LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) --You may now see the Louisville built Ford Escape cruising down the highways here. They are now on sale at Louisville dealerships.
The redesigned Escapes began arriving in Louisville area showrooms this past weekend. "We've gotten a few in and had a good response," says A.C. Cardwell, the sales manager at Oxmoor Ford, "we've already sold a few."
Cardwell says his dealership got its first four Escapes late Friday and has already sold two. He is expecting another 12 to 20 to arrive sometime on Monday.
The new Escape is full of options and the latest technology captures the interest of potential buyers. "You can hit a button and tell them you are hungry," explains Cardwell, "and it will show what restaurants are close to you, it is pretty neat; technology has come a long way."
The Escape also features a voice recognition system for radio and climate control.
The new Escapes range in price from $22,000 up to $37,000.
Owners of the old Escape will hardly recognize the new redesigned one. "Any people who have owned an Escape before, they will be completely shocked," says Cardwell.
Delivery to dealers was delayed a couple of weeks because the April hail storm damaged some of the vehicles.
Ford says all of the new Escapes built at the Louisville Assembly Plant underwent a rigorous inspection process before being shipped to dealers.
Louisville and its economy has a lot riding on Escape sales.
Ford invested more than $600 million to retool LAP to build it. 3200 workers are on the job there now with a third shift expected to be added later this summer.
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