2007 Ford Sport Trac takes on Honda Ridgeline
The Honda Ridgeline, the company’s first pickup truck, sold nearly 53,000 vehicles last year. Though the numbers were considered disappointing by Honda and much of the press, the total nevertheless concerns Ford Motor Co., since many of those sales were from its segment share.
Now Ford is striking back with the 2007 Ford Sport Trac. The latest version, which is based off the new Explorer, provides greater room, for both interior and cargo space. A V8 engine (which had not been available in previous years) is now an option... the Ridgeline makes do with a V6. Ford has improved the Sport Trac’s safety equipment and systems to earn the highest rating for frontal offset impact safety from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as well as all government crash tests. To counter the Ridgeline’s lockable trunk built into its truck-bed, the Sport Trac comes with a lockable bed cover as an option.
But the best feature, Ford and analysts points out, is that many truck buyers still don’t consider the Ridgeline a ‘truck’ due to its unibody construction. Says Jim Sanfilippo, an AMCI analyst, "I'm not sure the domestic truck buyer has figured out what the Ridgeline is.”
Full details can be found at the link.
[Source: Detroit News, picture by Ford]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Adrian 6:12PM (4/03/2006)
The sales numbers weren't a "dissapointment" for Honda. They predicted a target of 50,000.
I wonder what the total market cap for these types of vehicles?
And the lockable bed cover? Hmm... that's original.
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Aki 6:15PM (4/03/2006)
Ah, any news article about the Ridgeline and you're guaranteed to get comments from domestic truckers w/ masculine insecurities as massive as their V8 engines.
People may scoff about the Ridgeline, but it's increasing in sales. Feb 06 were at 4,485--a sizable jump compared to the abyssmal 133 units in Feb 05. Ford's smart to try to stave off the threat before it really gets started.
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sexi pictures 6:21PM (4/03/2006)
http://centrum.czweb.org
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s 6:26PM (4/03/2006)
The number weren't disappointing to Honda.
The sales goal was 50K!
Do your research
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Gardiner Westbound 6:29PM (4/03/2006)
How does Ford's optional $595 bed cover compensate for Honda's standard equipment lockable trunk?
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Sheniferous 6:36PM (4/03/2006)
*Waits for someone to mention aesthetics... which are purely a matter of opinions... and you know that whole deal with opinions and assholes*
From the article:
"For example, the Sport Trac uses the same body-on-frame construction found in larger trucks, while the Ridgeline is based on the sort of unibody architecture more typical of cars."
Do people even know what kind of construction the Ridgeline is made of? It's not *just* unibody construction... it's unibody-ON-FRAME. It has a traditional car-like unibody that's welded onto a traditional truck style frame.
My bet is on future SUVs and smaller pickups to start adapting the same type of construction.
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Scott 6:54PM (4/03/2006)
#2 - those sales from Feb '05 are the result of the truck being introduced at the end of that month, hardly worth noting compared to Feb '06.
Besides, how can Ford be "striking back" by redesigning a vehicle that was on the market 5 YEARS before the Ridgeline ever came out? If anything, the Ridgeline was created in response to vehicles like the Sport Trac, not vice versa.
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Shifty 6:58PM (4/03/2006)
well the new sport trac has a trunk thing in the front of the bed, you can see it if you go to the link, and look at the features of the truck/suv. it also includes a composite bed (why dosent the f150 have this?) if you look at the site it also has a optional heated windshield, it uses micron tungston wires embedded in the glass or something, i thought it was cool at least.
link: http://www.fordvehicles.com/suvs/sporttrac/
#6, your right the ridgeline is a unibody on a frame, but i wouldnt call it a "traditional" truck style frame, its kind of a light weight or mini truck frame. or maybe think of it as a unibody reinforced with a small frame.
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Michael Karesh 7:00PM (4/03/2006)
It is an interesting twist when the Japanese product has a column shifter while the American one has a console shifter.
