The Future of Ford: The 2020 Ford Escape Titanium AWD

The 2020 Ford Escape Titanium AWD.

It's been a while, but you may have missed the news.  Ford is getting out of the passenger car business.  The only exception is Mustang, which is on its way to becoming a sub-brand with Mustang, Mustang GT, Shelby and the all-electric Mustang Mach-E. 

Beyond that, it's the F-150 pickup and its derivatives, the big Expedition SUV, the Transit and Transit Connect vans, the upcoming Bronco and rumored Bronco Sport and a very full line of crossovers.

Value Equation: The 2017 Ford Escape SE

The 2017 Ford Escape SE.

It is mid-cycle freshening time for Ford's hot-selling small crossover, the Escape.  The new grille treatment makes the Escape look more like a Ford, and more to the point, a Ford truck, than an Asian import of indeterminate brand, which was pretty much the look through 2016.

Escape Velocity: The 2016 Ford Escape Titanium AWD

The 2016 Ford Escape Titanium

The small crossover SUV market is crowded and includes two of our favorites, the Honda CR-V and the Mazda CX-5. Of the two, we've always thought the Mazda was the fun-mobile...a factor of Mazda's attention to the details of handling and dynamics, since both cars have relatively the same power (184 for the Mazda, 185 for the Honda).

And then we drove the 2016 Ford Escape Titanium with the optional 2.0-liter Ecoboost engine.

News: Ford Recalls 11,500 2013 Ford Escapes; Fire Hazard; Tells Owners To Stop Driving Them

Ford wants 11,500 of its 2013 Escapes with the 1.6 liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine in the shop right now...and is telling owners not to drive the car. That's rare...recalls are usually "bring your car to the dealer at your convenience".

Three fires have been reported due to a fuel line that can split. Full story from the Detroit Free Press here.  Owners are being asked to call their Ford dealers, who will deliver a loaner car and collect the Escape to take it in for the repair (presumably on a flatbed tow truck).

Ford Escape Hybrid Review

Q: What does Bill Cinton drive?

A: (bypassing any number of cheap jokes)A Ford Escape Hybrid.

Barack Obama, according to current campaign coverage, drives one too (though how much time either of those guys actually spends at the wheel is open to protracted debate).

Politics aside, the Escape Hybrid is a very strong candidate for hybrid shoppers. Ford was an early adopter, following the first-gen Toyota Prius and the now-discontinued Honda Insight. They picked the right package to go with...a small, but not toylike, SUV with enough room for most people and most of the things they need to carry on a regular basis.

Getting the gas mileage on even a small SUV past the 22 mpg mark isn't easy...the Escape Hybrid will break 25 without a sweat, and if I'm playing the mileage game (watching the dashboard display and using every eco-driving trick to squeeze out the maximum efficiency of each gallon), I've been able to average 30 miles per gallon in a week's worth of city street and freeway driving.

I've driven four or five Escape Hybrids since they've been on the market, but most recently, I tested one with the lowest trim level, cloth seats and only one option (Ford's innovative new Sync audio system upgraded to include live weather radar, sports scores, movie listings and more). It's easy to get seduced by a fully-loaded car. But when you say "I could own one of these" about a base vehicle, it means the car is, at its core, very, very good.