Does the model name Escort still exist? Hell yes! In China, Ford still has a Ford Escort on the menu, a car that has now been put on the cutting table for the second time. Incidentally, the car has nothing to do with the latest European Escort.
Ford delivered the last Escort in Europe until 2000 in addition to the car that would actually succeed him: the Focus. When the Focus was introduced in 1998, it was already clear that the Escort model name in Europe would no longer have a long life. Anyone who now walks into a Chinese Ford showroom will still come across an Escort there. It is that car that is now being modernized for a second time.
Ford Escort (facelift 2018)
The Chinese Ford Escort is the production version of the Escort Concept presented eight years ago. A year later, the new Escort derived from that show car was actually at the Chinese dealers. Three years ago, the 4.59 meter long sedan already got a new snout, but this once again renewed version takes more distance from the original. From the outside, the facelifted Ford Escort shows strong family traits with the renewed Focus as Ford recently launched on the Chinese market. The front, which was previously very similar to that of the Fiesta, gives way to a front with a much larger grille that is visually coupled with completely new and much flatter, more aggressive-looking light clusters. The hood of the Chinese Escort is also completely new, the same goes for the hood and the side mirrors. Both the light units at the front and the ones at the back have LED technology. The rear lights are visually tied together by a chrome strip, although there is still no decent official image of the renewed rear.
Ford Escort Facelift 2021
The interior of the Ford Escort is also thoroughly revised. In fact, the entire dashboard is new. The now dated interior of the original gives way to a modern cockpit with two 10.25-inch digital displays housed in a wide black panel. The screen behind the steering wheel functions as a digital instrumentation, the one next to it serves as an infotainment system. The air vents move down one floor and Ford further dresses the dashboard with stitched imitation leather and mood lighting.
Ford Escort, interior, facelift 2021
Although the Chinese Ford Escort always looked very much like the Fiesta until recently, the car had nothing to do with the well-known Ford on a technical level. Under the carriage of the Escort is namely technology of the second generation Ford Focus hidden. On the engine list of the renewed Escort is an atmospheric 1.5 that delivers 122 hp. The renewed Ford Escort is not coming to the Netherlands. The Ford Escort continues to be considered the cheaper alternative to the Focus in China.