The Ford Escape (designated U204) is a compact crossover SUV sold by the automaker Ford Motor Company introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model year and priced below the Ford Explorer. The Escape was sold in Europe as the Ford Maverick. It was jointly developed with Mazda, in which Ford owns a controlling interest, and was released simultaneously with the Mazda Tribute. In the United States, Ford's Mercury division released a luxury version called the M...
more
The Ford Escape (designated U204) is a compact crossover SUV sold by the automaker Ford Motor Company introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model year and priced below the Ford Explorer. The Escape was sold in Europe as the Ford Maverick. It was jointly developed with Mazda, in which Ford owns a controlling interest, and was released simultaneously with the Mazda Tribute. In the United States, Ford's Mercury division released a luxury version called the Mariner starting with the 2005 model year.
A hybrid version of the Escape was released in 2004, making it the first hybrid SUV.
The Escape is built on the Ford CD2 platform, which is in turn based on the Mazda GF platform, which was used by the Mazda 626.
The first generation Ford Escape was released in North America for the 2001 model year. It was slotted below the larger truck based Explorer in Ford's lineup, but was larger than the small SUV offerings from Honda and Toyota. At the time, most sport utility vehicles used a truck based Body-on...
less
