ford will offer five new models priced under $40,000 ($57,850) in the U.S. after ceasing production of its entry-level Escape SUV last December.
The introduction of new models could give Ford Australia the opportunity to appeal to buyers looking for cheaper vehicles after axing the Escape, Puma and small passenger car ranges in recent years – depending, of course, on whether these vehicles are built in right-hand drive.
Speaking at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Andrew Frick – who heads the automaker’s Ford Blue division and electric Model E division – promised dealers an expanded offering of lower-priced models.
“It will be our entire lineup of cars, trucks, SUVs and vans, and it will be a multi-energy model,” Mr. Frick said Automotive News.
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“That will fill the product side, but we still have a lot of work to do to make affordability more tactical in the short term.”
At the time of discontinuation, the Escape was the brand’s cheapest SUV in the US, priced from US$30,350 (approximately A$43,150) before on-road costs. Ford no longer offers any passenger cars on the US market other than the Mustang.
Meanwhile, the midsize Bronco Sport – which uses the same C2 underpinnings as the Escape – is the cheapest Ford SUV in the US, starting at $31,845 (~$45,300), while the also Escape-based Maverick is its cheapest pickup (and cheapest vehicle overall) at $28,145.
Neither model is sold in Australia as both are manufactured exclusively in left-hand drive. Ford never sold the Puma, its entry-level model in Europe and previously in Australia, in the U.S. market.
“We understand that we will sell Escape later this year, but at some point we will run out of them. That doesn’t mean we can’t continue to drive profitable growth with the nameplates we have,” Mr. Frick said.
The Ford manager told us Automotive News The five models are new nameplates and not redesigns of existing vehicles currently on sale.
Ford announced in mid-2025 that it would focus its electric vehicle (EV) development on “super affordable” models that would be available in U.S. showrooms beginning in 2027.
This is expected to include a new affordable electric pickup truck based on the new “Universal” platform announced in 2025, which is also expected to feature improved autonomous driving technology.
Bill Ford, chairman of the automaker founded in 1903 by his great-grandfather Henry Ford, said last year that the brand needed to improve its passenger car offering because Ford was not as “robust” as it needed to be.
Ford president and CEO Jim Farley – who controversially said he hated “two-row SUVs” like the Escape – said the brand would not be a full-line retailer and argued it could not compete directly with Toyota and Hyundai.
Instead, Ford plans to build on its tradition and expand iconic nameplates like Bronco and Raptor into sub-brands, with Raptor variants continuing to be at the higher end of the price spectrum.
Mr Farley also made headlines when he promised the company would no longer make “boring” cars.
In addition to the five new models, Frick says the plan will also include cheaper model variants of the Explorer and Bronco – neither of which are sold in Australia – which currently start at $38,465 (approximately A$54,690) and $39,995 (approximately AUD56,860) before on-road costs, respectively.
Ford Australia faces a similar shortage of affordable entry-level models, a challenge compounded by the growing presence of Chinese brands offering cheaper vehicles locally. It has left the door open for models from China, and Daily Sparkz We know that at least one – the new Bronco New Energy – is headed to our market.
It’s unclear whether other Chinese Fords, like the cheaper Equator Sport, will follow.
Chinese brands like BYD are not sold in the U.S. due to tariffs and ongoing trade disputes affecting the industry. Ford sells only one Chinese-made vehicle in the U.S. under its luxury Lincoln brand.
Ford Australia introduced cheaper entry-level variants of the Ranger-based Everest SUV in 2025, with the Everest Ambiente now the cheapest passenger vehicle in its Australian lineup at $59,490 before on-road costs.
This followed the Escape being phased out in Australia in 2023 without a replacement, although its main rival, the Toyota RAV4, remained Australia’s most popular SUV and the Mazda CX-5 continued to perform well into the first month of 2026.
The Ford Puma small SUV – a competitor to the best-selling Mazda CX-3 – was also withdrawn from Australian showrooms in 2024 as it was the cheapest car in Ford’s local lineup at $30,840 before on-road costs.
Ford Australia also lost the Fiesta and Focus light and small cars after they were discontinued globally, although the Fiesta dominated sales in the UK, where both models were consistently among the top four bestsellers for decades.
As part of an announcement on affordability in 2025, Ford also announced a return to smaller vehicles, particularly for Europe and the United Kingdom.
MORE: Explore the Ford showroom
