Ford Paused 2023 Escape Production to Sort Out a Reported Software Issue

There's no confirmation at the moment of when production will restart

(Images: Ford)

Ford Motor Company has paused 2023 Ford Escape production at their Louisville plant to sort out a software issue, according to WDRB News.

Since its recent redesign, the 2023 Ford Escape has seen its share of production highs and lows. The PHEV version of the new Escape has been so popular, the automaker is working to keep up with demand. Overall reviews for the revamped Escape are fairly positive as well. However, the Louisville, Kentucky plant that builds the crossover experienced shutdowns in the past couple years thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain constraints. Per recent reports, Ford once again idled the Louisville plant while the engineering team sorts out a reported software issue.

“[We] encountered a few concerns that our engineering team wanted to review and resolve” before resuming production, plant manager Andrew Tapp wrote in a memo to employees, as noted by Ford Authority. “I can’t stress enough that our internal metrics are really good for the new model, and we have made a lot of progress.”

Another spokesperson, Kelli Felker, said, “We are committed to ensuring our vehicles are built with the quality our customers deserve and will take the appropriate actions to deliver this commitment.” Ford has not elaborated further on the issue at time of writing, including a mention of when the automaker will resume production.

Ford paused production on the F-150 Lightning due to an unspecified battery concern, though there’s no information suggesting the two incidents are directly connected. However, company executives have repeatedly stressed quality control as a top priority in recent months, suggesting an approach meant to avoid time-consuming and costly recalls.

The Ford Escape is a remarkably important vehicle for the automaker.

At one point, they were selling over 300,000 units in the United States, but that number dropped to just over 137,000 in the U.S. last year. That still ranks and it still ranks in the top five compact crossover models in a ferociously competitive segment that includes the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.

We’ll provide an update when more information is available. See more on the updated 2023 Ford Escape below: