Ford has a new $25,000 crossover SUV coming, but will it go electric?
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- Ford previewed a ~$25,000 crossover SUV to dealers at a private Las Vegas meeting, described by attendees as boxy and wide and resembling the first-generation Escape.
- The new crossover will not use Ford's Universal EV platform — unlike the upcoming Fathom pickup — and instead will be offered as a hybrid and gas-powered vehicle, with production slated for 2029 at Ford's Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico.
- Ford also said pre-orders for its all-electric Fathom pickup will open in early 2027 starting at $28,350, with deliveries later that year, positioning it to compete "in the heart of the affordable EV market."
- Ford's Mustang Mach-E sales dropped 46% from the first half of 2025 to H1 2026, falling to 11,632 units and ranking seventh among US EVs.
- Four of the top five best-selling EVs in the US in H1 2026 were relatively affordable SUVs — the Chevy Equinox EV, Toyota bZ, Hyundai IONIQ 5, and Tesla Model Y — with the Tesla Model 3 ranking second.
- Ford's UEV platform is described internally as flexible enough to support B-car-sized vehicles through commercial vans, leaving the door open to a future affordable electric crossover.
Why it matters: Ford is pinning its cheapest vehicle on hybrid and gas powertrains rather than the UEV architecture it invested in, even as four of the five top-selling US EVs in H1 2026 were affordable SUVs and the Mach-E's sales nearly halved year-over-year. That leaves the entry-level SUV competing against Toyota and Hyundai hybrids while Ford's EV pipeline bets everything on the still-unreleased Fathom.
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