Ford CEO Jim Farley Says Ford Escape 'Didn't Fit' Company's Brand

[Sherminator98]

https://fordauthority.com/2026/04/ford-ceo-jim-farley-says-ford-escape-didnt-fit-companys-brand/

 

[fuzzymoomoo]

How many ways can this guy say the same thing over and over again? 

[fordmantpw]

8 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

How many ways can this guy say the same thing over and over again? 

 

If people would quit asking the same question over and over, he could probably stop repeating it!  I mean, it's not news anymore, but people keep asking the question like he's going to have some type of earth shattering answer.

[fuzzymoomoo]

That’s why I could never do that job. I would very quickly get sick of that and start telling people to eff off 

Edited April 29 by fuzzymoomoo

[akirby]

2 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

That’s why I could never do that job. I would very quickly get sick of that and start telling people to eff off 

That's why I love the white house press secretary.  She calls out the media when they ask stupid questions.

[rmc523]

39 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

That’s why I could never do that job. I would very quickly get sick of that and start telling people to eff off 

just record yourself with the answer from the last time you were asked and play it lol

[morgan20]

1 hour ago, fordmantpw said:

If people would quit asking the same question over and over, he could probably stop repeating it!  

 

Yea, exactly. It seems that expecting the business and automotive media to understand the simplest, most unambiguous business strategy possible - no boring products - is too much to ask. 🙃

[jpd80]

2 hours ago, morgan20 said:

 

Yea, exactly. It seems that expecting the business and automotive media to understand the simplest, most unambiguous business strategy possible - no boring products - is too much to ask. 🙃

Why compete with Toyota RAV4 if every,

vehicle you sell makes little or no profit

Maybe put that funding to better use on

vehicles that people want to buy and will

pay more.

[twintornados]

Yeah, Escape is so "boring" that my girlfriend is on her 5th one....started in 2002, then 2005, then 2010, then 2017...each one rolling up a trouble free 100+K miles with no issue....she had a Forester between the 2010 and 2017 and it had nothing but issues so she got back into an Escape for 2017....when it came time, she felt she wanted something a little smaller since she had retired and took a CX-30 Mazda out for a test ride, and did not like it. She got a 2024 Escape and is enjoying it.....she looked at a Bronco Sport, but did not like it. It will be several years before she needs a replacement, I hope Ford has a small SUV available that is more Escape-esque or she may just end up elsewhere, I hope not. She never thought her Escape was "boring".

[Sherminator98]

10 minutes ago, twintornados said:

She never thought her Escape was "boring".

 

Boring=Commodity product that sells on price/incentives

 

Ford wants to sell products that have a hook to them so they don't need to use incentives as much and have "natural" demand for them because buyers want them not because they are cheaper then everything else. 

 

The Escape was a perfectly fine vehicle, but it had no hook to bring in customers and make those customers "want it" and even spend more money on it via the dealership to get aftermarket items that are pure profit.

At least that is how I see it from the cheap seats. 

[akirby]

48 minutes ago, twintornados said:

Yeah, Escape is so "boring" that my girlfriend is on her 5th one....started in 2002, then 2005, then 2010, then 2017...each one rolling up a trouble free 100+K miles with no issue....she had a Forester between the 2010 and 2017 and it had nothing but issues so she got back into an Escape for 2017....when it came time, she felt she wanted something a little smaller since she had retired and took a CX-30 Mazda out for a test ride, and did not like it. She got a 2024 Escape and is enjoying it.....she looked at a Bronco Sport, but did not like it. It will be several years before she needs a replacement, I hope Ford has a small SUV available that is more Escape-esque or she may just end up elsewhere, I hope not. She never thought her Escape was "boring".

But did she love it enough to pay $5k more?  If so she was in the minority.  If Ford can make an exciting replacement that can be built for thousands less they can make that 8% margin target.

[morgan20]

1 hour ago, jpd80 said:

Why compete with Toyota RAV4 

 

That's the big question, and I'm glad that Jimbo is (a) askin' it and (b) recognizing that Ford can't compete with products that phone it in, like the Escape.

