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AUTO REVIEW
Ford Escape traces
lineage to Kuga By Steve Schutz, MD
If you’re like most car buyers in the United sold in North America as the Escape. today, with an angular and aerodynamic de-
States, you’ve never heard of the Ford Kuga. sign that seems like it might have inspired the
The Kuga is an important vehicle, though, FRESH, NEW LOOK ultra-cool Range Rover Evoque.
not for what it is but for what it became. How did that go? In a word, well. In 2007,
The interior of the Escape is standard issue
First, a little background. When Alan Mu- a strong sales year in the United States, Ford Mulally-era Ford, with good materials and
lally, perhaps the most consequential Amer- sold about 166,000 Escapes. After rebadging clear attention to detail combined with a
ican automotive executive of the last 25 the European Kuga as the new Escape, Ford sharply modern vibe. The use of black or
years, took the reins at the Ford Motor Co. moved an astounding 296,000 units in gray as the predominant color along with an
in 2006, he instituted his now-famous One 2013, a comparable sales year. Ford has done abundance of metallic accents won’t appeal
Ford plan. The essence of One Ford is that the same thing with the Fusion, Focus and to everyone, but the cabin of the Escape is
instead of building different vehicles around Fiesta with similar results. And this year, nothing if not tasteful. And then there’s My
the world for the same market segment, one we’re seeing a new full-size van, the Transit, Ford Touch, a touch screen-driven user in-
vehicle should be built, whenever possible. replacing the venerable E-series. Is nothing terface that controls the audio, HVAC,
Like a lot of things, it was easy to say but impossible with One Ford? Umm, yes. There phone and navigation systems. Yes, you can
hard to do. Mulally did it before his retire- will be no “One Ford-ing” the F-150 pickup, work it with voice commands, but the screen
ment from the company in 2014. which will stay purely American and will not is small so using that can be a distraction.
be changed to make it more attractive in You get used to it in time, but it could be
Enter the Ford Kuga. While Ford sold the France, or Thailand, or Brazil, or anywhere. more user friendly.
Escape compact SUV in North America, it
sold a similarly sized Kuga compact SUV in Anyway, back to the Kuga/new Escape, The term compact SUV means that the
Europe. They were two very different vehi- which looks much more modern than the Escape is not big, and that fact is reflected in
cles, which ultimately were designed to ap- old Escape. It’s a testament to how dreary the the interior, which is roomy enough to seat
peal to the same customers. A new Kuga previous Escape looked that its Kuga succes- four comfortably with space for your gear
launched in Europe in 2008, and when the sor appeared remarkably fresh and new when under the rear hatch. But asking three people
Escape was due for replacement in 2012, it debuted in 2012 even though it was al- to share the back seat will not result in hap-
One Ford meant that the Kuga would be ready four years old. And it still looks good piness for those three passengers, and it’s
44 San Antonio Medicine • June 2015
