EXPLORER/STILL HEAD OF THE CLASS

摘要

Ford's 2006 Explorer is not a clean-sheet redesign of it best-selling mid-size SUV, but an extensive update of the previous model. Throwing out the work that made the previous vehicle the segment leader-a title the Explorer has held since its 1990 introduction-didn't make sense. However, the rapidly changing light-truck market meant a quick restyle and interior updating wouldn't last against a flood of competitors. Something more complete was necessary. "When the Explorer was launched in 1990," says Judy Curran, chief engineer on the 2006 Explorer program, "the total SUV market was 929,000 units, or 6.5 percent of the vehicle market. By 2004, SUV sales accounted for 27.5 percent of the total market, the number of nameplates had risen from a few dozen to more than 200, and the market had fragmented into various sub-segments from what had been a traditional body-on-frame light truck segment." The crossover portion continues to grow at the expense of traditional SUVs like the Explorer, but Curran and her team reasoned the buyer for a traditional SUV-an on- and off-road vehicle with the ability to tow-shouldn't be sacrificed to chase that target. "Especially," she adds, "when our competition is busily adding new vehicles into this segment."