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Ford already spent billions promoting its aluminum bodies ad switching over 4 plants to handle it. Switching back just doesn't make sense.

I'm sorry. I regret to inform you that you're not allowed to like your Escape. It's a dumpster fire piece of garbage - the internet and reviewers said so.

Just wanted to throw this out there, be safe and have happy new year! Hopefully 2021 goes better for everyone, including Ford. I just want to test drive a Bronco in 2021! For me I'm hitting the road to Howell and will be spending the last few hours of 2020 in Michigan. Whatever you do, just be safe. No burning down the house with NYE fireworks.

Ford would appear to have interesting options if the decision is made to manufacture batteries. Solid Power, a company in which Ford have an investment stake (along with BMW and others) has made solid progress (pun intended) on solid state batteries: https://cleantechnica.com/2020/12/11/solid-state-batteries-theyre-everywhere-theyre-everywhere/

I really don't want to speak out of turn here. If this is what I think it is, I think it's used for the front structure (firewall forward behind the fenders). I can't really confirm that.

Yeah, let's hope the days of rusting rocker and quarter panels are over for good. Lower areas on the doors and lip areas around wheel openings are prone to rust also. Modern vehicles resist rust better, but they still rust especially in cold climates and left outside. When I was a kid, I always liked fiberglass Corvettes because they didn't start rusting after a few years like most vehicles from the 60's. My 1962 Galaxie 500 showed rust by 1965. So stick to aluminum Ford and expand its use, not diminish it.

That's good to hear. One of the things I was excited for when ford went all in on alluminum was its resistance to rust. The idea of a steel bronco is less appealing today.

Makes sense for Ranger, Mustang, possibly Explorer, but not Heavier things like trucks. BTW, there's more aluminum on the Bronco. All doors, hood, fenders, swing gate are all aluminum.

Do you just believe everything your told or do you process what you see with common sense?

Nice job. However, it really is all about personal perspective. IMO, the HRV has the worst interior on your list. Info screen has be one very important and CX 5 is useless and CRV is next to useless. The system on my Crosstrek was terrible compared to my Escape. So I think you need to do a rearrangement of your rankings. Having lived with my 2020 Escape for over 8 months now, my only complaints are the cheap looking door cards, no auto dimming mirror or fog lights, and no one up on driver side power window on $32,000 vehicle. Ths vehicle looks great on the outside and inside otherwise. Great tricoat, metallic paint job that pops with black and piano black trim and 19 inch alloy wheels and attractive, premium sandstone interior.

Update on my quest to sit in a Bronco Sport. I just drove by my dealer and, miracle of miracles, there's a BS parked in the showroom. If they're open tomorrow, I'll stop by for a look. And, surprisingly, I saw another Bronco Sport, with ordinary plates, not dealer plates, driving through town. And fittingly, it was covered with a thick coat of road salt. Welcome to Northern Michigan, Bronco Sport.

If done properly, steel can be treated to resist rust. Pretreatment and e-coat (elpo to GM fans) provide significant corrosion protection. Aluminum is subject to filiform corrosion. Filiform corrosion can be observed on edges of panels in many vehicles. It can be prevented by several pretreatment measures. The most effective is chromate solutions. For environmental reasons, that is not going to happen in automotive. Aftermarket repair of aluminum is also pricey.

Agreed. Entire roads would be large infrastructure improvement not worth the cost. Maybe on limited high traffic routes....but upgrading a rail line to use electric might be a more cost effective option. One of the reasons I think government should step back and let business compete for the best solutions. I recall Qualcomm having some sort of wireless car charging pad. Efficiency wasn’t great, but it sure would be convenient to pull into a spot, have the car charging while running an errand, and automatically billed to your account. Infrastructure like that would make smaller/cheaper battery packs more desirable for commuting and local errands.

As someone who grew up in MN, I like the AL F-series for its rust resistance and light weight. I question whether the new steels are actually any cheaper than aluminum when you consider the recycling programs Ford put in place to optimize the price for scrap. At any rate, if they do make the switch, I’ll likely get in line for the last of the aluminum bodies.

I could imagine a parking spot or garage floor that is engineered to wirelessly charge an EV while parked there.

Do you guys forsee a future where the road itself provides an electrical charge capable of wirelessly charging and powering electric vehicles, or is that too science fiction?

Maybe this was aother captain's call from Jim Farley?

As opposed to medium rare

Or the new PT cruiser.

I bet they use the same cells.

YUP...Funny how people will call and utilize apparent abundance to leverage negotiation when we show 35 Rangers in stock....when in actuality we have 7 with 28 incoming.....ahem....BUT BUT BUT its on the internet so must be true....

