Spy Shots: Are you the future unibody Ford Explorer?
Ford Explorer spy photos – Click above for high-res image gallery
Ford seems to really like crossover vehicles. The Blue Oval lineup already sports the Escape, Edge and Flex, and within a year or so a unibody version of the Explorer will join the car-based utility party. And now we have more spy photos of what appears to be a next-generation Explorer mule disguised as a Taurus X Flex science experiment – most notable common features being an unexplained missing bar in the grille and an ill-fitting tailgate.
Gmfan1111 over at FoMoCoNews s forums says he spotted the mule outside of Ford's proving grounds, and he snapped three pics before losing the cobbled-together tester due to bad weather. Like the previous photos we've seen, the mule has a Flex-derived front end and from the A-pillar back it looks like a Taurus X. The new mule photos show yet another missing bar on the Flex front grille. We have no idea why the bar is missing, but one of the commenters on the FoMoCo forums guessed that the missing bar could be for feeding more air into an EcoBoost engine. Works for us.
The Ford Explorer America concept unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in 2008 looked wide and very SUV-like, and the large gaps on either side of the Taurus X tailgate shows that the new Explorer will likely be quite a bit wider. Click on the gallery below to get a closer look at these latest spy photos. Hat tip to Colby!
Gallery: Ford Explorer Mule
[Source: FordMotorCompanyNews]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Invisible 9:05AM (9/24/2009)
Just rename the Edge - Explorer.
Reply
AMcA 9:40PM (9/24/2009)
Looks like a Freestyle with new end caps.
Maybe this is just a mule.
k 9:06AM (9/24/2009)
so, ten years from now if there is another C4C program, this is what the #1 clunker will look like. sweet.
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JayP 9:11AM (9/24/2009)
Reason for so many Explorer clunkers- Ford made a few million of them.
They'd love to have sales like that again.
future-autos.blogspot.com 9:17AM (9/24/2009)
I read somewhere that the 1.6 liter EcoBoost could be the entry-level engine for the next 'Splorer. I wonder what kind of MPG that would get.
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mapoftazifosho 9:18AM (9/24/2009)
Parts bin slut! I love it!
Reply
MeiSooHaityu 9:21AM (9/24/2009)
Thats what test mules are. They have to hide what it is some how, what better camo.
Brian 9:22AM (9/24/2009)
What is the point of having the Exploder AND the Flex AND the Edge if the Exploder is going to be unibody?
Ford does something stupid. Again.
Reply
Mr.TiredOfEconomicDownturn 9:34AM (9/24/2009)
Ford isn't stupid to waste their money; there's always a reason. If you think you're such a good automobile analyst, why don't you look for a job or something? The world needs people like you. No offence but, you sound a lot like a Ford employee who've just been laid off, hence the hate...
Oh shi-- "Never Feed The Troll"... yikes.
Brian 9:35AM (9/24/2009)
So why don't you give me the reason? Why have a unibody Explorer when there's already a unibody Edge and Flex? It doesn't make sense.
Jim 9:39AM (9/24/2009)
who says they're going to continue with all three?
Mr.TiredOfEconomicDownturn 9:40AM (9/24/2009)
That was quick...
Anyway, the reason I can think of (I'm not as good as you but here's a try) is different age groups. After all, they do differ in size.
Allen 9:41AM (9/24/2009)
The platform the Flex sits on is shared by the Taurus, MKS, and MKT. The Taurus is going to a stretched Fusion platform in a few years and the MKS is either going with it or to a Falcon platform. That leaves just the Flex and MKT on this platform in a few years. The MKT is expected to be a 20-30K unit a year vehicle and the Flex is only about a 50K a year vehicle right now, and that just isn't enough to make money on them. The current Explorer sells a few thousand units a month better than the Flex. If this Explorer retains those customers and steals some sales away from other CUVs, It could add significant volume to this platform making it more likely to be profitable. It may end up being the Flex's demise.
Mr.TiredOfEconomicDownturn 9:41AM (9/24/2009)
@ Jim: BAM!
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Brian 9:43AM (9/24/2009)
Great, so instead of the Lincoln Taurus we'll have a Lincoln Fusion. Great "thinking" Ford!
Jim 9:45AM (9/24/2009)
"Great, so instead of the Lincoln Taurus we'll have a Lincoln Fusion. "
Ever heard of the MKZ?
Mr.TiredOfEconomicDownturn 9:46AM (9/24/2009)
Hey, remember that they're just opinions, just like every others. Nothing official. Just wait and watch like the rest of us.
Invisible 10:09AM (9/24/2009)
Don't forget Ford's other decade old unibody - ESCAPE.
Jim 10:37AM (9/24/2009)
"Don't forget Ford's other decade old unibody - ESCAPE."
yeah, but I'd expect that to get a bit smaller.
Noah 11:44AM (9/24/2009)
Brian, I also was wondering this. My 2 guesses are these:
1. The Edge, which sells ok, but not fantastic, is going away for the new Explorer. The Explorer is traditionally bigger, but whatever.
2. The Explorer will be added to the line as more of an off-roading unibody SUV. Like the Grand Cherokee or Suzuki Grand Vitara. It will have more clearance and electronic goodies to make it off-roadable, and more towing.
So those are the best I can figure, hopefully the latter.