2011 Ford Explorer

Future cars: 2010 and beyond.
BY TONY QUIROGA, ILLUSTRATION BY TOM COSGROVE May 2009

What it is: A huge favorite in the 1990s, Explorer sales have, uh, cooled over the past few years. This latest Explorer ditches the body-on-frame platform and the V-8 for a V-6 and a lighter unibody structure based on the Ford Flex.
Why it’s important: Buyers have been shying away from body-on-frame SUVs for years. Ford’s only hope of growing Explorer sales is to change to a unibody platform.
Powertrain: Basic versions will get a 262-hp, 3.5-liter V-6. For those seeking more firepower, a twin-turbo version will be available with 355 horses.
Competition: Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Chevrolet Traverse, Mazda CX-7/CX-9, Dodge Durango.
Estimated arrival: Look for it in blue-oval shops at the end of 2010.

Ford Canada sees return to sales growth

By John McCrank
TORONTO (Reuters) - The head of Ford Motor Co of Canada (F.N) said on Thursday he anticipates May will be the first month of 2009 when the company will sees year-over-year growth in Canadian retail sales.
President David Mondragon told Reuters that Ford's Canadian market share has risen for six consecutive months and the company outsold Toyota Canada (7203.T) for five of those months.
Part of the reason the Ford brand has been strengthening has been its strong financial position, said Mondragon.
The company's Detroit-based peers, General Motors Corp (GM.N) and Chrysler, have had to rely on government financing to stay afloat during the brutal downturn in the auto industry. Even with government aid, Chrysler recently filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States, while many analysts expect GM to soon follow suit.
"We are confident we can finance our way through these difficult times." Mondragon said. "We have no intention today of asking for government assistance."
Ford's financial position has allowed it launch a flurry of new products, with seven coming over the next six months, more than any other manufacturer in Canada.
So far in 2009, the company is the No. 2 autoseller in Canada, compared with its No. 4 position last year.
Ford's retail share is up 1.2 percentage points year over year, and its total share is ahead 1.1 percentage points.
A one-point share in Canada is worth about 15,000 units.
Despite the company's growing market share, there will still be pain in 2009, with Canadian auto sales set for further big declines, said Mondragon.
"We initially started the year thinking the industry would run down 7 percent," he said. "We have reassessed the industry, and we now see it down between 13 and 15 percent in the calendar year."
He said one thing that could force Ford Canada to change its forecast again, would be if the Canadian government were to introduce a "cash for clunkers" program like ones instituted in Europe and the one the United States is looking to implement.
"We're hoping a scrappage program could bring about 100,000 incremental sales in Canada and claw back really half of the decline on a year-over-year basis."
The U.S. plan would give consumers up to $4,500 for vehicles aged eight years or older, to put toward a new, more fuel efficient vehicle. Similar plans have spurred auto sales in Europe.
To cope with the dearth of sales in the current environment, GM recently announced it would cut over 300 of its dealerships to adjust for the lower demand, but Mondragon said Ford has already done its cutting. "Since 1999, we've downsized our dealers by 23 percent, so we've already made those hard decisions," he said.
Worldwide, the company has closed 17 plants and laid off over 60,000 employees over the past decade.

Led by Fusion Sales Ford Outsells Toyota in April

Though it means less in today's market than it did a year ago, Ford moved more vehicles in the month of April than Japanese juggernaut Toyota for the first time in over a year. Looking at the numbers, all this means is that Ford managed keep its sales from dropping lower than Toyota's for the month. The real test will be to see if Ford can make this feat a trend.


Ford sold 129, 898 units last month, including the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury divisions, but excluding Volvo. Compared with last year, that's a sales drop of 31 percent. The drop can be attributed to any Ford truck or SUV of your choosing, but the most likely culprits are the Ford Expedition (down 72 percent for the month, 70 percent year-to-date), the Ford Explorer (down 49 percent for the month and 60 percent year-to-date) and the F-series (down 35.8 percent for April and 42 percent year-to-date).

Cue the refreshed 2010 Ford Fusion. The midsized sedan saw sales rise 21.7 percent compared with April 2008, to 18,321 units. We'll have to wait a few months to see if this sales bump is long-lasting, or just the normal sales bump that follows most car redesigns.

Meanwhile, Toyota sold 126,540 cars under its Toyota, Lexus and Scion divisions in April, a drop of 41.9 percent compared with last year. The industry average decline was 37.4 percent. The Avalon, Prius, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, Sequoia and Tundra all had declines of more than 50 percent compared to April 2008. Though Camry sales were down 36.7 percent last month, Toyota sold 7003 more units of its midsized sedan than Ford sold of the Fusion, emphasizing just how far Ford still has to go in that segment.

We'll have to wait until the beginning of next month to see if this is just a temporary shakeup, or if Ford will emerge as true competition for the world's largest automaker.

Source: Automotive News