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2022 Ford Escape seven-seater in development – report

A seven-seater 2022 Ford Escape is currently in development, according to US website Ford Authority.


With the all-new 2021 Ford Escape due in Australia sometime in the third quarter with an optional plug-in hybrid powertrain, this opens to possibility of Ford offering a seven-seat, plug-in hybrid Escape in the future.

Adding a third row to the Escape would see it graduate from medium to large SUV in VFACTS, joining models like the Mazda CX-8, Tiguan Allspace and Skoda Kodiaq at the smaller '5+2' end of the segment.

The new three-row Escape would likely step in for the five-seat Ford Endura, which has struggled to sell in the highly-competitive large SUV segment – filled with seven-seat competitors – since it was introduced locally in 2018.

 

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Sales of the Endura are less than a quarter of the volume sold of the Ford Everest – the company's more rugged ladder-chassis seven-seater SUV, based on the ageing Ranger ute.

Compared with the same time in 2019, the Endura has seen sales drop by nearly 40 per cent year-to-date – nearly double the decline of the industry-wide drop of 20 per cent, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Using a longer wheelbase than the soon-to-arrive Ford Escape, the three-row version is said to use the same underpinnings as the Ford Focus, the recently-announced Bronco Sport, and the upcoming Ford Maverick ute.

Ford Australia wouldn't comment on the possibility of a seven-seat Escape, but a right-hand-drive version could be announced locally before 2022.

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Ben Zachariah

Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than two decades. Ben began writing professionally more than 15 years ago and was previously an interstate truck driver. He completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021 and is considered an expert on classic car investment.

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