Ford Explorer Sport Trac Concept to Debut at 2005 Detroit Auto Show

The Ford Explorer Sport Trac concept version will be shown off at the 2005 Detroit auto show in January. The design will still embody the Sport Trac part truck, part SUV characteristics, a Ford spokesman revealed.

Ford officials have hinted that the Sport Trac concept pushes both the interior and the cargo bed to larger dimensions, larger than the existing Explorer Sport Trac, which first launched in 2001. A version of Ford’s 4.6-liter V8 engine will power it, and it will ride on a version of the Ford’s newest Explorer platform that rolled out in 2003, with its independent rear suspension setup.

It will also be equipped with the automaker’s exclusive Roll Stability Control system. Ford Officials also insinuated the concept vehicle will keep the existing Sport Trac in the lineup, instead of being discontinued as was previously believed.

Ford Explorer & Excursion Sales Continue to Decline

Sources close to Ford declared sales of the Ford Explorer have continued to decline as the year ends in 2004. Sales of the Ford Explorer SUV fell 9% in November to 24,467 while sales of the larger Ford Excursion fell even more at 42% to 1,867. Both vehicles have experienced continued sales declines this year.

Ford has indicated it plans to cut one of two production shifts at its St. Louis Ford Explorer plant at the beginning of next year.

Industry analysts have reminded the public, however, that the F-Series truck sales have remained strong in 2004. Sales of Ford's F-Series pick-up truck line, which includes the Super Duty trucks built at the Kentucky Truck Plant, increased 2.7 percent to 66,477. F-Series sales have increased every month for the past 15 months. For the past three months, Ford has credited a new version of the Super Duty line for keeping sales up.

Ford F-150 Pickup Trucks Expected to Hit Record Sales for 2004

Ford Motor Co. has reported that it is nearing a record number of sales of the F-Series large pickup trucks in 2004. The truck market currently accounts for more than a quarter of Ford's domestic sales. It has edged out Nissan Motors line of trucks and and Toyota trucks as well.

Ford Trucks spokesman Jon Harmon said "Ford is very confident we'll break the record'' for full-size pickup sales. Sales of the F-150 Series pickup trucks until now were just 20,000 behind the peak of 911,597 in 2001, Harmon continued. Ford was the only U.S.-based automaker not to lose share in large pickups to the Nissans Titan and Toyota Tundra.

According to Autodata Corp. the F-Series trucks were overhauled and redesigned in the past two years, with Ford in 2003 calling the redesigned F-150, which accounts for 60% of the trucks' sales, its most important vehicle introduction that year. The F-Series boosted its U.S. market share for large pickup trucks 1.1 percentage points to 38.1% in 2004 through November.

Ford will also be counting on new and redesigned vehicles such as the Five Hundred sedan to stem a 14% drop in car sales this year, led by the Ford Taurus and Ford Thunderbird.

2005 Ford Freestyle to Offer Multitude of Options

The 2005 Ford Freestyle crossover SUV, with a chassis and certain styling characteristics similar to the Ford Five Hundred, has been officially launched by Ford Motors.

Descriptions of the new Ford Freestyle, as reported by a Ford marketing press release, include Ford Freestyle as a midsize crossover sport utility that could be described as a Ford 500 station wagon. It will be marketed to compete against the Toyota Highlander, which is also a crossover version of the Toyota 4Runner SUV.

Features of the Ford Freestyle are reported to include third row seating, foldaway seats, leather front bucket seats, 3.0-liter, 203-horsepower V-6 engine (similar to the Five Hundred) and continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).

Fuel economy of the Freestyle rates at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 24 on the highway. Pricing is said to begin at at $25,595 for the two-wheel-drive base Ford Freestyle SE model and $27,295 for the all-wheel-drive version.

Freestyle options include power moon roof, 18-inch aluminum wheels, fog lights, rear climate control, factory Ford roof rack, DVD entertainment center with ceiling-mounted LCD screen, power and heated folding exterior mirrors, keyless-entry keypad on the driver's door, automatic headlights, backup sensing safety system, leather-trimmed seats, Audiophile AM/FM/CD stereo with in-dash, six-disc changer, eight-way power driver's and four-way power passenger's seat, dual-zone automatic climate control, side air curtain, and driver and passenger side air bags, anti-theft perimeter alarm, woodgrain interior accents, driver message center, heated front seats, power windows and door locks with remote, cruise control, four-wheel antilock disc brakes, power adjustable floor pedals with memory and power steering.

