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LA Auto Show 2011: Ford reveals all-new 2013 Ford Escape

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For a decade-old model, the Ford Escape has held its own remarkably well in recent years against an unending tide of soft-roading small sport utility vehicles from around the world. Now Ford is importing a new Escape in hopes of keeping its best-seller status.

Designed to be sold around the world as the Kuga, the new Escape eschews the block styling for a slippier shape that mimics the Ford Focus, with which it shares basic components. While the base 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine gets a few tweaks to 168 hp, Ford drops the V-6 option in favor of two smaller turbocharged four-cylinder powerplants; a 1.6-liter Ecoboost that Ford claims will top competitors in fuel economy while pumping 173 hp, and the top-line 2-liter Ecoboost will churn 237 hp.

Although the Escape will boast a long list of techno features -- from automatic parallel parking and shutters for better aerodynamics at highway speeds to a liftgate that can open with a kick under the rear bumper -- it's no longer available as a hybrid. Ford says the smaller CMax hybrid will serve the same market when it debuts next year, and that the smaller Ecoboost actually offer betters mileage on gasoline alone for lower cost.