Ford plans to scrap two of its more popular SUVs, the Escape and near-twin Lincoln Corsair, as it converts its plant in Louisville, Kentucky to produce a new generation of EVs. But that won’t leave a big gap in the line-up, various sources tell Headlight.News. Here’s what coming to replace the two SUVs.
Ford CEO Jim Farley formally confirmed the end of the run for Escape and Corsair this month.
When Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley announced the $5 billion Universal EV program earlier this month he also revealed that the Detroit automaker was ready to end production of two of its more popular SUVs, the Ford Escape and the similarly sized, but slightly more upscale Lincoln Corsair.
The news took some observers by surprise considering the two SUVs generated about 175,000 sales last year – with demand growing in 2025. But rumors had been circulating for months and Ford needed to empty out its Louisville Assembly Plant to make room for the new line-up it promises will revolutionize EV manufacturing when it comes back online in 2027.
What’s a loyal buyer to do if they still want an Escape or Corsair? The good news is that Ford does have some options, at least for the more mainstream of the two models. And there’ll be even on more choices a couple years from now.
Building up a backlog
The Louisville Assembly Plant is running flat out to give Ford and Lincoln dealers enough Escape and Corsair SUVs to carry them will into 2026.
For those dead set on buying either the Ford Escape or Lincoln Corsair, the good news is that the automaker will continue running the Kentucky plant flat out until it’s shut down to begin the $2 billion conversion to EVs.
“Production will stop for Escape and Corsair later this year when we start retooling the plant,” Mark Truby, Ford’s head of media relations told journalists. But he also
noted that, “We’re going to have enough inventory to sell Escape and Corsair well into 2026.”
Several insiders told Headlight.News that Ford at one time considered retaining the Corsair, shifting production to its underutilized operations in China already turning out a version of the Lincoln SUV for the domestic market.
Making room
Escape sales are up about 10.8% this year, giving reason for Ford to offer a suitable replacement.
Since its debut back in the 2001 model year, the compact Escape has been a steady source of sales for Ford Motor Co., the automaker delivering 147,000 of them in the U.S. last year – and demand has grew another 10.8% during the first seven months of 2025. (Lincoln, meanwhile, delivered about 27,500 Corsairs last year.)
In today’s market, those are reasonably solid figures, and both products served as entries into the Ford and Lincoln brands, a way to get young buyers in, build loyalty and, eventually, move them up the product ladder to models like the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator.
But Ford needed to move them out of Kentucky to make room for the new Universal EV project it had quietly been working on for the past three years. During a news conference in Louisville earlier this month, Farley revealed that the plant will be refitted with an entirely new production system merging three “sub-assemblies,” rather than the single moving assembly line that’s been an industry staple since company founder Henry Ford’s day.
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What replaces Escape
Ford Universal EV Platform will debut in the form of a midsize pickup.
When the Louisville plant goes back online in 2027 it will produce a new midsize battery-electric pickup, the revised manufacturing system expected to help Ford meet a “targeted price” of around $30,000. Farley told those attending his news conference that other models will follow, including both two- and three-row SUVs.
The two-row model “won’t directly replace Escape,” Sam Fiorani, lead analyst with AutoForecast Solutions. Instead, he and other sources said, Ford will try to divide and conquer, using a mix of nameplates to keep compact SUV buyers in the fold.
For one thing, he expects Ford to try to “move buyers on a tight budget to the Maverick,” the compact pickup, with its high-mileage hybrid engine, that currently serves as the entry model in the Ford line-up. Additionally, said Fiorani, the automaker expected to nudge Escape buyers over to the “more modern” Bronco Sport SUV which also would be likely to “make Ford more money than Escape did.”
This is a potentially very effective strategy, agreed Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst with Telemetry Research, who anticipates. “They might be able to match, or even exceed the total volume” of Escapes Ford currently sells.
Uncertain future for Nautilus
Last fully updated in 2023, the Lincoln Corsair is the brand’s entry offering.
What happens next for Lincoln’s entry model is less certain, according to the sources close to Ford who would discuss future product programs. There is the possibility the brand might simply walk away from the entry-lux segment, but few see that as likely. “That would make no sense at all,” said Fiorani, since it would leave what is an already thin product line with no way to lure in first-time luxury buyers.
Until last year, going with a Chinese-made replacement would have made sense, Fiorani said. But that approach became untenable after former Pres. Joe Biden announced a quadrupling of tariffs on Chinese auto imports. The trade war has only escalated under his successor, Donald Trump.
There is the possibility that Ford could add a more upscale SUV model to Louisville, but that was not in the plan for Louisville, several Ford officials have indicated.
The automaker will have to make a decision soon as it can only keep Corsairs in Lincoln showrooms through sometime next year before the industry backlog its building up finally runs out.
As a loyal Lincoln owner for many years, this is just as big of a mistake as getting rid of the Towncar and Continental sedans. Very sad that Nautilus is now produced in China.
Corsair had a following because it American made and assembled in Kentucky.
I’ll be taking my business next purchase to other luxury auto maker.
BIG MISTAKE Ford!
This is certainty NOT
“A better idea from Ford.”
We have been Ford buyers for years. Rangers,F 150s and Escapes. We will not go electric. Ford is making a big mistake eliminating Escape. Ford can’t afford any mistakes now. Never owned a foreign car but we are looking at Honda which has a car comparable to Escape.