Ford & DaimlerChrysler Increase Ballard Fuel Cell Investment

Ford Motor Co. & DaimlerChrysler announced their plans to invest $44.6 million in fuel-cell maker Ballard Power Systems Inc. The move is part of Ford and DaimlerChrysler's restructuring efforts. Their alliance is expected to speed development of the alternative-energy devices.

Ford will be purchasing 2.03 million shares at $12.34 (Canadian) a share, for a total of $25 million (Canadian), and DaimlerChrysler will buy 2.43 million shares at the same price for $30 million (Canadian), Ballard said in a statement. Ballard, of Burnaby, British Columbia, is the largest maker of fuel cells for cars and trucks.

Ballard reached an agreement July 8 with the automakers for the share purchase. It is reported that if Ballard hadn't opted to exercise the investment by Dec. 31 2004, the price would have been reset to market price. Since then Ballard shares have risen 53 cents, or 6.8 percent, to $8.35 (Canadian) on the Toronto stock exchange. Ballard said it expected to close the share sale early next month.

Ford, DaimlerChrysler and other automakers are currently under regulatory pressure to reduce pollution, and are developing fuel cells as a potential replacement for gas-powered internal-combustion engines. Fuel cells produce electricity in a chemical reaction that combines hydrogen and oxygen, with water vapor as the by-product.

As part of the July agreement, Ford and DaimlerChrysler agreed to increase their respective investments in Ballard. In addition to the share purchase, DaimlerChrysler and Ford committed $58 million to Ballard for the development of a new line of fuel cells and electronic drives. Ford and Daimler Chrysler automakers have already developed experimental concept cars that use Ballard fuel cells to power them.

Ford Econoline Van Assembly Operations to Consolidate

In an effort to consolidate Ford Econoline Van production, Ford recently announced the logistics of the move from the Lorain Assembly Plant to total consolidation at the Ohio Econoline assembly plant in Avon Lake. According to an anonymous bidder on the project, the move could cost Ford $100 million.

Ford has set the date at Dec. 23, 2005 and has notified the UAW for the Lorrain plant's formal closing. Ford has asked the union locals at both plants to start negotiating with each other on how their memberships will fare in the consolidation process. All 1,700 jobs in Lorain will eventually be lost, beginning next summer, however many of the workers will be able to move to Avon Lake with the Econoline.

Ford stated that "After the consolidation is complete, 1,200 jobs in all will have been eliminated from the two plants' combined work force of 3,800. Both plants currently contribute to the Econoline's production, and although the 4.1 million-square-foot Lorain plant is already more than half empty, the task of moving its remaining manufacturing equipment and related operations to Avon Lake will be enormous."

The Ohio Assembly Plant contains 3.7 million square-feet, and Ford said it doesn't plan an addition to accommodate the rest of the Econoline Van production, according to Eric Mitchell, spokesman for Ford. ''We hope to get it all under one roof,'' said Tom Laudick, a project manager for the Washington International Group, which provides construction, design and management for industry and auto plants and has been hired by Ford to help on the consolidation project.

The Ohio Assembly Plant produces the Mercury Mariner as well, but that will be reallocated by August 2005, according to Ford officials. Work on the Mercury Mariner is being moved to a plant in Kansas City.

''This is going to be a chore for everyone involved,'' said Tim Donovan, president of UAW Local 2000 which represents 1,900 workers at the Ohio Assembly Plant. ''There are no parts of the Ohio Assembly Plant that are being unused. As big as our plant is, there's not much floor space.'' Currently, the Ohio Plant assembles the Econoline Van bodies, paints and weather strips them before sending them to Lorain for final assembly, including putting the bodies on chassis's containing engines and drive trains.

''This is a unique situation, and will not be the norm for redesigning auto plants,'' said Jim Davis, a business development representative for Ghafari Associates, an architectural engineering and manufacturing consulting firm in Dearborn, Mich. ''This is one of the first times Ford has gone to an outside engineering firm to design the manufacturing of one of its plants,'' Davis noted. ''Ford is leaning toward updating its plants by making them more flexible to manufacture different products. They usually don't consolidate them. There's a lot of engineering to determine where the equipment and new line is going in the plant,'' Davis said. ''In this case, Ford is transferring a lot of equipment. The plant will have to be defined and refined, and then you take a look at the total engineering you've done for final assembly.''