ExplorerDude

The Platinum and ST grilles look best in my opinion, I don’t think I like the base, XLT, or Limited grilles. If we get an 2020 XLT, I’m popping out that grille and putting in a Platinum grille. Hope it’s an easy swap.

I agree I would love to see a new Sport Trac! It was and still is by far my most favorite Ford vehicle over the years. It was more SUV than truck with its molded composite bed and extra large power rear window which actually went down. It was the original “active lifestyle” vehicle which Ford is calling the Ranger now, it’s funny since the Sport Trac served that purpose first. The original Sport Trac was extremely popular and sold about 60,000 units a year. Unfortunately it’s 2007 Gen 2 redesign didn’t do as well as Gen 1 but I also think that was mostly due to rising gas prices and a general decline in SUV and truck sales at the time. I remember hearing at the time during its introduction that they chose to call it an Explorer because people were willing to pay more for an Explorer rather than a Ranger at the time. And it helped the Explorer maintain its #1 selling SUV title as well at the time. Back then there were 3 Explorer body styles. Still I’d love to see a new one but I feel like there would be too much overlap with a F150 SuperCrew and a Ranger SuperCrew. Those two cover those bases very well. Maybe they’ll call the little C2 pickup the Courier Sport Trac or Maverick Sport Trac. It’ll be a crewcab only as far as I know.

Next generation F-150 will be a 2021MY, with production slated to changeover mid-2020CY. The Bronco will also be a 2021MY with production slated to begin December 2020. It’s still 2 years out from rolling into showrooms.

The brand is Ram but the models go as 1500, 2500, 3500 series, etc. Dodge Ram became Ram 1500

Definitely Built Ford Proud, sorry I was typing too fast and autocorrected to Pride.

Yes sir! Honestly nothing new to report on from whats already been reported here. New Explorer is a stunner and should do very well. New Escape is like a Focus Active on steroids, Im really not digging it at all. It will sell like a CRV and RAV4 does, but it has become an appliance. I will say that the Mach 1 BEV is one of the best designs Ive ever seen from the blue oval. Still no name though. Thats gonna be a tough decision to get that right.

Its NOT Ford Proud, its Built Ford Proud. Its phenomenal and builds off of Built Ford Tough. Ive gotten an early preview and I think its some of the best advertising theyve done since Have you driven a Ford lately? Please wait until you see the national ads. I really think you will all enjoy them.

Bronco is supposed to start Q4 2020 and will be a 2021MY. The delay stems from the various back to the drawing board revisions until they could get the design right. This could have changed but last I heard it was a 2021MY.

Focus Active no longer coming to the US. http://www.autonews.com/article/20180831/OEM04/180839958/ford-focus-active-tariffs

I think itll be great, but those headlights will need to grow on me some. Overall better proportions, with less front and rear overhang. Better dash to axle ratio shows more space between front wheel and front door. While similar and not a major departure styling wise, its changed enough where people will be able to tell its a new Explorer.

Thanks for posting Bob! Really great read and yes its all very upsetting and frustrating to be honest. I dont know what happened after Mulally retired. Its only been 4 years and the place is again lost in the woods. Mark Fields made some mistakes in delaying key products for the recession that never happened but this all cant be blamed on Fields. I think Hackett is a likeable guy and hes brilliant but hes not quite the hands on CEO that Mulally was. As CEO Hackett divided up a lot of CEO duties to Farley, Hindrichs and Klevorn. Hackett also has a Chief or Staff? Is that necessary when you only have 8 direct reports?!? If Mulally werent in his mid-seventies at this point Id be the first to say bring him back. But hes retired and left his legacy and mark on a high note. Bill Ford has seen it all at this point. He knows what works and doesnt work so Im curious as to how far Bill will let the stock slide before the family wants another change.

Ford could name the Short C CUV as the "Escape Sport." Since they're going to move away from "Sport" and over to "ST" for the high performance variants there won't be any confusion at that point. Remember Nissan started doing this last year with the Rogue and Rogue Sport. The benefit is lumping both models together in sales numbers, thus keeping Rogue as one of the top CUV sales leaders. EcoSport Escape Sport Escape Edge Explorer Bronco Expedition Expedition Max Not a bad lineup.

I wonder if Expedition/Navigator production should eventually shift to another plant? Such as back to MAP - even with Ranger/Bronco production coming fully online by 2020? If the growth is really large enough long term. KTP also needs to build more Super Duty trucks as well. Any thoughts? Thankfully these are good problems to have.

I can say with total confidence that this blue Ranger is not what the US is getting. The US Ranger will have a grille with straight sides and nostrils (at least on FX4). This one also has the ROW rear backlight but the US Ranger uses the same one as the F150. The US Ranger will also have new taillights and tailgate. I think it's safe to say that styling wise the US Ranger will have some exterior differences compared to the updated ROW Ranger.

I think the new Ranger will do extremely well. I think it will easily go to the top of the sales charts once they hit dealers in large enough numbers. It should surpass the Colorado fairly easily but I'm not sure it can topple the Tacoma. Tacoma did over 190,000 units in 2016. I hear that Ford hopes to do somewhere between 130,000 - 150,000 Rangers a year in the US. I guess time will tell how much pent up demand there is for Ranger and how many would-be F150 sales will end up as actual Ranger sales.

We are getting closer....this one almost reminds me of the 2001 Sport Trac in Mandarin Orange. https://jalopnik.com/looks-like-the-new-ford-ranger-is-already-off-roading-i-1821660039

EcoSport volume is supposedly 60,000 to 70,000 units annually. It's going to be interesting to watch the demand versus the time it takes to get to dealers.

Yeah, it does make you wonder about not renaming the MKC at the same time since they are both MY2019's. I'm guessing the facelifted MKC will only be a 2 model year shelf life while the Nautilus will last 3-4 model years.

2019 Lincoln Nautilus Having a hard time posting the link from YouTube but it's official.

I've heard there is a solid chance that Ford may open up the "XL" currently fleet only trim level as a regular trim. Might be happening in order to lower the price point since Chevy introduced that lower priced Tahoe Custom without the 3rd row for MY18. Not that I think it will sell a lot I think it's a smart idea just to have as a price point. 2018 Tahoe Custom starts at $44,995 while 2018 Expedition XLT starts at $51,695.

Yes, looks good with straighter lines on the side of the frame. It will have a few different inserts that go in that frame. Honey comb mesh being one of them - think '18 F-150 STX package.

Again, my source who was at the Ford Dealer meeting this summer said that the pictures they showed of the US spec 2019 Ranger had different headlights, grille and front bumper fascia. The rear has different taillights and tailgate. The truck was very much like the global T6 but car experts could easily tell the differences. There will be multiple trim levels with XL, XLT + Sport package and an FX4 package. There was no mention of a Raptor at the meeting but that if it is offered in the US it will come a year or so later.

I hear that the Lincoln MKT has been dropped from retail for MY2018 since most units sold were going to fleet limos. The Lincoln website confirms it, they don't even show the MY2017 MKT anymore. Looks like it's still around for fleet though but they scrubbed Lincoln.com pretty well.

I'm also hearing that the 2.3 will be the standard engine and the 2.7 will be the upgrade.

Hi All, I have heard through the grapevine from a few sources who attended the Ford Dealer meetings this summer that the 2019 Ranger will be very close to the current T6 and not to expect a total redesign or major sheetmetal changes when it arrives next year. I'm guessing a lot of these spy shots are pretty spot on. Apparently the vehicle did have different headlights, grille and front fascia as well as new taillights and tailgate but the overall design mirrored a smaller F-150 style but a little smoother. No idea about what was done inside.