spot monitor, lane-keeping alert, rear-cross traffic alert or active cruise control across the range as standard.

However, it offers these items within a $1300 option pack only available on the mid-spec Trend and flagship Titanium models.

Mechanically, there are no major changes – except for one engine – to the Escape as it transitions from the Kuga.

Ford has overhauled the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine fitted to the Trend and Titanium all-wheel drive variants, replacing the block, pistons and turbocharger to produce the same power and torque output as its predecessor while shaving 0.2L/100km off the fuel consumption, now a claimed 8.6L/100km.

The entree is the Ambiente with manual transmission that uses the carry-over 110kW/240Nm 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine that claims 6.3L/100km.

The six-speed automatic version has 134kW/240Nm and fuel economy of 7.2 L/100km, while its AWD variant adds 118kg and reduces the economy to 7.5L/100km.

Ford’s Trend 1.5-litre front-wheel drive automatic is also rated at 7.5L/100km while the AWD version gets upgraded to the new 2.0-litre engine.

Diesel variants have carry-over 132kW/400Nm 2.0-litre engines that claim 5.5 L/100km.

Does the change from Kuga to Escape boost Ford's chances in the mid-size SUV segment? Tell us what you think in the comments below.