Market Insight: Ford’s nameplate graveyard

POPULAR nameplates that have endured through years of economic highs and lows, not to mention competition from new brands and genres, are beginning to come to the end of their lives.

It is evident in many brands but Ford’s recent move to curtail its Escape – a medium SUV that really kicked the style along when it arrived in 2002 – shows it can hit models once seen as invincible.

The Escape, initially cloned with its originator, the Mazda Tribute, went from a showroom darling in its formative years to getting a name change in 2012 (Kuga) then back again in 2016 as the Escape.

By the end of this year, it goes again and with no replacement announced, leaves only the Puma (styled as an SUV but smaller than the Escape) and the larger Ranger-based Everest as buyer options.

The Escape’s best year was 2017 when it closed in on 5000 sales for the 12 months. Its worst, incidentally, was 2016 when it was reintroduced under its old name, with just 37 units sold.

Oddly, it is not lack of buyer interest in the genre that has resulted in the Escape getting flicked. Australia’s sub-$60K mid-size SUV sector is up 13.7 per cent year-to-date and Escape sales are up 47.3 per cent in the same five months of 2022.

Ford said that the Escape is, er, escaping, because the market segment has changed and there’s growing buyer interest in electric vehicles (EV). 

Ford is on record as saying more EVs will join the Australian line up and at least one will sit in the mid-size SUV sector.

Confirmed are the Puma EV – although a small SUV and in a different class to the Escape – and the Mustang Mach-E that is bigger, pricier and not quite in the SUV mould. The Puma EV is expected in Australia late next year.

In Europe, Ford said there are nine EVs poised for launch by 2024 – four passenger models and five commercial vehicles.

One of those passenger models is expected to be a mid-size crossover that could succeed the Escape, perhaps based on the Volkswagen MEB EV platform under the sharing program between the two car-makers.

Ford has also farewelled a fair number of other models. Gone in recent years are the Endura, EcoSport, Territory, Kuga, Falcon and Mondeo with the curtains also pulled on the Fiesta and Focus.

It leaves the brand with no passenger car save for the Mustang, and the three SUVs (Everest, Puma and the soon-to-be extinguished Escape) plus two commercial nameplates – Ranger and Transit.

The Fiesta is lingering in the market as sales wind down with 126 sales in the first five months of 2023, a fraction of the thousands sold in 2016.

Likewise, Focus has sold 37 units this year which compares with almost 7000 units sold in 2016.

Everest sales are roaring, mainly thanks to a more refined and well-equipped new model, with 4456 sales to date and an expectation of 11,000 for the 2023 calendar year, up on the 10,314 sold in 2022.

It could sell more than the estimated 11,000 given Escape buyers, now with no choice, could stay with Ford and move to the bigger SUV.

Everest now accounts for almost 15 per cent of total Ford sales in Australia, while the Ranger nameplate (in 4x2 and 4x4) represents the lion’s share of the brand’s sales at 70.4 per cent.

Only five years ago, Ranger sales were 65 per cent of the brand, Everest was 8.4 per cent while the Mustang was 9.3 per cent and the Focus as 5.6 per cent. 

As Ford said, the market has changed.