If we take the Ford Bronco Raptor as the automaker’s maximally rugged off-roader, its inverse would be the minimally rugged and short-lived (in the U.S.) EcoSport Active. There’s still quite the market for minimal rugged, though, and it could get another Blue Oval entry with the Escape Active. Ford Authority reports the automaker filed paperwork in late June with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to reserve the Escape Active name. This is the first we’ve heard of such a plan, but were it to come to retail fruition, it would give buyers an option between the vanilla Escape and the rocky road Bronco Sport.
In the UK, the Active suffix on a products like the EcoSport Active and Fiesta Active means an inch of extra ride height, reworked front fascia with different treatments for the grille or side vents or fog lights, and hem of black cladding. An Escape Active would likely do the same, possibly being introduced with the refreshed 2023 Escape. The coming Escape got caught outside uncovered recently (pictured), sporting a light bar connecting reshaped LED headlamps, a new grille and fog lamps, revised rear taillights, and a monochromatic paint job cribbed from the UK-market Ford Kuga. Everything but the black glasshouse trim and front skidplate garnish is painted blue. The little crossover is also expected to upgrade to Sync4.
Said model could also be among the first Ford products to welcome the Active moniker to the States. We’ve been waiting on the Fusion Active wagon for a while now, a Subaru Outback competitor in the news for at least four years. Spy shots from May show a prototype Fusion Active that doesn’t look far from production; rumors suggest a reveal is coming later this year or early next year. As well as returning the Fusion name to the U.S. market, it’s expected to fill the hole left by the Edge departing the market.
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Source: www.autoblog.com