Curvaceous Ford Explorer is more fuel-efficient

Jul 26, 2010

Business Reporter

With the launch of its latest Explorer, Ford Motor Co. will try to convince fans of sport-utility vehicles to choose fuel efficiency and energy-conscious consumers to consider a vehicle that seats seven.

The latest version of the Ford icon comes at a time when the domestic automaker is riding high. The company didn't just spurn the billion-dollar bailouts that saved its rivals. It turned a profit through the recession and has increased its market share thanks to a focus on quality.

But the second-largest U.S. automaker will still have its work cut out for it, industry experts say.

“How do you get the consumer's head around the fact that it's this large but will give exceptional fuel efficiency?' said Geoff Helby, national sales manager at Power Information Network, a division of J.D. Power and Associates.

“Everyone now is cognizant of their environmental footprint. It's no longer socially acceptable to be driving the old-style SUV.”

Ford officially unveiled the Explorer Monday. The biggest change: a smaller engine. The standard engine will be a 3.5-litre V-6 with 290 horsepower. Buyers can opt for a more expensive four-cylinder option that offers turbo boost.

Ford says the former will deliver more than 20 per cent better fuel economy, and the latter, 30 per cent over the 2010 model.

Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd had its own unveiling for the Explorer at Kool Haus in Toronto on Monday.

“This will be a vehicle that offers great value,” David Mondragon, president and chief executive officer of Ford of Canada, said in an interview.

The new Explorer “will touch a market that needs to be addressed by our company.”

The more fuel-efficient model will have the least off-road capabilities, the trait that typically draws SUV fans. But Ford is betting that buyers will be willing to make the trade-off. Ford said poor gas mileage is the No. 1 reason shoppers reject the Explorer, which saw sales fall 88 per cent during the past decade, from 445,157 in 2000 to 52,190 last year.

Long-time observers say Ford has obviously made better design a priority. “These vehicles used to be very boxy in nature. Now there's some curvature,” Helby said. “From the old Explorer, this is night and day.”

The Explorer's improved fuel economy has been central to its social media marketing campaign. Ford has been rallying fans on Facebook, giving glimpses of the new vehicle and question-and-answer sessions with top executives.

It has also been touting the vehicle's safety features, which include inflatable seat belts for rear-seat occupants and curve control system.

“Ford has been riding a wave that I've never seen,” said Byron Pope, associate editor at industry journal Ward's Auto, who has covered Ford for about a decade.

“I've never seen them being compared favourably to Honda and Toyota. A lot of that has to do with not taking that money and standing on their own two feet,” Pope said.

Ford will start building the Explorer, which uses the Taurus platform, in Chicago in November.

“Ford isn't discussing volumes but they added a whole shift in Chicago, so that tells you something.” Pope said.

Ford ranked No. 1 for new car quality among mass-market brands, beating out foreign automakers, in the latest study by J.D. Power and Associates, conducted between February and May of this year.

Mondragon said sales have been holding steady this summer, and while the industry may be slowing, he is optimistic. “We do see an industry that started like a lion, but has been tempoing down, not to the point of being a lamb at the end of the year, but maybe like the fourth quarter of last year.”

He expects moderate sales growth of about 1 to 2 per cent for the next two years.

With files from the Star's wire services