Escape interior design is fine. It's a matter of taste and highly subjective. It is really the quality of material that I think Ford can do better. If you drive the CX-5 and Escape back to back, you will really feel the quality difference. Everything you touch in the Mazda feels like it belongs in a more expensive car. Everything you touch in the Ford feels like it belongs in a cheaper car. Also, whether you like it or not, the size of the screen as become an important factor in shopping comparison. It is a key metric that people consider now when buying new vehicles and Ford should have put in a larger screen in the Escape. This is an easy fix - just look at the Chinese Escape interior. The other thing that Ford should address with a mid cycle update is the exterior appearance. The car just look too cheap with too much black plastic. Why is the rear bumper black matte plastic? What year is this? The fancier looking wheels in the new appearance packages will help too but overall, the US spec Escape needs better detailing. More chrome or aluminium in appropriate places. More painted parts. More cohesive exterior themes. Again, this is pretty easy fix - just look at the Kuga ST-Line and Vignale exterior in Europe or the Chinese Escape - both much expensive-looking car than the US-spec Escape. And lastly, I sound like a broken record but Ford should really push the hybrid and PHEV. Survey after survey shows that people are very pre-disposed to look at hybrid and PHEV when replacing their current ICE only cars. Ford made a really big mistake 8 years ago killing the Escape hybrid and stopping all the momentum the nameplate had built up with hybrid shoppers. It is still in my opinion, one of the bigger blunder under Alan Mulally. Ford should do everything it can to restore Escape as the "go to" choice for hybrid CUV. Honda for some reason also whiffed and did not bring over the CR-V hybrid initially so this allowed Toyota to quitely dominate the segment.

Good one rmc523 sir. ? In all seriousness, people who actually purchased or leased a 2020 Escape like FordBuyer seem to be satisfied with the vehicle. Escape actually tied Mazda CX-5 for first place among Compact SUV in this year's J.D. Power APEAL study, which measures "an owner’s emotional attachment to their new vehicle." The problem for Ford, and why Automotive News said Escape is a "miss", is that fewer customers in the market for a compact crossover are choosing an Escape nowadays. Sales are down over 60,000 units in first 3 quarters of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, and it's not all due to the decline in fleet sales. Clearly, even some Ford loyalists who previously owned a Ford passenger car are looking elsewhere.

Yep, all personal opinion there. I think the crv looks like a mini van interior but it has really good materials. Everything was soft touch. The crv, cx5 and equinox are also fairly old vehicles now, yet they still stack up well against the brand new escape. Think of what the difference will be when they get new interiors. The industry is heading towards giant screens in all vehicles now, I think ford should take this opportunity to be a leader in the segment and put the Mach e’s screen in the escape. I think that would drastically change people’s perception of the interior. Then all you need to do is change the front clip and you have a vehicle that’s at the top of its class. Using some of the Mach e’s visual tricks to make it more coupe like would help too.

I own a 2020 Escape with premium package, having come from a Limited Crosstrek, and I would rate the interiors overall even in quality and design. Certainly not a "whiff" or "garbage." Not even close. I've also seen the BS up close and I see a very close resemblance to my Escape. Same switch gear and steering wheel minus the bucking Bronco. Similar console and design themes. Interior on BS plays a little more with color and trims, but materials I bet are the same. I hope the BS is a huge success, and I like it, but still very happy with my Escape. In fact, I would still buy it again today as the Escape offers so much more value for the money when you add in the incentives on 2020 Escape and great inventory.

Here is some of the competitions interiors: Nissan Rogue Hyundai Tuscon honda crv Toyota rav4 chevrolet equinox mazda cx5 Bronco sport ford escape The escape is one of the newer designs here but it already looks old to me. The only interior that is worse is the equinox. The screen on the rav4 looks cheap, but otherwise I like it’s rugged looking design. If Toyota fixed the screen with its giant bezel it would be a lot better but for now it’s only slightly better than the escape. The layout of the Honda isn’t exciting at all, but the materials are much better than the escapes, which give it a more premium feel. The Mazda has a very similar design to the escape but they managed to make an interior that virtually everyone praises. If mazda adds a bigger screen and digital dash, it will be close to the top for me. I like the design of the Tucson’s interior. I’m not sure how well it will work with all of those touch buttons though. The rogues interior surprised me. I think it’s the best looking of the bunch. I don’t really care for the bronco sports interior either. interior 1. Rogue 2. Tuscon 3. CX5 4. CRV 5. RAV4 6. Bronco Sport 7. Escape 8. Equinox exterior 1. Bronco sport 2. CX5 3. Rav4 4. Rogue 5. crv 6. tuscon 7. escape 8. equinox bronco sport is the best looking of the bunch on the exterior. 2 through 4 could really be switched in any order depending on trim. The rav4 trd off road and xse hybrid trims look really good, but the lower trims are kinda boring. The rogue looks good in pictures and has the boxier shape I like, but I’m not a fan of nissans design language so I’d have to see that new front in person. Crv is the appliance you’d expect it to be and puts it in the middle of the pack. If the Tuscon toned down all the edges, it would look a lot better. Like the crv, the escape has appliance looks. There’s nothing offensive about it, but there’s nothing that makes me want to buy it either. It also looks like it’s smiling which I don’t care for and it’s a bit dated on the exterior since it’s using design elements that have been around since 2013 on other ford’s. The equinox is just garbage all around.

