The Ford Escort was based on the Mazda B-platform since 1991. It replaced the dated Ford Pinto subcompact car (1971-80) with a modern front-wheel drive design popularized by the successful introduction of the Volkswagen Rabbit. It also effectively replaced the smaller Ford Fiesta, which was imported from Europe from 1978-80. Though mechanically sophisticated, the Fiesta was too small, even for a Pinto replacement.

The Escort was one of Ford's most successful models in the 1980s, earning a much better reputation than the Pinto, which faced widely-publicized safety issues. In fact, the Escort was the single best-selling car in its second year in the United States and during most of that decade.

Introduced in 1981, the first American Escort was intended to share common components with the European Mk III (as with its sister, the Mercury Lynx), and was launched as a 2-door hatchback and as a 4-door station wagon, with the 4-door hatchback following a year later. It had considerably more chrome than the model sold elsewhere. The car was freshened in 1983.