AUTOS

Ford’s European Operation to Engineer Escort: The Dearborn, Mich.-based auto maker is tapping its own European facility instead of Japanese partner Mazda Motor Corp. to develop the next Escort compact, partly to escape the high costs created by the soaring yen. Financially troubled Mazda had been considered the front-runner to engineer an international version of the Escort, Ford Motor Co.’s No. 2 seller in the United States behind the Taurus. For years, Mazda has engineered many of Ford’s small cars, including the current U.S. version of the Escort. A Mazda spokesman in Japan declined to comment.