There are quite a few of these cars still kicking around dealer lots.
2020 was a tough year for everyone, including those in the auto industry. It’s normal to see about a quarter of 2020 inventory roll over into the new year, but with these cars that’s definitely not the case. Research firm iSeeCars recently published a study covering the cars that have higher than average excess inventory heading into 2021. Some, like the Ford Escape, are above that average by a huge margin. For some context, Escape sales were down about 26% from the year before. In 2019, dealers shifted 241,388 units. By sheer volume, that made it Ford’s best-selling car, and only second to the F-Series trucks. Last year, that figure fell to 178,496.
But why? Why are there so many leftover Escapes on dealer lots? For example, the closest Ford dealer to the TFL office has more than 30 Escapes in their inventory — to just 6 2021 models.
iSeeCars posits it’s because of competition within the brand itself. “The normally popular Ford Escape also has new competition within Ford’s own product line, with the all-new 2021 Ford Bronco Sport making headlines and spurring interest,” says the firm’s executive analyst Karl Brauer. So far this year, the Ford Bronco Sport sold 8,050 examples. The Escape still came out ahead with 11,050 sales, but was still 20.8% down on January 2020.
We put the question to you all in the comments on our YouTube community page, and you had some ideas as to why Ford’s once-hot seller wasn’t moving quite as quickly these days.
Some of your comments
“I was waiting for the facelift to buy a new Escape, but with the new facelift I’m gonna buy a used Mercedes GLC diesel instead,” one of our European commenters mentioned. “The new Escape looks like a fish. No wonder it’s not selling,” another said.
A lot of you mentioned styling, in fact, and Ford’s decision to go in this direction with the new Escape has turned some folks off. What’s more, some of you had comments about the powertrain as well. “3cyl engine is pretty crude too, no matter how Ford spins it. I fear the Bronco Sport may suffer the same fate.”
For its part, the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport shares its platform with the Escape, and has more rugged, boxy SUV styling to boot. Other Ford vehicles like the EcoSport also made the list, as well as the larger (and much more expensive) Expedition.
You can check out the full list of cars with higher-than-average inventory below:
