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The small SUV with the best crash test ratings of any vehicle in its class, Ford's 2010 Escape, is increasing its technology leadership with the addition of five new features that improve safety, reduce driver distractions and aid drivers by automatically parallel parking their vehicle.

The new Escape, in showrooms this summer, will add MyKey(tm) teen-safety technology, Integrated Spotter Mirrors - both offered standard (MyKey on XLT and above models) - optional Rear View Camera System and SYNC with real-time Traffic, Directions and Information. The new model also will be the North America's first SUV to offer Active Park Assist, which uses an ultrasonic-based sensing system and Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) to position the vehicle for parallel parking, calculate the optimal steering angle and quickly steer the vehicle into a parking spot.

The new technologies build on Escape's unsurpassed crash ratings - a "Top Safety Pick" award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and 5-star government ratings in all crash tests. The Escape, which Kelley Blue Book editors recently named one of the "2009 Best New Family Vehicles," also is the only compact SUV to offer standard AdvanceTrac(r) with RSC(r) (Roll Stability Control) and a standard Safety Canopy(r) side curtain air-bag system.
"The Ford Escape is one of few vehicles that earned both full 5-star crash ratings and a 'Top Safety Pick' in the small SUV segment," said Susan Cischke, Ford's group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. "These new technologies will help to take the new Escape to the next level of safety and driver satisfaction."

According to 2008 Ford market research data, nearly nine out of 10 Escape and Escape Hybrid buyers rank safety features - including the road-holding capability delivered by roll stability control - as one of their top purchase reasons.

Unprecedented for a carryover model, the Ford Escape's technological makeover demonstrates Ford's broader efforts to quickly and efficiently introduce new features along the consumer electronics industry's development cycles measured in months.

"Our vision with SYNC, MyKey and other new technologies is to be a technology leader, making it affordable for millions - just as Ford has done with safety and fuel-saving technologies," said Doug VanDagens, director of Ford's Connected Services Organization.. "We are a car company that through market-driven, customer-focused innovation is learning to think and act like an electronics company, leveraging partnerships with fresh technology leaders."

Mark your calendar for this summer and be one of the first to drive off in a 2010 Ford Escape - the small SUV with the best crash test ratings in its class.