The Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair are being discontinued to make room in the lineup for cheaper electric trucks.
Ford’s pulling the plug on the Escape and Lincoln Corsair by late 2025, turning their Kentucky factory into an electric truck plant instead. The company’s betting big on affordable EVs over traditional SUVs, spending $2 billion to make the switch happen.
The Final Escape
Small SUVs from Ford aren’t nearly as popular as you might expect them to be. For some reason, while foreign brands build smaller SUVs and continue to offer sedans, most domestic names have moved to larger SUVs and trucks, which are the bread and butter of American brands. The Ford Escape is being discontinued and the Lincoln Corsair is ending production at the end of this year. These changes will impact the Kentucky automotive plant, which will transition from building these small SUVs to become the Ford electric truck factory for a small truck platform that could offer an electric truck that matches the Maverick in size.
Affordability Needs a Truck Bed
There’s nothing more popular in the American automotive market than a Ford truck. The Maverick arrived a few years ago and proved to the market that small trucks, those that slot below the midsize trucks, still make a lot of sense. This is certainly true, considering most midsize and full-size trucks have only grown in size from the days when compact trucks were in every corner of the market. New affordable EV trucks could be the future of the pickup truck market, and it’s not surprising that Ford will lead the way in this arena. Ford was the first automaker to bring an electric truck to the market.
What Should You Expect With Cancelled SUVs?
Until the Escape and Corsair are gone, you should expect to see discounts for these SUVs at local Ford and Lincoln dealerships. This Ford SUV cancellation means a different future for the brand. Of course, you don’t need to panic just yet. Ford intends to build enough of both SUVs to support sales through 2026, making it easy to get your hands on the small SUV you want if you’ve been thinking about driving one of these two models. There could be a new small SUV to replace both models, which have gotten a little long in the tooth, but the focus for the present moment is on electric vehicle manufacturing.
Retooling in Louisville
The Escape and Corsair will be sacrificed to make room for a new Universal EV Platform for the future of Ford’s electric vehicles. This requires the retooling of the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, creating a multi-purpose chassis that can scale across several body types, drivetrain layouts, and software features. The first vehicle to use this new line should be an affordable small electric pickup truck that is slated for release sometime in 2027. There could be some SUVs coming off the same line, but nothing has been released about these models yet.
It’s a New Beginning
The most significant vehicle in the history of the automotive industry is the Ford Model T. This was the first mass-produced vehicle, utilizing the moving assembly line that was developed by Henry Ford himself. Current Ford CEO Jim Farley called this new electric platform a “Model T moment,” with the start of something new and a reset for the brand. This new EV line brings a new focus to the world of electric vehicles, providing affordable efficiency while being built around a flat battery skateboard platform that can support several body styles.
What Should We Expect From the New Truck?
The new electric Ford truck, made possible by the Ford Escape being discontinued, could arrive with a driving range of nearly 300 miles and a starting price below $45,000. Considering the average price of a new vehicle is more than that, this new model could be considered affordable, especially when you consider the average price of a new EV is much higher than $45k. Putting this new EV truck at this price point would allow it to be competitive against budget-friendly EVs from Hyundai and Kia. This new EV family could replace several Ford models or offer an electric alternative to what’s already on the market.
Is the Timing Right for This Change?
Ford is a legacy automaker and has a vehicle lineup that can handle a little disruption. Despite recent governmental changes that negatively impact the electric vehicle market, Ford, GM, and Stellantis are capable of moving forward with electric vehicle plans without as much of an interruption as other automakers. Government leadership changes every few years, but automakers have to plan for more than four years at a time, meaning Ford should continue to go forward with an affordable EV plan.
The Corsair Could Return
Despite being one of the models on the chopping block, the Lincoln Corsair might return as a premium compact electric SUV that uses the same platform as the new Ford truck. The Lincoln brand could be an all-electric brand in the future, and plans were in the works to make this happen before the end of the decade. Once the new modular EV platform is functional, the Corsair might be next on the list to get the electric treatment, signaling a strong change in the Lincoln brand lineup.
