Ford Escape approved for Japan tax incentive

This is a great car to add to the mix. I have a 2009 Ford Escape that I purchased from Covert Ford - http://www.covertford.com - and have been very happy with it. It gets great gas mileage, drives well on the city and highway, and is an overall great car. I'm happy that an incentive is offered for a vehicle like this.

Escape is Ford - I was in the company that got the Tribute. What is it with you guys? The project paperwork between the two companies came through my desk everyday for the five years it took them to decide they were going to take it from Ford. Mazda had it literally shoved onto them by Ford. The only input from Mazda was probably the chassis dimensions - they hoped that by demanding a Japanese parking space sized unit Ford would balk and stop the project. Ford didn't. So Mazda made very little effort to sell the car. The Mazda attitude was so bad that only one Mazda person was dispatched to the Kansas factory to oversee production - and he was killed in a car wreck on the eve of mass production start - his replacement suddenly came to me to ask for our project to be cancelled because he'd been told he had to take charge of the Tribute (and he had played no part in it at all). Worse is that Mazda people went out of their way to 'misunderstand' the build order requests -the Tribute had the worst built errors in the US. The replacement guy in Kansas often griped to me that the Hiroshima guys were sending the wrong data to Ford though the requests from Ford were written by him in Japanese. Customer options were either intentionally misunderstood or ignored... The product concept was Ford's. Vehicle designed by Ford. Powered by Ford. SHould I go on?

"Fix Or Repair Daily"

That is so old... the quality of Ford vehicles in recent years is world class.

unscrejects

Ford Escape was not designed by Mazda. It's a Ford - and built by Ford. Mazda got a decontented version hence nobody wanted it. The Escape is better.

No, try again. It's originally a Mazda design. The Ford Escape is based originally on the Mazda 626 sedan platform. Go look it up if you don't believe it.

The Ford Escape is a Mazda. The Ford Ranger I drive is also from the Mazda B-Series family. The Ford Edge is based on the Mazda 6 (Capella) chassis, etc. Ford and Mazda have been sharing their technologies from a deal they made years ago.

Unfortunately, it will probably still have a 50-60% markup on the US price because this is Japan and all....

Ford Escape was not designed by Mazda. It's a Ford - and built by Ford. Mazda got a decontented version hence nobody wanted it. The Escape is better.

I didn't get any government help to buy my most definitely green bicycle - what's up with that?

Maybe they know what you eat?

Fix Or Repair Daily

"incentives for green vehicles"

I didn't get any government help to buy my most definitely green bicycle - what's up with that?

Angelo

All paied for from my taxes? Why is money taken away from me to help a car company make and brag about profits? Who authorized the government to pay for buying newer cars from my pocket? I do not even own a car!

Your anger and comment are both off the mark. Ford didn't claim bankruptcy and wasn't bailed out by the federal government or your tax dollars.

What exactly was Japan's justification for keeping Ford out in the first place ? Any details on this comment ?

"the program was shutting out American automakers."

mrsynik

The Ford Escape is actually a Mazda design so it belongs here in Japan as much as any other 'Japanese' car. Its Mazda counterpart, the Tribute, was still being sold here until a just couple of years ago. And on what do you base your opinion that it's a crap car? Because it has a Ford badge on it? As far as light-SUVs go I think the Escape is one of the better ones.

"reported third-quarter net income of $997 million and predicted a profitable 2011"

All paied for from my taxes? Why is money taken away from me to help a car company make and brag about profits? Who authorized the government to pay for buying newer cars from my pocket? I do not even own a car!

Why anyone would drive a Ford in Japan amazes me. Same goes for Opel - who would import such a crap car when there's enough crap cars of much better quality already made here?

I like Ford Escape, I had one in america before I came here. Good Small SUV. Very cool !!!!

Good for Ford. I have to admit, I wasn't aware of how bias J-government was towards American car companies with regards to this and probably other programs. What a crock that they are now finally including Ford into the program considering it started in early '09.