Right now the Sport Trac carries only a $1,000 rebate, vs. the $3,000 on the regular Explorer. So I'd expect larger rebates before much longer.
With the $1,000 rebate, the Sport Trac comes in a grand or two below the Honda, depending on equipment levels, after adjusting for feature differences. To generate your own price comparison, go to http://www.truedelta.com.
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factchecker 7:01PM (4/03/2006)
Well regardless of what the sales target was, 50k 75k or 100k, the Ridgeline missed it. The Detnews guys messed up only 42359 Ridgelines were sold in 2005, not 53000, according to autonews.com
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s 7:11PM (4/03/2006)
To: factchecher
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s 7:12PM (4/03/2006)
To: factchecher
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Corey B. 7:15PM (4/03/2006)
C'mon - 50,000 units for an "award winning" truck is an embarassment. The Titan sold over 80,000 and Nissan is disappointed.
Lowering expectations doesn't make it a success. Face it Honda fans - it's a wimp truck.
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far jr 7:18PM (4/03/2006)
I like the Ridgeline better than the Sport Trac but don't want either. And although 4485 sales for the Ridgeline may be better than February 2005 (when there were none avaliable on dealer lots), if they don't improve during the summer, that means only about 53,000 to 54,000 sales again in 2006. I believe Honda is canibalizing Ford sales in this segment as the Sport Trac and Ridgeline seem as though they would appeal to similar shoppers.
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Anthony Albertus 7:40PM (4/03/2006)
So, for all the people who don't think the Ridgeline is a 'truck'. What the heck is it then?? I have two station wagons.. a Saab and BMW and they both haul a lot, have highly effecient modern engines, seat five, just like the Ridgeline, but somehow, I don't think they're trucks, but that Honda.. well it sure looks like a big, dorky truck to me, just like a Sport Trac, an Avalanche, a P'up, a Luv a Titan, whatever they all are, they're not cars. They're trucks.
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Lee Gibson 7:51PM (4/03/2006)
"Honda is canibalizing Ford sales in this segment"
Honda can't cannibalize Ford's sales. It can EAT Ford's sales, but "cannibalize" means something different.
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Aki 7:57PM (4/03/2006)
"Besides, how can Ford be "striking back" by redesigning a vehicle that was on the market 5 YEARS before the Ridgeline ever came out? If anything, the Ridgeline was created in response to vehicles like the Sport Trac, not vice versa."
Regardless how low the Ridgeline sales are, the fact is it's stealing from Ford's segment. It's not striking back with a Sport Trac, it's striking back with a bigger Sport Trac. And it's a smart move--better to anticipate the worst than to just assume Ford's dominance will be sustained regardless of what the competition puts out. Why even let the Ridgeline get 50k?
I doubt the Ridgeline will capture much more marketshare this year though. The design... well, doesn't cater to aesthetics of truck fans. And a V6 isn't a terribly marketable engine.
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far jr 8:57PM (4/03/2006)
#15 Lee:
Cannibalize (definition): To draw on as a major source.
Honda is drawing sales from "potential Ford customers" in a segment with similar a type vehicle. These sales may very likely have gone to Ford otherwise. Forgive me if I offended you by not having the same grammatical superiority that you obviously have. I'd rather discuss cars than English 101.
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Corey B. 10:16PM (4/03/2006)
I generally hate Ford products, but I really like the SportTrac and the Fusion. If you don't mind crappy gas mileage the Sprt Trac is really very useful and have proven to be the most reliable thing Ford makes.
I haven't driven the new one, but a lot of the media at Detroit Auto show said they were amazed at how improved and refined the new Explorer (on which this is based)was. If Ford can put out a couple more winners with better gas mileage they may outlive GM.
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Tom Design 10:43PM (4/03/2006)
This is a very handsome front design.
The Volvo XC90 and new Audi Q7 should take some lessons from this classy, chrome bumpered look, and jewelled headlight fixtures. Too much black plastic on both those models, certainly does not befit $59,000 vehicles.
I think Ford out-styled them both with this model's front design.
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