Next Generation Explorer
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"Ford About to Face Future With Toned-Down Explorer: Doron Levin
By Doron Levin
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle has been the Marlboro Man of personal transportation, symbolic of a tall, rugged ride on the open American road or rutted byway.
But automakers are toning down the SUV's macho spirit, partly in deference to those who say the hulking vehicles are wasteful, costly or dangerous. So the Explorer, the vehicle that ignited the SUV trend in the early 1990s, is getting a makeover.
Expect something more in touch with the reality of U.S. stop-and-go traffic and less imbued with the aura of rough and ready.
``A lot of engineering that goes into the current Explorer lets it go off-road,'' said Rebecca Lindland, automotive analyst for Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. ``If you don't need that you can make it more comfortable, easier to get in and out of, easier to steer.''
Explorer generated huge profits for Ford Motor Co. and became the best-selling SUV ever, with more than 5.7 million units sold.
In 2000, Explorer's best sales year, Ford sold 445,157 of them, which contributed to net income of $3.5 billion. That capped a five-year streak when Ford had cumulative earnings of more than $24 billion.
On the Brink
Ford now is in the midst of a desperate turnaround struggle, having lost a cumulative $7.67 billion over the last five quarters. The Explorer's fortunes have roughly tracked those of the company, and its sales were down 25 percent through the first 11 months of the year.
The public fascination with the Explorer started to fade about five years ago amid accusations that it was prone to rollover accidents, especially when equipped with Firestone tires. Ford faces several hundred lawsuits filed on behalf of accident victims and has lost at least nine multimillion dollar verdicts in connection with Explorer rollovers.
At a private exhibition last month for Ford employees and retirees, the automaker displayed a picture of the next- generation Explorer, set for production in the next two or three years.
Instead of continuing to build the Explorer on a heavy-duty frame designed for trucks, the automaker will base the new one on a smaller, lighter mechanical platform originally designed for cars made by Ford's Volvo subsidiary of Sweden.
As such, the new Explorer -- once Ford's second best-selling model after its F-Series pickup truck -- will resemble a small SUV and drive like a car. It won't be able to haul or tow as much weight as its predecessor; and drivers won't be sitting as tall in the saddle or commanding as expansive a view of the road.
Sure Footing
Yet Ford's Explorer of the future is sure to be more fuel efficient and its center of gravity will be closer to the ground, making it more stable and less prone to flip.
Though the company hasn't released detailed plans publicly, it likely will continue to manufacturer its larger Expedition SUV, built on the same chassis as an F-Series pickup truck. The Expedition will be aimed at SUV customers who need size and power to tow a boat or carry heavy loads.
Ford's decision to strike a softer tone with the new Explorer is consistent with the trend toward so-called crossovers, or SUV-like vehicles based on car platforms that started with Toyota Motor Corp.'s RAV-4 and Honda Motor Co.'s CRV. Ford's own Escape is based on the architecture of the Mazda 626 sedan (Ford owns a third of Japan's Mazda Motor Corp.).
High gasoline prices also are helping to shrink SUVs. Consumer tastes and fashions are changing as well, leading to rising interest in emerging technologies such as gas-electric hybrids in some Ford Escapes and the Toyota Prius.
Vanishing Smokestacks
In March, Ford shut an assembly plant that builds Explorers in St. Louis, one of two in the U.S. The second plant in Louisville, Kentucky, is due for production cuts in 2007.
Last year, automakers sold 1.22 million Explorer-class SUVs, a number that will fall to about 1 million this year, according to Global Insight. In five years, the market for such vehicles will be down almost 50 percent, the forecasting service predicts.
Alan Mulally, who took over as Ford's chief executive officer in early September after a long career at Boeing Co., is striving to reengineer operations. He said he wants to put as many Ford models worldwide on the fewest possible architectures to save money. Thus, Explorer will use the same undercarriage as the Ford Five Hundred sedan and Ford Freestyle crossover.
Unless Mulally can accomplish this feat, Ford can't contend with Toyota, the best automaker in the world at containing costs and expanding market share.
Mulally will have to twist arms to get Ford's workforce to go along with the changes. And as he does, the old-time Explorer will be pushed into oblivion just like the real-life cowboys.
(Doron Levin is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
To contact the writer of this column: Doron Levin in Southfield, Michigan at
dlevin5@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 18, 2006 00:20 EST"
I like the idea of better fuel economy, but I'd hate to give up the ride height. I feel a lot safer on the highway being able to see what's ahead and around me. The only advantage I can see for the unibody is that it may be possibel to lift it. Recall that the 3rd gen Ex can't be lifted because the rear axle shafts go through holes in the frame, thus restricting suspension travel.
Still is looks like the next Explorer will be a Freestyle with an Explorer body, and probably the 3.5L engine with the 6-speed tranny.
That's the way the market is going. Ironically, in order to save the Explorer, Ford has to kill it (or at least emascualte it)
Happy Trails!
Bob
