It's doubtful that there's anything in the way of a sunroof. The other Escapes *do* have a sunroof option that wasn't available on the Hybrid. Not being able to get an option is *sometimes* do to a design difference which would keep the option from fitting, but those other Escapes can *also* have the same side-curtain airbags. It would cost far too much to design a unique version of the airbag just for the Hybrid. Nothing about the design of the Hybrid system would effect the roof (except for *maybe* the GPS antenna on models with the nav computer.

The *other* reason options are often excluded has to do with build sequencing on the line. There are certain parts of a car which are more complicated to install in the plant. A sunroof is one of them. To install the sunroof, two people have to climb on the car (one above and one inside) and work together for the space of a few stations (I was told how much it took and I can't remember if it was 2 stations or 3, but I *think* it was 3). I do remember that only every 3rd vehicle on the line sequence can have a sunroof because of this.

The Hybrid system really screws things up for the plant because it requires LOTS of special treatment. It's more likely that the reason you can't get the sunroof option simply has to do with the fact that it would be hard enough to sequence the Hybrids for build (with all of their special treatment) without the added complexity of having to sequence them for sunroofs on top of that.

The most likely scenario is that there's absolutely nothing in the way (no components in the area of the roof where you want an aftermarket sunroof) and the only reason you couldn't get one from the factory was do to build sequence complexity.