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RIP: Ford Flex


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10 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Probably going to get one in the next few months. Way better value than a 2020 Explorer. 

 

Depends on what you value-if you just need a car or transportation its fine...but buying a car isn't always about making sensible decisions for some people. 

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Somebody who works at the plant mentioned that production ends December 1st.  We've known there were layoffs happening at the plant, but they confirmed it was tied to Flex going away.  MKT production ended a couple weeks ago, but Aviator is effectively the successor.  Flex has no successor.  

 

Edited by Assimilator
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51 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

 

Depends on what you value-if you just need a car or transportation its fine...but buying a car isn't always about making sensible decisions for some people. 

 

Need a third row. Planning on potentially having a third child sometime within the next year or so and the lease on the Fusion has another 2 years on it. Since the Focus is as good as dead we can at least use it to get registration and doc fees covered since I doubt we can get much out of it at this point. 

 

Since this will be our long term family car we want a few extra features on it but still don't really want or need something fully loaded. To get that out of a 2020 Explorer is over $40k yet we can get basically the same thing (and a little more actually, The particular Flex I'm looking at is actually stickers at $42k but has way more options than a similarly priced Explorer) with the more car-like seating position my wife prefers for about $10k less since there's not much cash on the hood for Explorers right now. would be absolutely stupid to pass that up. 

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This was a Mark Fields pet project (well before he was CEO), it was a concept that didn't go through the typical development cycle and review clinics.  Ford almost never does this now because it seldom works.  The Flex is a good example of a product that was largely developed in a corporate vacuum isolated from the marketplace. They created something they were proud of (and legitimately so), but it was very poorly received by the public who took very little interest and weren't as enamored by the design as Ford (or the critics) were.  Ford just couldn't sell something like this. 

 

I really like the Flex, but it's also one of those products that was doomed from its inception.  It failed to became the phenomenon it needed to be. 

 

 

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37 minutes ago, Assimilator said:

This was a Mark Fields pet project (well before he was CEO), it was a concept that didn't go through the typical development cycle and review clinics.  Ford almost never does this now because it seldom works.  The Flex is a good example of a product that was largely developed in a corporate vacuum isolated from the marketplace. They created something they were proud of (and legitimately so), but it was very poorly received by the public who took very little interest and weren't as enamored by the design as Ford (or the critics) were.  Ford just couldn't sell something like this. 

 

I really like the Flex, but it's also one of those products that was doomed from its inception.  It failed to became the phenomenon it needed to be. 

 

 


I love my Flex, it's been great, but it's quite outdated at this point.  I'm sad to see it go, but it's outlived it's lifespan a few years ago.   I do wonder if an updated interpretation with a hybridized (or electric) powertrain would do better now that crossovers are the thing - including lower slung ones.  I used to get so many questions "is that Flex fuel or a hybrid?"

 

I had done a few quick little sketches a while back:

ti6yXdJ.jpg

Edited by rmc523
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41 minutes ago, rmc523 said:


I love my Flex, it's been great, but it's quite outdated at this point.  I'm sad to see it go, but it's outlived it's lifespan a few years ago.   I do wonder if an updated interpretation with a hybridized (or electric) powertrain would do better now that crossovers are the thing - including lower slung ones.  I used to get so many questions "is that Flex fuel or a hybrid?"

 

I had done a few quick little sketches a while back:

ti6yXdJ.jpg

 

I like your evolution of the product. Looks pretty sharp. 

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Here is the official word from Oakville. Our Plant manager Ron Prahin notified us today that C shift is gonna be eliminated in all of bodybuild. Body 1,2 and 3. They plan to lay-off 450 people as a result in February. We will be down from Dec 20th to January 13th. In final assembly, they will reduce line speed to 52 units an hr. The week of November the 25th,  the Flex will be going out of production. That goes in line with the Dec 1st date I gave earlier. 

