Ford Escape Production Temporarily Halted Due To Software Issue

The week hasn’t been great for Ford so far. Just two days ago, the company had to pause production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and it also idled its Louisville Assembly Plant the next day. This is where the Escape crossover is currently produced and according to the information available at this point, it won’t return to the production lines until February 19.

While the F-150 Lightning showed some problems with its battery pack, the issue with the Escape is from a different nature. The crossover, which was refreshed just recently, has software problems with its instrument cluster. It’s not something huge but Ford wanted to prevent affected cars from reaching dealers and being recalled in the future.

“We’re on a day-by-day basis right now and I know that’s frustrating,” the plant’s building chairman, Brandon Reisinger, told Automotive News. “The issue we’ve got, the cluster, is a software issue. It’s not a hardware issue. If it were to get out, it would not be something that would endanger anybody … but it would have the vehicles coming back to the dealership.”

The automaker gave the Escape a mid-cycle refresh in October last year, which brought a new ST-Line trim and tech improvements for the 2023 model year. The engine range currently includes 1.5- and 2.0-liter gas engines, as well as hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains. The 2023 Escape is expected to return to the assembly lines next Monday and the plant intends to make up the lost units when production resumes.

Earlier this week, Ford also suspended production of the F-150 Lightning after “one vehicle displayed a battery issue” during the pre-delivery quality inspection. The automaker believes it has “identified the root of the cause for this issue,” but a remedy isn’t expected until the end of next week. If your vehicle has already been produced but not delivered yet, it will remain on hold as further inspection will be needed. Ford also said it doesn’t believe “F-150 Lightnings already in customers’ hands are affected by thie issue.”