The All-New 2020 Ford Escape Takes A New Path

Escape is Ford’s second best selling vehicle behind the blockbuster F150. The all-new 2020 model adapts a sleeker shape and not only brings back the hybrid powertrain but adds a plug-in version that has an estimated all-electric range of 30 miles. Tom Voelk travels to Louisville, Kentucky to see if the latest version has what it takes to keep buyers from migrating to CR-V, RAV4, Rogue, Equinox and Cherokee.

Tom attended a manufacturer’s event to cover the 2020 Escape. Ford provided transportation and lodging. Opinions remain fully independent.

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About Tom: Tom Voelk is an award-winning automotive contributor to The New York Times. His podcast was the first to win an Emmy Award (and he's won for photography, editing, producing and reporting). But really, all you need to know is in the videos. Watch a few and you'll subscribe.

[pleasantcrew]

When you look at the headlight layout, you see some Porsche Macan

[AutonomousMoo]

I'm going to get a fully loaded titanium AWD model!

[sportsMike]

a popular choice for mall security I've noticed.

[Luckys]

The seats do technically fold completely flat. You need to raise the cargo floor onto those two protruding supports on either side. Same with the previous gen Escape (since 2013)

[davidg]

Wow, the designers really did an admirable job of erasing any trace of masculinity from this iteration!

[johnnylytton]

Just bought a 2020 SE with 15, 000 miles last week. Runs alot better than expected and looks great. Loving it so far

[jayburris]

Almost $38k for an Escape?!!!! $38k!!!! That’s WAY too much.

[tomcat]

Too bad Ford doesn't offer the Focus range for North America. Some do not want a CUV. Well, I'm sure this will sell very well. Great review as always.

[AlexTheeGrt]

I don't care if it's more car like or not, this model is head and shoulders better than the previous version which was a bit long in the tooth. And since Ford USA isn't doing cars anymore, they should go on and bring the Ford Puma from overseas as the entry crossover for the US market (obviously don't call it Puma as we have no history with that nameplate).

[ien]

Seriously Ford, this is all you got? The base Honda CR-V starts at $24k. My friend got a Leather w.techs model for under $27k. Under $30k should be the magic number for soccer moms and Ford is pricing it higher? WTF are they thinking?

[whatwhome]

The most closely guarded secret in the whole USA is the ground clearance spec for the new Ford Escape.

[Beth]

Early last week that I gotten a 2020 Ford Escape SE in black!! I just loved with the technology in the vehicle!! I noticed it is little bit lower than my old 2015 Ford Escape.

[acemacgruber]

If the ford bean counters cut the seat back releases, imagine the things they cut that you don't see.

[jacklucking]

We really like our 2020 Escape of power and drives great.

[nac]

we have our 2020 0 issues so far 2.0 ecoboost engine is excellent

[mattspeer]

First ever heads up display in a Ford and they had to go with the cheeseball plastic sheet method rather than the windshield projection method most manufacturers have gone to? That's pathetic. There are cars costing thousands less than a loaded 2020 Escape that use the projection method, so it's not just luxury cars that have that feature. Really not surprising though since Ford has always had cheap plastic interiors, even in their loaded $70K+ luxury trim trucks.

[chrisa]

Sounds like the Titanium is around $5k more than a CRV Touring or CX-5 GT. That’s a hard pass. Thanks for the great review!

[alexmobil]

Quite competitive package in an overcrowded segment will be very hard against Japanese and Korean quality and innovation and not to forget the value these competitors are offering. My wife has just got a new Fiesta and God the interior is just the same!

[stephenhendricks]

A word about MSRP vs real world prices. Manufacturers don't set prices for dealers, at least not in the US. MSRP's serve a variety of purposes. For luxury brands a "starting at" price is meant to draw customers into a showroom only to find that the last vehicle available at that price just happened to have been sold yesterday. Another purpose is to convince naive customers that a manufacturer's "invoice" price is the dealer's actual cost so a "discount" from MSRP to an invoice price looks especially enticing. "You wouldn't expect me to sell you this car for less than we paid for it, would you?" See below for why that's a scam.


Still another potential message is to set an MSRP at a level that suggests what a manufacturer believes a vehicle should be compared to by cross-shopping consumers. In the case of the Escape Ford is telling consumers that their vehicle is equal to or even slightly better than, say, a RAV4 or a CR-V, especially at the top trim "Titanium" level. (A loaded RAV4 has virtually the same MSRP as a comparable Escape.)


An "invoice" price for the Escape is about $1400 less than the MSRP. So one can be relatively certain that a Ford dealer will happily sell you Titanium trim AWD Escape for the invoice price without "losing" a dollar. But it doesn't stop there. Although a dealer technically "buys" a vehicle at the invoice price, the manufacturer also has programs that include "hold backs" for dealers based on the number of cars they sell every month or quarter. Those "hold backs" can amount to significant $$$ for each car sold. Further, high volume dealers also gain privileged access to higher demand (and more profitable) vehicles from the manufacturer in their future orders. And so the cycle continues.


All in all, I'd expect a top trim fully loaded Escape to be sold for about $4K to $5K less than MSRP by many dealers, especially a few months after its introduction. Of course, with auto sales currently softening across the industry one might well expect a discount for a RAV4, as well. But if history is any guide that discount will be considerably less than for a Ford.

[TheRealBrendon]

I’m getting the 2020 Escape Titanium in Star White!