Ford to kill off Escape, Lincoln Corsair to make room for EVs

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In a decision that belies the current wobble in the EV adoption segment in North America, Ford is axing its second-best-selling vehicle in its 122-year history in favour of a still-to-be-named all-electric mid-size four-door pickup truck, due 2027. The 2026 Ford Escape will be the last model year of the popular crossover, which debuted in 2001. Its luxury-branded cousin, the Lincoln Corsair, will also bow out next year.

Both are produced at Ford’s Louisville Assembly facility in Kentucky, and their fates are sealed since Ford’s just announced mid-size EV pickup will be built there. One has to speculate that were it not for the U.S. administration’s tariff placed on Canadian-built new vehicles, Ford’s Oakville plant — currently sitting unused as it retools for Super Duty pickup assembly in the coming years — could have kept the Escape and Corsair nameplates alive. Instead, the two gasoline models will make room for Ford’s ambitious all-electric plans.

Other news lost today among Ford’s meaty so-called “Model T moment” announcement – on which our own David Booth opined at length – is the delay from 2027 until 2028 of Ford’s next-generation full-size EV pickup, which was slated for production in Tennessee. An electric Transit van to be built in Ohio has also been delayed, now also earmarked for 2028 production, two years later than originally planned.

Despite the delays, Ford says it remains committed to producing EVs, but instead will focus on more affordable ones powered by its new lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery packs, which replace the current generation of nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries.

“F-150 Lightning, America’s best-selling electric truck, and E-Transit continue to meet today’s customer needs,” a company spokesperson stated. “We remain focused on delivering our Ford+ plan and will be nimble in adjusting our product launch timing to meet market needs and customer demand while targeting improved profitability.”

In addition to the new battery chemistry, developed in partnership with Chinese battery manufacturing company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL), Ford announced a completely new way of building EVs, replacing the single assembly line — made famous by company founder Henry Ford — with a so-called “tree” assembly line where three individual lines work in assembling different parts of the vehicle before it’s all joined together in the final phase. Ford says this will be a faster and cheaper way to produce EVs.

And that’s important, as the target price for that all-new mid-size EV truck is US$30,000. If Ford can make that happen, the substantial loss of revenue from no longer making the Escape, and to a lesser extent the Corsair, just might be worth it.

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