Ford has been forging ahead with electrification, already selling models like the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E.
But it appears the Blue Oval's clean car transition will victimise more of its legacy ICE-powered models. Recent reports state the Ford Escape, Edge, and Transit Connect are all set for discontinuation within the coming years.
Ford Model e, the company's electric vehicle (EV) division, is not yet profitable. It will reportedly lose USD 4.5 million (around $7.5 billion) more than expected this year alone.
It has also pushed back production schedules, likely no longer aiming to make 400,000 EVs in 2024 and two million by 2026.
Despite the strategic recalibration, Ford has confidence in its under-development second-gen EV platform, which will underpin a new full-size ute and a three-row SUV.
The architecture and its accompanying cost reduction could afford the company an eight per cent sales margin by 2026.
Should its plans fall into place, Ford may rely significantly less on its remaining ICE models to bulwark current losses. And that means the Escape, Edge, and Transit Connect will be among the first models to face extinction.
The Edge, of course, is known locally as the Endura. It's a small SUV first sold here in 2018 before disappointing sales figures sent it away only two years later. Ford will reportedly ax the model to make space for a new three-row EV produced at its Oakville assembly plant in Canada.
Meanwhile, the Transit Connect will feel increasingly redundant over the coming years as its electric counterpart, the E-Transit (also sold in NZ), is set for a near 50 per cent boost in range.
Ford Escape: inescapable fate
The fate of the Escape, however, is more ambiguous. It will almost certainly get the axe, as a next-generation model is reportedly not in the cards. But the SUV just went through a refresh this year, indicating it may have a few more years left in the tank.
Ford New Zealand has been selling the current-spec Escape since 2020, with only the hybrid models available today. Notably, the same model was discontinued in Australia in April of this year.
We presume the parent company will continue selling ICE and hybrid versions of the Escape globally until it can mass-produce an acceptable (and profitable) all-electric replacement.
In related news, Ford CEO Jim Farley says an electric version of the Mustang coupe probably isn't happening on his watch, but a hybridised model is very much possible.