FORD Europe RAV 4 Competitor

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Ford of Europe's brand new compact 4WD has been caught by our spy cameras. Will it spell the end for the Escape in Australia? By JEZ SPINKS.


Automedia's computer illustration of Ford Europe's new SUV has strong hint of Mazda CX-7 plus plenty of the company's 'kinetic design' styling cues first seen on the new Mondeo sedan.


Will the Taiwan-sourced Escape compact-4WD be bound and gagged by this all-new crossover vehicle from Ford of Europe?

The black prototype caught winter testing in our spy photos is a compact, four-wheel-drive SUV based on Ford of Europe’s Focus small car.

Ignore the Ugly Betty masking, because our computer-generated image is a strong indication of how the as-yet-unnamed model will look when it takes on the likes of Toyota’s RAV4, Honda’s CR-V and Vauxhall’s Antara (Holden Captive Maxx here) in early 2008.

Ford of Europe’s new crossover was previewed as a stunning concept called the Iosis-X at the 2006 Paris motor show.

The production version won't look as radical as the Iosis-X when it debuts at September’s Frankfurt motor show, but it will certainly look sleeker than Ford Australia’s current compact 4WD, the functional-looking Escape.

The Escape was last year only Australia’s ninth most popular vehicle in the competitive compact-4WD segment, despite a mid-year makeover. Its total sales of 2,852 were well short of the volume-leading Toyota RAV4’s 14,834.

Ford Australia says it is always keeping an eye on future Ford of Europe products, but that any new SUV would have to slot in between the Escape and its locally produced Territory.

“If there’s something else that Ford of Europe was to produce that would fit logically into our line-up and make sense then we would look at it,” says Ford Australia spokesperson Sinead McAlary.

“With the Territory and Escape, they both offer different things to different customers. But they’re both very popular in their segments so there would be no point bringing in something that would take away from either of those. So [any new SUV] would have to fit elsewhere in our line-up.”

Ford Australia could conceivably have three SUVs in its line-up if the new European model’s dimensions place it between the Escape and Territory.


There is a resemblance to the Mazda CX-7 compact 4WD in our artist’s illustration of the new Ford crossover, and the Japanese crossover is bigger than an Escape but smaller than a Territory.

Ford owns a controlling stake in Mazda, but the two vehicles will not share platforms or engines.

Ford Oz is certainly aware that Australians are growing fond of European-designed and -built Fords. The Fiesta and Focus were Ford Australia’s success stories in 2006, prompting the company to reintroduce the mid-size Mondeo later this year.

[The Stylist]

Reports from Europe are saying this will be called the X-Max. As for the Escape, well it can go as far as i'm concerned.

[XR8putts]

Focus SUV anyone?

[andrewts]

It doesn't look too bad... but I have to wonder, must all Fords look the same?

[TUF_302]

Thats a jacked up Focus!! :