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2015 Ford Escort Boosts China Sales Almost 20% in January

For many automakers, China is like the holy grail right now. There are more Buicks sold there than in the US, more Peugeots than in France. Ford is also doing quite well, especially after the launch of an all-new budget sedan last month.
2015 Ford Escort 8 photos
Photo: Ford
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Many of you remember where the Escort name was retired in Europe in 2002 and in North America in 2003. Well, they've revived it in China and with prices starting at just 90,000 yuans ($14,715), demand has gone through the roof. And it's not surprising, considering the large sedan is as cheap as a Fiesta.

In January 2015, the American company and its local joint ventures delivered 112,599 vehicles, representing an increase of 19% compared to the same month of last year.

The Escort is sold in China in four versions, all boasting the same distinctive hexagonal grille made famous by the Fusion. The styling is significantly watered down and from what we understand, most of the components come from the old Focus sedan, the Mk2 model.

As standard, Chinese Escorts come with a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated engine, a 5-speed manual and 15-inch aluminum wheels fitted with 195/65 R15 tires. Above that is the Escort Comfort Automatic, which uses the same engine in combination with a Powershift 6-speed automatic. The power rating is only 115 ponies and 142 Nm (105 lb-ft), while the body is rather large at 4,586 mm long. So performance isn't exactly inspiring at 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 12 seconds.

How does China compare to the US?

Unlike in Buick's or Peugeot's case, China sales have not exceeded domestic ones for Ford. But they are getting extremely close. Ford Motor Company US sales for January increased 15 percent, for a total of 178,351 vehicles sold.

However, retails sales of 128,666 are extremely close to being overtaken by those in China. So even though the F-150 truck is extremely popular in the States, cheap and simple sedans sold in China may be just as important.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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