Edited by Oacjay98
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They have been saying for a few years the D platform vehicles were gonna go. They lasted longer than I thought they would. We knew from last year this was coming. Interesting to see what happens going forward. UAW contract first, you guys will get product commitments and have already. We have to wait and see what and if anything we will get in additional to 539/540. I would hope that we Canadians get a little investment in our toe print in fords overall footprint.

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11 minutes ago, Oacjay98 said:

The Flex was also very expensive that I believe was a factor as well as the love it or hate it styling. Personally I think they look great. Shooter you must’ve been talking about the MKT cause they were used for hearses and livery vehicles. 

 

Its a better value than a 2020 Explorer 

Edited by fuzzymoomoo
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The Flex was a more premium vehicle when it debuted, but by the time the 2011 Explorer came along, it was the same...and by the time the 2016 Explorer update came along, it was cheaper.

 

It's easy to forget now, but Ford really struggled with the 3-Row Crossover early on, they had a hard time reconciling the BOF Explorer SUV and the early 3-Row Crossover.  Ford failed to anticipate the collapse of the old school Explorer SUV and didn't quite commit to the Crossover transition like GM, so the Freestyle was their weird and ungainly wagon tweener.  It underperformed while GM produced the Lambda products which ended up being the archetype for the segment.  This is where it doesn't always pay to be early to market, Ford didn't make the right bet.  Eventually we got the 2011 Explorer which they rushed to market on a very short time table, it was basically a reaction to Ford dragging their heels on Explorer while the Freestyle/Taurus X and Flex kept under achieving.  Despite the extreme age of the platform and the rushed development, Explorer was a huge success.  Sometimes you just need the right people kicking some butts.  

 

Personally I was always perplexed by Ford's priorities on the 3-Row Utility and resented the Flex for being the niche product while Ford was desperately lacking a volume seller.

 

I have to say the 2020 Explorer does remind me a bit of the Mark Fields leadership that brought us the off-the-wall Flex, but this time not even the critics are that enamored despite how uniquely ambitious it is.  I have my doubts the Explorer was developed with that typical Ford customer focus, I have a hard time believing they got through the development process without putting armrests or USB ports in the 3rd row without running this by their customer studies.  It's hard to ignore that lack of thoughtfulness of the Explorer in the tangibles, especially for something way more expensive than the competition.  I really doubt this will be the phenomenon of the 2011-2019 Explorer, despite the ambition.  It's not that attractive, the money isn't visible, and the competition is really good.  

Edited by Assimilator
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1 hour ago, Assimilator said:

Ford didn't make the right bet.  Eventually we got the 2011 Explorer which they rushed to market on a very short time table, it was basically a reaction to Ford dragging their heels on Explorer while the Freestyle/Taurus X and Flex kept under achieving.  

 

I'm gonna call you out this one-the Explorer wasn't rushed-it came out roughly year and half after the Flex-which was more or less the Taurus X replacement at the time.


The BOF Explorer was all new in 2002 and had a major update in 2006...plus your completely forgetting the economic and gas pricing situation back in 2007-2010 time period. The GM Lambdas aren't true competition to the Explorer anyway-they are larger vehicles that where a replacement for the Trailblazer platform and minivans GM had. 

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With zero updates, and zero advertising, the Flex has sold more this year than any Lincoln other than the MkC and Nautilus, and it was close to the MkC and not too far off from the Nautilus. 
 

I love my Flex. It’ll be up for replacement next year (I do a 5 year loan and offset my two cars).  I’d buy another in a heartbeat if it had been updated at all. Was never much of a fan of the current fascia either. 

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8 hours ago, Assimilator said:

I think the cut is probably to bring production in-line with demand for Edge and Nautilus, not just the elimination of Flex which has largely been a rounding error for the most part.  

I find that interesting seeing as how based on the latest figures Edge and Nautilus are up. They have wanted to eliminate C shift in Paint and Body for some time now. They already killed it in paint and now body will be soon. 

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