Ford Escape 2013 part 04

Beginning in 2011, the Ford Motor Company started to showcase its Ford Vertrek concept, a vehicle offering a glimpse of the design direction Ford will be taking with several of its upcoming models. The Vertrek made its debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, critically acclaimed for its fresh style, roomy interior and advanced engine.

The Ford Vertrek is a concept in that it likely won't be built exactly as shown, but it will lend many of its ideas to future models. Some auto show concepts represent the vivid and sometimes unrealistic dreams of an automaker's design team. Other concepts are the real deal and are soon green-lighted for production. Auto shows allow car manufacturers to gauge customer opinion on a large scale and make adjustments to a project based partially on that feedback.

In the Vertrek, Ford is showing the world the design direction of its small SUV line. That line is called the Ford Escape in North America and the Ford Kuga in Europe. Both models are approximately one to two years from being replaced, perhaps sharing the same body style and incorporating many of the features found in the Vertrek.

Those features include a grille not unlike the one found in the 2012 Ford Focus, a compact car scheduled for North American release in spring 2011. Already on sale in Europe and most other Ford markets, the all new Focus is recognizable for its pronounced, sporty grille, an attribute of the Vertrek.

But, the Vertrek isn't a car and it certainly is tasked with doing many different things than the Ford Focus. The vehicle stands tall, riding on 20-inch wheels flanked by flared wheelwells. The most pronounced styling attribute, however, is the roofline which curves downward from the A-pillar to the D-pillar. The Vertrek resembles a sports model placed on top of a compact car chassis.

Inside, the Vertrek is all about room, offering 66 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second seat. That's important because the current Ford Escape has a roomy interior too, prized for maximizing its cargo space. Ford's designers made sure that one of the Escape's chief attributes was adapted for the Vertrek, doing that with great success.