Also known as the Orion, the Escort sedan was refreshed in 1993, together with the rest of the range.
The 1993 model-year had to be improved to comply with the new European emissions pollutions that came into force in 1994. Ford considered that it was a good time to refresh the exterior’s look.

The Escort featured a mixed design, between the boxy-looking vehicles of the ’80s and the flowing lines of the ’90s. For the facelifted range, the grille featured black, slim, horizontal slats. The headlights and the turn-signals were in separate blocks and covered with clear glass. For the rest of the car, the lines remained similar, but an enhancement was made for the door handles, which were in body color, unlike the non-facelift version where they were black. In the back, the taillights were mounted only on the quarter panels.

Ford answered some criticisms and redesigned the dashboard, which now featured the center stack and the upper area modified. As for the instrument cluster, a new set of dials was installed, but offering the same information as on the non-facelifted version. For selected versions, an airbag was fitted as standard. The customers considered the four-door version a family sedan with a slight appeal for the middle-class buyers and the car-rental services as well.

Under the hood, Ford offered a choice of six engines, including two diesel versions. The base version was a frugal 1.3-liter unit that offered only 60 hp, while the top-performer version was the 1.8-liter engine with 108 hp. All versions were paired to a 5-speed manual gearbox.