 

Toyota's got the formula for boring but brilliantly engineered unibody blob crossovers down pat. Toyota dealerships in Central Indiana are selling the new 2026 RAV4 practically as soon as they arrive, if they're not already pre-sold:

 

 

[jpd80]

The other issue that really hurts Ford is the way its vehicles are made and sourced from suppliers.

The complexity of build and up to hundreds of supplier based computer chip software based modules 

is what’s driving up prices massively to the point that vehicles “on the edge” are just so easy to cut….

 

And to think that Ford’s Engineering nixed the Rivian because it had a single CPU that did virtually everything 

is just so maddening, that is the future of manufacturing and they turned away from it to keep their own designs.

Edited April 30 by jpd80

[twintornados]

9 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

Boring=Commodity product that sells on price/incentives

 

Ford wants to sell products that have a hook to them so they don't need to use incentives as much and have "natural" demand for them because buyers want them not because they are cheaper then everything else. 

 

The Escape was a perfectly fine vehicle, but it had no hook to bring in customers and make those customers "want it" and even spend more money on it via the dealership to get aftermarket items that are pure profit.

At least that is how I see it from the cheap seats. 

 

8 hours ago, akirby said:

But did she love it enough to pay $5k more?  If so she was in the minority.  If Ford can make an exciting replacement that can be built for thousands less they can make that 8% margin target.

 

She doesn't "love" cars, but I don't know of anything stronger than a 5 time repeat buyer. 

[Sherminator98]

5 hours ago, jpd80 said:

The other issue that really hurts Ford is the way its vehicles are made and sourced from suppliers.

The complexity of build and up to hundreds of supplier based computer chip software based modules 

is what’s driving up prices massively to the point that vehicles “on the edge” are just so easy to cut….

 

And to think that Ford’s Engineering nixed the Rivian because it had a single CPU that did virtually everything 

is just so maddening, that is the future of manufacturing and they turned away from it to keep their own designs.

 

I think the Rivian thing was more about being beholden to an external source vs having a partnership with them. I'm assuming the VW group went with Rivian because they had no other choice due to external factors pressing on them. 

 

It is the same situation as Ford has with VW-they went with the VW platform because they thought it would be the cheapest/best route to getting more EVs to market. I'm also considering that Ford has also decided to cut back on Ford EU doing engineering for new projects also and those engineering assets will be more NA based.

 

Finally, maybe Ford figured it out that doing its own skunkworks CE1 project (after doing just about everything else) was the best path forward for them for the future. 

[akirby]

8 hours ago, morgan20 said:

 

 

Toyota's got the formula for boring but brilliantly engineered unibody blob crossovers down pat. Toyota dealerships in Central Indiana are selling the new 2026 RAV4 practically as soon as they arrive, if they're not already pre-sold:

 

When I tried to find the new Rav4 daughter wanted they would hit the dealer inventory when the order hit the factory and within 2-3 days they were sold.  Got lucky and found one that just hit the website and got a deposit down.

 

It's a crying shame Ford didn't build a new C2 hybrid Edge for North America.

[akirby]

50 minutes ago, twintornados said:

She doesn't "love" cars, but I don't know of anything stronger than a 5 time repeat buyer. 

People like familiarity.  I'm sure she loved it but all 5 of those were heavily discounted to compete with GM and the Asians.  8% margin on a $30k car is only $2400 net profit.  Add a $3k rebate and you're losing money.  Contrast that with Bronco Sport and Maverick that was selling at or over MSRP without rebates and therefore supported a big price increase.  
 

Rav4 platform was built to be low cost from the get go and has been amortized over decades so they can make money even at lower prices.  That's where Ford is trying to go with new products and new platforms based on ce1 learnings.

