Ford cuts inspired by Honda
Click above for high-res gallery of the Ford Explorer America Concept
For years, the success of vehicles such as the Ford F-Series pickups and Explorer SUV kept the Blue Oval brand from improving its line of mostly uncompetitive sedans. Automakers like Honda, though, never went the way of body-on-frame trucks and SUVs, preferring instead to continually improve its range of cars and crossover utility vehicles. That strategy is paying dividends in these days of high fuel prices, and Ford has taken notice. Asked whether he would prefer a more car-oriented model-mix, like that of Honda or Toyota, CEO Alan Mullaly recently answered, "Absolutely. We just don't have enough of those small or medium-sized vehicles yet, and that's what we need to concentrate on." Of course, all is not lost. As Automotive News points out, Ford has a new F-150 on the horizon, which is likely to improve its sales somewhat, and the brand as a whole has sold 647,140 vehicles, placing it well above Honda through April. Profitability, on the other hand, is another matter entirely.
[Source: Automotive News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DesiAuto 6:36PM (5/27/2008)
This Ford Explorer America concept looks very interesting.
I will never ever buy current Explorer, but if Ford offers something like this concept, it would be on my short list (regardless of MPG).
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s1500 7:04PM (5/27/2008)
Yep, the vehicle in the picture sure looks like a Honda Crossroad. Inspired indeed!
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Ligor 7:08PM (5/27/2008)
yeah, but somehow Honda figured out a Jeep Liberty would be a nice look for the new Pilot. fire that designer. this looks so much better than the Pilot and so does the Edge
oh, and becareful copying Honda transmissions - they tend to fall appart after about 70k miles
Johnny 7:09PM (5/27/2008)
All ford needs to do is have balance. Thats all and Mulally knows it.
You can have your Mustang and Fseries and V8 and V10 and Expeditions and so forth but you cant balance all that with a dated Focus on the other end.
Offer another small car like the KA and suddenly your image improves, your corporate avg economy improves, your sales improve and so on.
Ford called 2003 the year of the car. Well it came and went and all we got was a boring 500, a halo GT with 14 recalls the first year and the Mustang off of the old LS platform.
By 2010 I want to see some action and no more excuses!
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Randy 10:55PM (5/28/2008)
As an avid Ford Fan! AMEN!
whofan 7:44PM (5/27/2008)
I think given time Ford is going to change its fortunes around and do good. Its almost unfortunate that SUVs took off the way they did.
Our automakers need to focus on all aspects of their business. We tend to jump on the band wagon and forget everything else. The minivan is not the in thing anymore but its still better than most SUVs and crossovers I`ve either seen or drove. I think its a mistake to write off the minivan. The affordible sedan will always be around too.
We need not put all our egges in one basket. This is what Detroit has done repeatedly in the past.
The manual transmission should also be an option almost across the board. Some of us enjoy shifting our own gears.
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Randy 10:55PM (5/28/2008)
TIC TOC TIC TOC
DesiAuto 8:02PM (5/27/2008)
"We need not put all our egges in one basket. This is what Detroit has done repeatedly in the past. "
Some people get thousands of dollars and some get millions and they still not understand this simple fact. This group is usually known as "executives".
Pathetic.
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Disgruntled Goat 9:11PM (5/27/2008)
Exactly. A good leader would have been saying this 10 years ago. Any idiot can look at the current landscape and say "Gee, maybe we should be selling more fuel efficient cars and not rely on gas guzzling trucks". Tell me again what these guys bring to the table to deserve their multi-million dollar salaries?
psarhjinian 10:55PM (5/27/2008)
To be fair to Alan Mullaly, he hasn't been with Ford for very long. I'd say he's been by _far_ the most effective leader of an American auto company (Bob Lutz talks a better game than he plays, though it's not clear how much is his overstatement versus GM's colossal bureaucracy and Wagoner's gross incompetence; the absolute worst was the Schrempp/Zetsche show at DCX--wow, did they ever suck) in that he's fixed a lot of the Jacques Nasser/Bill Ford-era mistakes without nearly enough cash reserve.
Other than the name shell game (500/Taurus/Freestyle/X/MKZ/Zephyr) trainwreck and the 2008 Focus, Ford's execution has been pretty good.
Mel. R 9:05PM (5/27/2008)
Oooh, another aerodynamic brick.
How sexy.
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Azael 10:42AM (5/28/2008)
right you are, i said the same thing about the chrystler 300 but in this picture, that ford looks just like a honda element but fuglier, a lot fuglier
psu48187 2:32AM (5/28/2008)
There was talk to move the Explorer off of a BOF platform well before gas started to creep as high as it is today.
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Rick 6:54PM (5/28/2008)
That's an American version of Toyota's ugly ass new xB! Barf.
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