The 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show has turned out to be THE place to be if you are looking for the latest crop of compact SUVs as no less than three significant debuts took place in the City of Angels including two world premieres, the 2012 Honda CR-V and the 2013 Ford Escape, and one North America presentation, the Mazda CX-5.

And since all three crossovers will compete against each other not only in North America, but around the world as well, we thought it would be good idea to run a poll to determine which is the best looking model. We'll brief you on all three before we give you the chance to cast your vote.

We'll start of alphabetically with the 2013 Ford Escape that will be marketed as the Kuga in other regions, including Europe and China. The 2013 Escape marks a radical departure from the outgoing model not only in looks, but under the hood as well with Ford offering two small displacement turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engines with up to 237HP, alongside a conventional, naturally aspirated 2.5L four-pot.

The world premiere of the brand-new 2013 Ford Escape took place on Wednesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

We've already brought you a boatload of pictures and all the juicy details that were available at the time, so now we're going to share with you two new videos of the compact SUV, including some B-Roll footage shot on the road and a clip from the media presentation in L.A.

Out goes the old in comes the new. Say hello to Ford's brand new compact crossover, the Escape, which will be a global model replacing among others, the Kuga in Europe.

The new Escape is definitely more modern than the best-selling model it replaces, something that Ford’s design boss, Martin Smith, is keen to stress out: “The Escape’s athletic good looks are no accident”, he says, adding that “we wanted to create the impression of an athlete like a runner or swimmer in the new body – right down to the defined muscles that convey movement and energy.”

The new Escape measures 178.1 inches (4.52 m) in length, 72.4 inches (1.84 m) in width, 66.3 inches (1.68 m) in height, while it rides on a 105.9 inch (2.69 m) wheelbase.

In the U.S. market, it will be available in both front- and four-wheel layouts with three gasoline engines, all of which are combined with a six-speed automatic transmission.

The next generation of the Ford Escape is slowly coming out of the bag as the Blue Oval prepares for the new SUV's world premiere at next week's 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

In the beginning of the month, Ford released the first video of the 2013 Escape showing us how the hands-free power liftgate works. Now, we have two more clips that concentrate on the interior providing us with our first glimpse of the dashboard styling.

Ford also tells us that the compact crossover model will feature the latest iteration of its MyFord Touch interface, which promises to be faster and easier to use.

Leave it to Ford to begin teasing a new model with random pieces of information and video and/or photo material.

Fortunately though, there's not much time left before the 2013 Ford Escape makes its world premiere at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show that will stay open for the public from November 18 to 27.

Following some revealing details on the new global Escape's engine lineup, Ford today released a single teaser image and a video highlighting the SUV's "segment-first hands-free power liftgate", which opens with a kicking gesture under the rear bumper and without the need to search for the key (though you will need to have it in your pocket).

The rapidly approaching 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show that takes place for the public from November 18 to 27, will play host to the world premiere of the next global Ford model, the all-new 2013 Escape.

As is the case with the current Fiesta and Focus, the compact SUV will be offered in the same form worldwide, replacing the current North American Escape as well as the Kuga in Europe and other markets around the globe.

Ford gave us a preview of the 2013 Escape with the Vetrek concept study at this year's Detroit Motor Show in January. Aside from the presentation date, Ford also revealed details about the SUV's powertrain options.

FORD KUGA 2010

Ford's Kuga 2.5 Duratec features the rip-snorting five cylinder 200PS engine from the brand's Focus ST hot hatch. Now normally, big, powerful engines in SUV 4x4s aren't an especially good idea but with this car, things could be different. The handling is in a different league from other compact 4x4s owners downsizing from larger models could just find in this car exactly what they're looking for.

FORD KUGA 2010

With sales of large, performance-orientated luxury 4x4s falling through the floor, Ford hope the Kuga's time may have come. True, it doesn't have the badge equity to tempt those who may have decided that their Range Rover Sports or Porsche Cayennes just don't suit the current economic mood. But this top petrol version certainly has the firepower under the bonnet and a standard of handling that will shock many used to lumbering, leather-lined off roaders.

FORD KUGA 2010

Performance-minded compact 4x4s are few and far between. Yes, Audi makes an 2.0 TFSI petrol version of its Q5 with a similar output but if you compare to the comparably-specified SE version of the German car, it's £4,000 more than this Ford and not as well specified, nor can it go that much faster than this Kuga. Put your foot down in the Ford and sixty from rest will flash by in 8.2 seconds on the way to a top speed of 129mph. Go for the automatic version and the figures are 8.8s and 126mph. 300Nm of torque gives it prodigious pulling power too.

FORD KUGA 2010

Bolt such a powerful 200PS engine into a Honda CR-V or a Toyota RAV4 and, quite frankly, the result would be awful, at least when it came to going round corners. It says a great deal for the basic Kuga's dynamic excellence that that isn't the case here. The ride is reasonably firm and that helps the Kuga resist body roll when cornered vigorously, plus it's also less liable to become unsettled over bumps in the road. The accurate steering makes it easier to position the car too. Show this car a straight, well-surfaced road and it even serves up a good standard of ride comfort and refinement. Ford's marketing slogan for this car is 'feel the difference' and you absolutely can.

FORD KUGA