 

 

[fordmantpw]

10 hours ago, twintornados said:

Yeah, Escape is so "boring" that my girlfriend is on her 5th one....started in 2002, then 2005, then 2010, then 2017...each one rolling up a trouble free 100+K miles with no issue....she had a Forester between the 2010 and 2017 and it had nothing but issues so she got back into an Escape for 2017....when it came time, she felt she wanted something a little smaller since she had retired and took a CX-30 Mazda out for a test ride, and did not like it. She got a 2024 Escape and is enjoying it.....she looked at a Bronco Sport, but did not like it. It will be several years before she needs a replacement, I hope Ford has a small SUV available that is more Escape-esque or she may just end up elsewhere, I hope not. She never thought her Escape was "boring".

 

Maybe your girlfriend is "boring?"  😄 

 

It's OK to be boring.  My girlfriend in high school dumped me because I was boring.  3 years later I called her up and asked her out again.  She said yes, and now we've been married almost 28 years.  I guess boring wasn't so bad after all!  Now our kids tell us that we're both boring!  😄 

 

Side note, we had 3 Escapes (plus the one we bought for my 17 year old daughter to drive) and my mother-in-law is on her third.  Boring seems to be a theme around these parts!

[twintornados]

53 minutes ago, akirby said:

People like familiarity.  I'm sure she loved it but all 5 of those were heavily discounted to compete with GM and the Asians.  8% margin on a $30k car is only $2400 net profit.  Add a $3k rebate and you're losing money.  Contrast that with Bronco Sport and Maverick that was selling at or over MSRP without rebates and therefore supported a big price increase.  
 

Rav4 platform was built to be low cost from the get go and has been amortized over decades so they can make money even at lower prices.  That's where Ford is trying to go with new products and new platforms based on ce1 learnings.

 

 

5 time repeat buyer says it all. She bought it because she was satisfied with the previous one and repeated for almost 25 years. FWIW, I bought a 2025 Maverick last year and got it with a rebate due to the promotion Ford was running at the time. I did not pay MSRP. Period. 

 

 

38 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

 

Maybe your girlfriend is "boring?"  😄 

 

It's OK to be boring.  My girlfriend in high school dumped me because I was boring.  3 years later I called her up and asked her out again.  She said yes, and now we've been married almost 28 years.  I guess boring wasn't so bad after all!  Now our kids tell us that we're both boring!  😄 

 

Side note, we had 3 Escapes (plus the one we bought for my 17 year old daughter to drive) and my mother-in-law is on her third.  Boring seems to be a theme around these parts!

 

My girlfriend is a lot of things, boring is not one of them. best choice I have made in my life. 

 

You both (and Farley) say "boring" ....while I say "competent" transportation for the non-enthusiast. You can make a decent vehicle and turn a decent profit at the same time....not everybody is out there looking for a race car, an off-road beast, or a hoonigan rally car....Toyota and Honda sell a shit ton of "boring" RAV4s, Corollas, HRVs, Civics, Camrys and Accords that Ford wants to ignore.....yet, Ford wants my girlfriend to move to a Bronco Sport (she did not like it) a Maverick (she does not want or need a truck) or step up to an Explorer (she will not get a vehicle that big) so, for now, we will see what comes along. Build an Escape-esque SUV on the CE1 chassis and we will see...but she is not sold on an EV yet so hopefully, they can come up with a hybrid version on the CE1 chassis...another "we'll see" moment. Just glad she got her 2024 when she did because now with us both being actively retired, our vehicles rack up a lot less miles so hers will be in our little fleet for several years. 

[akirby]

25 minutes ago, twintornados said:

5 time repeat buyer says it all. She bought it because she was satisfied with the previous one and repeated for almost 25 years. FWIW, I bought a 2025 Maverick last year and got it with a rebate due to the promotion Ford was running at the time. I did not pay MSRP. Period. 

 

 

 

My girlfriend is a lot of things, boring is not one of them. best choice I have made in my life. 

