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On March 5, the medium-term revamped Ford Escape (corresponding to Changan Ford Ruiji) was unveiled at the 2023 New York Auto Show. The new Rui Ji will include seven equipped models, including Base, Active, Platinum, ST-Line, ST-Line Select, ST-Line Elite and PHEV, with a price range of $28000 to $40500 in the United States. It is reported that the medium-term revamped Ruiji in the domestic market will also be listed in 2023, and the current price range of cash models is 169800-221800 yuan.

From the perspective of real cars, compared with the current domestic sale of Ford sharp, the new Ford Escape adopts a new design style, equipped with a new polygonal intake grille and front enclosure, the shape of the headlight group on both sides is more slender, and the interior of the lamp group is illuminated by a double L-shaped LED light source, which looks more avant-garde and the overall sense of grade in the front face has also been upgraded. As the latest family design element, the two headlight groups of the new Escape are connected by a LED light band, which can be seen in Ford Fmur150 Lightning, new domestic explorers and other models. At the same time, the ST-Line model is also equipped with a black net and encirclement to distinguish it from other models.

On the side of the body, the overall outline of the new car is not large with the cash model, and the actual model uses blackened rims, which looks more full and atmospheric. In the rear part, the new Ford Escape is equipped with two bilateral circular exhaust pipes, which is significantly different from the polygonal exhaust pipes used by the current Ford Ruiji. At the same time, the internal structure and luminous style of the taillight group have also been adjusted, but the overall shape remains unchanged. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new Escape are 4602/1882/1676mm, the wheelbase is 2710mm, and the overall size is not much different from the current model. Of course, it is also unknown whether the medium-term change Ruiji, which will be introduced into the domestic market, will lengthen the size of the car body in response to the needs of Chinese consumers.

In terms of interior decoration, the new Ford Escape focuses on upgrading, showing a strong sense of technology. It is equipped with a 12.3inch digital meter and 13.2 inch central control display, built-in Ford's latest SYNC 4 infotainment system and 360 °high-definition image system, and supports the interconnection of Apple Carplay and Android Auto phones.

On the power side, the new Ford Escape will offer 1.5T engines, 2.0T engines and a plug-in hybrid system consisting of 2.5L Atkinson cycle engines and motors with a maximum power of 183hp, 254hp and 213hp, respectively. Some models will provide AWD all-wheel drive system. As a reference, Ford Ruiji is sold in China with 2.0T engine, maximum power of 248 horsepower, peak torque of 393 Nm, transmission system matching 8-block self-integrated gearbox. In addition, the current Changan Ford Ruiji also offers a plug-in hybrid model with a plug-in hybrid system with a 1.5T three-cylinder engine and motor, which matches the E-CVT CVT and has a pure electric mileage of 77 km.

Ford Escape is a compact SUV of Ford, 23 years after the launch of the first generation of models. The first generation of Escape was born in 2000. It was developed by Ford and Mazda. It has different names in different regions and different brands of LOGO. It is worth mentioning that the first generation of Escape was introduced into Chinese mainland market through official channels. It is equipped with 3.0L naturally aspirated V6 engine and 2.3L naturally aspirated in-line four-cylinder engine. With 2005 models as a reference, the guiding price is 278000 yuan.

Since the second generation of Escape in 2007, European and American markets have adopted different vehicle names, among which Ford still continues the English name of "Escape" in the United States, adopts a more square design style, continues to be built on the CD2 platform, while in the European market it is named "Kuga", based on the C1 platform, using a new design style to replace the European version of Maverick.

At the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, Ford unveiled the third-generation Escape, the American Escape and the European Kuga, returning to the global strategic model. At the 2012 Beijing Auto Show, Changan Ford decided to introduce the Kuga model to the domestic market and named it "Wing Tiger" in Chinese. In January 2013, Changan Ford Wing Tiger went on the market with a price range of 19.38-275800 yuan, offering 1.6L naturally aspirated engine and 2.0T turbocharged engine for consumers to choose from.

In April 2019, Changan Ford's new SUV--Escape was officially unveiled at the 2019 Ford China 2.0 strategy conference. Changan Ford Escape adopts the English name of the American version of the model, which is distinguished from the European version of the model name "Kuga" used by the domestic wing tiger. In November 2019, Changan Ford named the Escape model "Ruiji" in Chinese. after its launch, the new car was sold in the same room with the wing tiger model, but its positioning was higher than the latter. In December 2019, Changan Ford Ruiji listed, the price range 18.98-218800 yuan, all equipped with 2.0T engine.

As the first model under Ford's China 2.0 strategy, Ford Ruiji aims its competitors at Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Volkswagen Exploration Mountain, Nissan Qijun and other models, with its brand-new appearance design and 2.0T power configuration, quickly won the favor of consumers in a short period of time. In 2020, Ruiji sold 39513 vehicles for the whole year, making it the best-selling model of Changan Ford. However, with the intensification of competition in the domestic SUV market, Ruiji's performance has not been bright since then.

In 2022, with the core concept of "more Ford, more China", Ford launched a new generation of Mondeo, new explorer, new Lincoln Z and other models, and successfully introduced a new generation of Ford star products, the Fmur150 Raptor. Unfortunately, Changan Ford's sales are falling instead of rising, and the downward trend is still expanding. In 2022, Changan Ford sold a total of 251000 vehicles, down 17.61% from a year earlier, which was only higher than the 184000 in 2019, the second lowest in 10 years.

In terms of specific models, the upgraded Mondeo sold a total of 58449 vehicles in 2022, making it the best-selling model under Changan Ford, but there is still a huge gap compared with Camry, Accord and other models. Ruiji sold 22684 vehicles for the whole year, although it has declined for two consecutive years, but it is still the sales leader of Changan Ford. After the replacement of the four-cylinder engine, the Fox's sales growth fell far short of expectations, with retail sales of 16523 units for the whole year, not even as good as the monthly sales of a popular model. In terms of other models, the EVOS, which went on sale at the end of 2021, sold only 5942 vehicles in the whole year, compared with 22684 for Ruijie and 20520 for explorers.

In March, Changan Ford Ruijie L began pre-sale, with a total of seven new models, including fuel version 22.98-289800 and hybrid version 25.98-319800. During the year, the medium-term revamped Ruiji will also be available on the market. With reference to the development trend of Changan Ford, sales may be impacted by the launch of the new car, but there is also a lot of uncertainty about the performance of the new model in a highly competitive market. For Ford China and Changan Ford, those who want to get a piece of the pie by virtue of their own strength need more sincerity.

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