Ford should bring back the Edge!! Very popular and midsize.. BIG MISTAKE eliminating this line!
I have been Lincoln MKC and Corsair owner…which both were great. I will not go electric!! I’m sad that Corsair is being discontinued…I’m retired…it fit my budget and my lifestyle..
What will fill the void of the Ford Edge
At the moment there is no direct gas successor. Ford is hoping to move Edge buyers over to the Mustang Mach-E.
Paul E.
I have owned Lincolns for the past 20 years; I presently have a 2025 Corsair. Your CEO and management are making a grave mistake. You will lose a dedicated and loyal customer if you follow through with this decision. I lease all my cars so now that I know your plans I will start my search for another American made luxury car and it WILL NOT BE AN EV.
Ken S.
I was a Sales Rep for a Stellantis Dealership for almost 10 years and left after they starved the product mix of vehicles, cancelling almost everything interesting and replacing almost nothing and what they did replace, replacing it with inferior electric crap! I just started now at a Ford dealership a month ago and now what do i see, a product mix of overpriced trucks with the few affordable vehicles being canceled by EVs nobody asked or wanted! Ford needs to reevaluate their product plans fast or they’ll end up in the Stellantis soup quick, a company in debt with more than a 50% drop in sales and more than 2.7$ B quarter loss in profits!
I own a 2020 Lincoln Corsair and it has performed well and gets great gas milage and is the perfect size as a compact. Ford is making a mistake by killing the compact Escape and Corsair SUVs without a replacement any time soon. Ford’s market share of the compact SUV segment could be lost forever to other domestic and foreign brands – leaving only the Bronco Sport as the last standing compact SUV.
This will leave Lincoln with only three SUV models and will decrease Lincoln sales as the Corsair was very populat and brought in many entry level Lincoln buyers like myself who don’t like big SUVs.
Why can’t Ford continue to build the Escape and Corsair along side the Bronco Sport and Maverick pickup- they all share the same platform.
The universal EV plateform is a great idea but not everyone wants an EV at this time – many perfer plug in hybrids instead.
My wife and I love our Escape Titanium. The Bronco is not a replacement in any way. We do not want an EV. Ford is abandoning a market segment. We have owned 6 Ford vehicles. We will look elsewhere.
We own a 2019 Lincoln MKC. This has been an exceptional SUV for us and we likely would have purchased a second generation Corsair. Not now. Our next vehicle will be a Lexus unless Lincoln smartens up before it’s too late.
We are on our 4th Ford Escape and are very disappointed hearing about the demise of that model. Ford’s model offerings are pretty thin now and getting even thinner. I’m going to start looking at other manufacturers offering when it comes time to replace our 22 Escape Titanium. And no, the Bronco or Bronco Sport is in no way a replacement for the Escape. Dropping the Focus in North America was another huge mistake for Ford as well as abandoning performance sedans (think direct competitors for BMW and others).
I own a corsair now and love that model. I have been a loyal Lincoln/Mercury customer for over 40 years. The Corsair is the perfect size for me. I will NEVER buy a truck. That said, I frequently travel out of state to see my grandchildren and do not want a battery car (range anxiety). As a single woman travelling alone, I will not be stopping to charge making myself vulnerable. Until car batteries can go 1000 miles and/or recharge in 5 minutes, EVs are not for me. I don’t know what I’ll do when the Corsair is no longer available but I may have to leave Lincoln.
Non of the people I know, older, will never go full electric, the hybrid model makes more sense… Smart money stays away from electric vehicles especially when the problems rear their ugly head…
Non of the people I know, older, will never go full electric, the hybrid model makes more sense… Smart money stays away from electric vehicles especially when the problems rear their ugly head…
Wow.. retired small family business owner. Always bought 1-2 year old fords for personal and business use. Use to buy f150s before jumping over 25k so moved to buying 4 escapes. Retired and in 1923 wanted a 4 door sedan for personal use. No new ford/ Lincoln available.. So 2023 bought new a corsair. Nice car, and even better when finding a plug and play module to end that asinine start/stop feature!!
Now , ford president Jim must be on a mission to drive ford down like GM. Didn’t he learn when his ev ford f150 crapped out? And the f150 with a small tow can only go 100 miles in the summer? And no one wants to try to drive from one ev charging center to another looking for a working station? Just before Covid the maverick truck started out at 22 k. Great price and truck for small business service. Now it’s mid- upper 30k . He and his surrounding MBA degree guys can’t or doesn’t want to listen to their dealers and customers. We aren’t interested in ford/Lincoln trying to compete with porsh or Mercedes. Need to get their over-decreed head out of their ass! Hopefully when Toyota starts building and hiring American workers for US plants ,they don’t hire the Senior management ford will be laying off!
I have been a loyal Ford/Lincoln owner for over 40 years. During that time i have purchased 29 Ford/Lincoln cars. My first new car was 1961 dark blue Ford. Most recent being a 2022 Corsair premier. When the Corsair model disappears, i do too. 40 year customer gone.
Was planning to get a Corsair in the near future but changed my mine when I heard
Ford was canceling the Escape and Corsair. Have switched one our Fords to BMW and are planning to switch our second vehicle to BMW. The X3 is compatible in price with the Corsair. BMW also has a better warranty for the first 50,000 miles (vs 36,000) but can get costly once the warranties expire. Most BMW SUV’s and crossovers are assembled in South Carolina.