Ford today swept the wraps off the production version of its new Chinese-market compact sedan that brings the Escort nameplate back to life, just ahead of the Beijing Auto Show.

The Blue Oval already offers the Focus hatch and sedan, but with China’s rapidly-growing compact car segment already accounting for more than 25 percent of the country’s total vehicle industry and with analysts projecting sales of 7.2 million units by 2017, or more than the entire auto market in Germany, the U.K. and France combined, Ford wanted to add another player in its roster.

Riding on the same global C-car platform that underpins the similarly sized Focus, the Escort will be manufactured by the Blue Oval’s local Changan Ford joint venture and will be offered with a 1.5-liter Ti-VCT gasoline engine.

While incorporating Ford’s family styling cues like the grille (inspired from you know whom) and elongated headlamps, the Escort has a simpler, yet sleeker body than the more complex Focus, with the interior also having a meeker look.

Ford will position the Escort in the market as a value-orientated product, with Marin Burela, president of Changan Ford Automobile, hinting that it will be priced on the lower side of things.

“The Ford Escort is a perfect example of how Ford’s global approach can be fine-tuned to meet the needs of individual markets by listening to customer feedback,” said Burela. “Taking Ford’s hugely successful C-car platform as a foundation, the all-new Ford Escort puts us in a perfect position to serve Chinese customers looking for an alternative and attainable compact car.”

Luo Minggang, executive president, Changan Ford Automobile elaborated:

“Even as the Ford Focus remains the best-selling nameplate in China, we recognize that many consumers in China are looking for something else in a compact car,” he said. “The Ford Escort is the answer to the question of what these consumers really want and value in a car for themselves and their families.”

For now, the Escort that was originally previewed in near-production concept form at the Shanghai auto show last year, will be a China-exclusive model, though, Ford officials have been contemplating about offering the car in other regions as well.

By John Halas

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