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Ford Possibly Considering Kuga/Escape ST, Vignale Variants

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There are three trims available for the 2016 Ford Escape

2016 Ford Escape S

Ford is allegedly looking into slapping its ST brand onto the Escape SUV, creating a bonkers performance SUV that horsepower addicts are certain to drool over. Everything about this just sounds right, ya know?

Auto Express spoke with Ford of Europe Vice President Roelant de Waard last month, who revealed that he feels that growth in the SUV segment could leave to new derivations of the Escape (sold as the Kuga in overseas markets).

“We believe SUVs are going to be a major segment, and expect it to grow to around 27% of the marketplace. Because it gets so big there will be more proliferation in bodystyles and executions,” de Waard said.

Among the considered executions are an upmarket Vignale variant (similar to the Mondeo Vignale and the recently-announced S-MAX Vignale). De Waard did nothing to dismiss speculation, saying that Ford is likely to give consideration to vehicles with higher take-up rates. Higher-end Ford Kuga trims including the Titanium and Titanium X have a take-rate right around 70% in the UK.

Little was done to dispel the notion of a Kuga/Vignale ST, either. De Waard said that Ford is aware of experimentation with performance SUVs on the part of its competition, and he added that variations of popular models such as the Explorer Sport and Edge Sport in the United States have performed well.

Ford has promised that its Ford Performance brand will deliver no fewer than 12 new high-performance models by 2020.

News Source: Auto Express