I agree Ford whiffed on the Escape from a styling and interior perspective. I'm betting the Bronco Sport will be where people go, and honestly they should put the hybrid powertrain there.

I'm biased, because I own one, but I think the complaints about the Escape's interior are exaggerated. It also helps that I have a 2007 Shelby GT500 - talk about garbage interior! The hard plastic all over the interior of that thing is dismal, and with its age now it's a rattling mess. I'll also take the cleaner, simpler lines, both inside and out, on the Escape to the overwrought styling of most of its peers.

The exterior of the escape is decent but leaning bland...the interior is just garbage compared to what else is out there...the idea of believing former ford car buyers would migrate to higher priced, dismal at best lower-end suv's seems to have been fanciful thought by ford marketing....the lower end offerings from ford are 10 steps below the competition and the increased price has placed those offerings squarely in what the hell is ford thinking territory...dam that product just reeks "pontiac"of the 80's..too much garbage-cheap-plastic in the interior was asnine thought

We our currently on Christmas shutdown. We have been running at full capacity and working OT as long as we can get parts. I expect it will be the same when we return.Even the dealers around the plant are short on inventory.

What is it you like about the new Escape over your Edge? The Edge has more comfortable seats, quieter interior, better ride, more luxurious interior. I do believe the 1.5L 3 cylinder engine is far more responsive and has better fuel economy than the 2.0 Edge engine that surges on light acceleration. It has a too aggressive throttle tip in. 3.5 V-6 was a smoother engine with similar fuel economy.

You were correct all along CKNSLS sir. The good news for Ford is that Jim Hackett's "design thinking" philosophy is getting traction within the company. Design thinking should definitely help creating products that are more appealing and customer centered. I think in a few years, Ford will have many more "hits" than "misses", and that Ford's reputation of putting out cheap and nasty products will finally start to wane.

I called it a "Fail" when I first saw it and caught a lot of cr*p on here for it. Everybody on here is calling the hybrid the "Hail Mary" for this vehicle. This is a giant "we will see".

You will gain a lot more than "some". How about twice as much. We were averaging about 26 mpg with our Subaru Crosstrek in urban driving with lots of long waiting stop lights, and now average 50mpg with our hybrid Escape in same urban driving. Over 600 miles on 14 gallon tank.

You're welcome FordBuyer sir! Totally agree that the standard 17" wheels on Escape SE look cheap and dorky. Good news - 2021 Escape now offers a new "SE Sport Appearance Package" for both the 1.5L and hybrid versions. MSRP is $1,295. SE Sport Appearance Package 19” Machined-face Ebony-painted Aluminum Wheel Black Upper Window Molding with Black Beltline Molding Front and Rear Bumpers – Black Grille Upper – Gloss Black 5-Bar w/Chrome Surround Mirrors – High Gloss Black-Skull Caps Picture of 19" Machined-face Ebony-painted Aluminum Wheel.

It won’t get great mpg even with a hybrid. It’s just not aero efficient. Escape just needs a tweak to the front end and an interior upgrade and to get more hybrids out the door and it will be fine. As is they’ll sell about 175K. 200K should be easy with more hybrids. That in addition to Bronco Sport is hardly a failure. They could easily see 350k combined sales. Sacrificing one or the other is silly.

The exterior looks like one of the vehicles in the Cars movie, the interior looks cheap and there is very little sound deadening in my opinion. Who would think that this would be a recipe for success? The Bronco Sport with its more traditional SUV styling is really the new Escape. The one they are marketing looks like a tall six year old Focus, again in my opinion and it appears the market agrees.

The Escape miss is the big one. The compact CUV is now the biggest vehicle segment in the world and Ford kind of whiffed on it. I think Ford should be looking at an earlier mid cycle and try to fix some of the problems. A general upgrade of interior material will go a long ways and maybe a more concerted effort to focus the marketing on hybrid and PHEV versions. I know the battery setback with PHEV was not Ford's fault but when that issue is resolved, I hope Ford puts the PHEV version front and center in the marketing and try to get Escape established as the PHEV choice in the segment before RAV4 runs away with it.

So since I stated the truth to you I have blinders on? Maybe you should get some since from what you said it helps focus on the truth. Keep listening to the MOP.

First retail delivery. https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/mach-e-retail-deliveries-begin-first-to-customer-in-dallas.2514/?fbclid=IwAR17Jq4L43nIIk9VTVbzditrshpByMlXVY7OJQcKejICAS03Q2HIktDOsBE

Ford is repairing tons of new F-10's in Flat Rock - and UAW members aren't doing the work https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2020/12/23/ford-f-150-repairs-seat-belt-flat-rock-uaw/3994000001/

DELIVERY HOLD - Certain 2021 Bronco Sport - Inside Door Handle Inspection