2015 Ford Escort Goes Sunbathing Months Before Showroom Debut
The last time the Chinese-market Ford Escort was seen, it had made its world debut during the 2014 Beijing Auto Show. Over the weekend, however, new official photos had surfaced.
CarNewsChina reports the Escort, originally due in showrooms Q4 2014, will instead arrive in January 2015. The new compact will retail between ¥90,000 and ¥120,000 ($14,510 – $19,347 USD), and will come with a 1.5-liter I4 driving 110 horsepower and 81 ft-lb of torque to the front through either a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic.
The Escort is underpinned by the current China-made Focus Classic, which in turn is based upon the second-gen Focus riding on the C1 platform. It will replace the Focus Classic, and slot under the current third-gen Focus.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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Anyone else have trouble believing that picture? What is at the rear? Is the car placement on the ground realistic? In other words, is it photoshopped?
The front sail panel (what the mirror bolts onto) is smaller on the Escort than on the Focus (at least the part that is outside the window glass.) The rear doors are several inches longer, which moves the C pillar further back, and results in a smaller window in the C pillar. It also makes the entire car longer, which improves it's appearance; I will stick to my guns for now and say the overall length and profile of the Escort will be closer to the Fusion than the current Focus. The door handles are a little longer than the ones on the Focus; but the depression behind the handle is smaller than the one on the Focus; which probably means it also sticks out more. Adding those few extra inches to the wheelbase and length does indeed help the appearance of the Escort; I like it as well. I mentioned on the Forum that I am working on a paper model of the Escort based on the patent drawings that were released on the web along with the photographs; here is a comparison of the side panel of the Escort model with the side panel from Kim S's Focus (not Fusion, my mistake) model. (Kim S is a Japanese paper modeler whose models of Ford and other cars are great, and the scale is spot on.) If the link below doesn't work, let me know, and I will trying something else: https://www.flickr.com/photos/75105572@N08/14629500653/