Ford’s great Escape just got greater.

The 2010 Escape, the small SUV with the best crash test ratings of any vehicle in its class, is increasing its technology leadership with the addition of five new features that improve safety, reduce driver distractions and aid drivers by automatically parallel parking their vehicle.

The new Escape, in showrooms this summer, will add MyKey™ teen-safety technology, Integrated Spotter Mirrors – both offered standard (MyKey on XLT and above models) – optional Rear View Camera System and SYNC with real-time Traffic, Directions and Information. The new model also will be the North America’s first SUV to offer Active Park Assist, which uses an ultrasonic-based sensing system and Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) to position the vehicle for parallel parking, calculate the optimal steering angle and quickly steer the vehicle into a parking spot.

The 2010 Escape’s new features include:

Integrated Spotter Mirror – a consumer-friendly, affordable blind spot technology that consists of an outside rearview mirror designed with a secondary convex spotter in the top outer corner, which is aimed exclusively at the driver's blind spot. When traffic enters the driver’s blind spot on either side of the vehicle, it is visible in the secondary convex mirror, helping provide the driver broader peripheral view.

MyKey – allows owners to program a key that can limit the vehicle’s top speed and audio volume. MyKey also encourages safety-belt usage, provides earlier low-fuel warnings and can be programmed to sound chimes at 45, 55 and 65 miles per hour. This feature is standard on Escape models featuring a message center cluster, including XLT and above.

Rear View Camera System – uses an exterior camera embedded in the rear of the vehicle that sends images to a video display in the rearview mirror or the navigation system screen to help enhance visibility directly behind the vehicle when the driver is in reverse. Ford is leveraging the affordability of high-quality video cameras to widely offer the technology with navigation systems. The rearview mirror system allows customers to choose an even more affordable version of the technology.

Active Park Assist – uses an ultrasonic-based sensing system and Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) to position the vehicle for parallel parking, calculate the optimal steering angle and quickly steer the vehicle into a parking spot. The technology is a major leap forward in speed and ease of use compared with the camera-reliant systems offered by competitors. Ford’s system requires less driver interface and reduces the risk of selecting a parking spot that is too tight. Ford’s Active Park Assist also works in downhill parking situations, unlike competing systems.

Next-gen SYNC – Ford is expanding its connectivity leadership by introducing exclusive new SYNC real-time information features that deliver personalized news updates to drivers’ mobile phones while helping them navigate around trouble spots, saving time and fuel. The new Escape is one of the first vehicles to feature this optional next-generation system – SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information – which leverages industry-leading voice-recognition software, integrated GPS technology and a customer’s Bluetooth-capable mobile phone. SYNC’s new services provide simple hands-free access to personalized traffic reports, precise turn-by-turn driving directions and up-to-date information including business listings, news, sports and weather.

Safety Standard

The 2010 Ford Escape’s standard safety technologies also include:

• AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control™) – the world’s only system with a gyroscopic sensor that actively measures and helps prevent both side-to-side “yaw” and roll movements


• Safety Canopy® – a side air curtain technology offering protection for the first and second seating rows, and helps provide rollover and ejection protection with extended deployment in rollovers


• Personal Safety System™ – a suite of seven safety technologies, including new dual-stage front air bags for the driver and front-seat passenger, side air bags and a front passenger sensor system


• Tire Pressure Monitoring System – alerts drivers when tire pressure is low. Properly inflated tires not only are important for safety – they also can help improve fuel economy.

Quotes

“The Ford Escape is one of few vehicles that earned both the government’s highest possible 5-star crash safety ratings and a ‘Top Safety Pick’ in the hotly contested small SUV segment. These new technologies will help to take the new Escape to the next level of safety and driver satisfaction.”
- Susan Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering

“Our vision with SYNC, MyKey and other new technologies is to be a technology leader, making it affordable for millions – just as Ford has done with safety and fuel-saving technologies. We are a car company that through market-driven, customer-focused innovation is learning to think and act like an electronics company, leveraging partnerships with fresh technology leaders.”
- Doug VanDagens, director of Ford’s Connected Services Organization..

“We know people want to stay connected in their vehicles, so Ford is continuing to deliver that connectivity for them responsibly and safely. Our SYNC research backs up what most of us instinctively know – that it is better while driving to place a call using a voice interface than dialing manually, because you can keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”
- Susan Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering

“Safety is a top consumer purchase consideration, second only to fuel efficiency, and smart technologies are increasingly in demand. So Escape’s new safety and driver assist technologies, along with its top crash safety ratings and unsurpassed highway fuel economy is a combination that’s hard to beat.”
- Tedros Mengiste, Ford's Escape and Mariner marketing manager