It's been a week in which too much Aussie Ford news just wasn't enough. But now that some positive news is trickling out about the Falcon -- and Mustang -- we turn our attention to SUVs.
There was very little specific mention of the Australian-designed and built Territory in Detroit, so perhaps there's even more broadsheet-friendly news to be published, hinting that the next Explorer will replace the Territory, in accordance with 'One Ford'?
The American market SUV has gone on a diet for 2011. In the eternal quest for fuel efficiency Ford has adopted monocoque construction and transverse engine mounting for the new Explorer, which is due to enter production before the end of the year and retail in North American markets not long after. It's a very different beast from the full-chassis models, such as the one that allegedly suffered a cruise control malfunction late last year*.
These pics were snapped by master spy photographers, Carparazzi, and show a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 EcoBoost variant. It's understood that the new Explorer, which shares broad-brush styling cues with the Explorer America concept, will also offer a 2.0-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder engine. It's this engine that's expected to power the four-cylinder Falcon set to go on sale later this year.
There's no word from Carparazzi as to whether the 'softroad' Explorer, codenamed U502, will be built in right-hand drive, let alone with diesel engine options. According to the spy photographers, there will be three rows of seats, although they refer to the third row as 'jump seats', which doesn't fill us with much confidence that they'll accommodate adults.
The very existence of this vehicle -- and the pics to prove it -- leads us to wonder how the 'One Ford' strategy can reconcile this vehicle and the locally-manufactured Territory. Both will be on sale in different markets at the same time and in parallel. If the parent company decides to build the Explorer in RHD form, you'd imagine there'd be some pressure on Ford Australia to accept it as a product offering in the local market. Prepare for another Falcon vs. Taurus-style mammoth contest...
If the Explorer doesn't end up being considered as a replacement for the Territory, it then begs the question, what does 'One Ford' actually mean, where existing products are concerned?
Ford Australia has already acknowledged that the head office in Dearborn will allow some autonomy under 'One Ford', where it suits the local market to do so, but with word on the street suggesting that Falcon and Mustang will share the same platform in the post-FG era, where does that leave Territory? Up speculation creek without a paddle, we would submit.
If sales of the diesel Territory due next year really take off, Ford Australia would be unlikely to relinquish that market entrant for an imported-from-America model that can't build on that market success.
So, what the future holds may well depend on whether 'One Ford' is a whole number or an improper fraction...
* Victoria Police reported last month that they had found nothing mechanically amiss with that car.
-- with Carparazzi
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