 

You both (and Farley) say "boring" ....while I say "competent" transportation for the non-enthusiast. You can make a decent vehicle and turn a decent profit at the same time....not everybody is out there looking for a race car, an off-road beast, or a hoonigan rally car....Toyota and Honda sell a shit ton of "boring" RAV4s, Corollas, HRVs, Civics, Camrys and Accords that Ford wants to ignore.....yet, Ford wants my girlfriend to move to a Bronco Sport (she did not like it) a Maverick (she does not want or need a truck) or step up to an Explorer (she will not get a vehicle that big) so, for now, we will see what comes along. Build an Escape-esque SUV on the CE1 chassis and we will see...but she is not sold on an EV yet so hopefully, they can come up with a hybrid version on the CE1 chassis...another "we'll see" moment. Just glad she got her 2024 when she did because now with us both being actively retired, our vehicles rack up a lot less miles so hers will be in our little fleet for several years. 

You're still not getting it.  Boring but competent can sell well if the price is right.  A decade ago Camrys and Corollas were as boring as you could get but they were selling 400k.  But you need super low costs to make any money and that was never a priority for Ford as sherminator explained.  Having Europe operate like a separate company made it worse.  Ford's mistakes were in the platform development of small and midsized fwd vehicles with terrible cost control.  But given that's where they are then cancelling unprofitable vehicles and replacing them with more profitable ones is a good business decision.  

[morgan20]

11 minutes ago, twintornados said:

Toyota and Honda sell a shit ton of "boring" RAV4s, Corollas, HRVs, Civics, Camrys and Accords that Ford wants to ignore..

 

Toyota and Honda are the masters of this formula, which came from a review of one of the products you mentioned:

 

And as akirby mentioned, the brilliant engineering incorporates lean design and manufacturing principles that help manage costs and ensure high quality for these two automakers. Maybe Ford will finally figure out how to do lean manufacturing correctly with the upcoming CE1 products (when I worked at Ford in the 1990s and 2000s, they paid for my external lean six sigma training but when my coworkers and I actually attempted to apply those concepts properly at our plant we were constantly rebuffed by the big shots in Dearborn). But that remains to be seen.

 

So the bottom line is that Jimbo did the right thing to embrace a no boring products strategy for Ford. As I mentioned in the past, Ford can beat Toyota and Honda in these product categories (there's some overlap of course):

• Body-on-frame vehicles
• Pickup trucks and vans
• Commercial vehicles
• Bronco (including Bronco Sport)
• Mustang (including MME)
• Electric vehicles

That's where Ford's focus (pun intended) should be 😊

[rmc523]

12 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

Boring=Commodity product that sells on price/incentives

 

Ford wants to sell products that have a hook to them so they don't need to use incentives as much and have "natural" demand for them because buyers want them not because they are cheaper then everything else. 

 

The Escape was a perfectly fine vehicle, but it had no hook to bring in customers and make those customers "want it" and even spend more money on it via the dealership to get aftermarket items that are pure profit.

At least that is how I see it from the cheap seats. 

 

Maybe Ford should try making the vehicle into something not "boring" instead of just canceling it.....

 

 

I know the factors involved/that lead to it, just seems like it's their own doing.  Instead of trying, they exit the segment.  Hopefully the rumored replacements do well.

[morgan20]

3 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

Maybe Ford should try making the vehicle into something not "boring" instead of just canceling it.....

 

Isn't that what Bronco Sport represents? And Maverick? A unibody crossover + unibody pickup truck combo that shares many components with Escape but isn't "boring"?

[Sherminator98]

3 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

Maybe Ford should try making the vehicle into something not "boring" instead of just canceling it.....

 

I know the factors involved/that lead to it, just seems like it's their own doing.  Instead of trying, they exit the segment.  Hopefully the rumored replacements do well.

They aren't technically leaving the segment since the Bronco Sport can cover part of it, depending on your viewpoint. 

 

Your argument would hold more water in the case of the Edge though. 

[akirby]

11 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

Maybe Ford should try making the vehicle into something not "boring" instead of just canceling it.....

 

 

I know the factors involved/that lead to it, just seems like it's their own doing.  Instead of trying, they exit the segment.  Hopefully the rumored replacements do well.

But that doesn't address the cost issue which people keep want to ignoring and only focus on sales.  They need an exciting design and performance PLUS low cost to be viable.