2023 Explorer Facelift?

[blwnsmoke]

Seems the China version is getting a facelift.  Would the US version get a facelift too?

 

https://fordauthority.com/2022/02/2023-ford-explorer-refresh-for-china-has-leaked/

 

 

[pictor]

Not that I am in the market for an explorer but I hope we don’t get that overly large grill. Will this trend of overly large grills only end we we go electric. 

[rmc523]

Holy screen batman lol.

 

I have a feeling we won't see ours changed as much as the Chinese model will change.

[fuzzymoomoo]

I like the back end 

[silvrsvt]

Any reason why they are showing  RHD Explorer too?

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

I like the back end 

I'm digging it as well, the rear of the 5th always looked better than the rear of the 6th gen imo. The rear on this is a massive improvement.

[Dlcorbett]

The Chinese explorer looks way better than ours..the refresh makes me like em lol.

[ANTAUS]

Personally...my taste, Not looking the Chinese one.  I say focus on the interior materials and quality which has been a sore point with many reviewers, than focus that much on the snout.

[FordBuyer]

10 hours ago, ANTAUS said:

Personally...my taste, Not looking the Chinese one.  I say focus on the interior materials and quality which has been a sore point with many reviewers, than focus that much on the snout.

 

I agree....Explorer and Escape need better interior materials foremost, especially doorcards and more integrated, attractive touchscreens. Tired of reading about cheap Ford interior quality in review after review. A new noseclip won't change that. If Kia can get reviewers raving about their interiors, then Ford can do it too. Most reviewers seem to love Lincoln interiors. So Ford knows how to create attractive interiors. 

[FordBuyer]

11 hours ago, Dlcorbett said:

The Chinese explorer looks way better than ours..the refresh makes me like em lol.

 

That is very frustrating to see Cold War China get so much exciting new product, most of which will never come here. And N.A. supplies most of Ford's profit to boot. Ford is playing with fire putting so many resources into a country that is becoming more of an enemy of U.S. every month that passes. Russia/China are the new Axis powers of the 21st Century. 

[bzcat]

15 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

Any reason why they are showing  RHD Explorer too?

 

It's just a mirrored photo, for some reason. It's not RHD.

 

The Chinese Escape looks a lot more upscale than the US Escape but I can't say the same thing about this Chinese Explorer facelift exterior. The interior is nice though... I think Ford US should bring over the large horizontal screen interior design. 

[ausrutherford]

I think we will see a facelift, but with a different grill than the Chinese version. 

[silvrsvt]

8 hours ago, ausrutherford said:

I think we will see a facelift, but with a different grill than the Chinese version. 

Yeah I agree the rear end is good but that front end doesn’t work for me. 

[rmc523]

1 hour ago, silvrsvt said:

Yeah I agree the rear end is good but that front end doesn’t work for me. 

 

The grille is too large.

 

But if the 2020 US/China differentiation is any indication of what happens, we'll see our model have a slightly different front likely with a smaller grille.

[Andrew L]

 

This image as with the others was on carscoops.

 

I am not really liking the updated front end but love the updated rear end the tail light treatment is sharp

[jpd80]

 

That’s gotta be a gag photograph……because I’m gagging looking at it.

 

[jpd80]

On 2/13/2022 at 10:52 AM, silvrsvt said:

Any reason why they are showing  RHD Explorer too?

Definitely not RHD, blow the image up and look at the footwell, there’s a foot rest

on the outer side where the accelerator pedal should be. it a reversed LHD picture.

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by jpd80

[silvrsvt]

11 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Definitely not RHD, blow the image up and look at the footwell, there’s a foot rest

on the outer side where the accelerator pedal should be. it a reversed LHD picture.

 

 

I figured, but that is really weird to reverse a digital photo like that...we aren't using negatives or slides anymore LOL

[bzcat]

The place you stole the picture from stole it from somewhere else. They mirrored it to avoid bot detection or reverse image search. 

[tbone]

Well, I don’t usually like to buy vehicles before a generation change or mid cycle but these pics tentatively make me feel good about taking delivery of a 2022 ST tomorrow night to replace our 2020.  I guess we will have to wait and see what the American version looks like to determine if that was a good decision or not.  
 

One point of contention, I am getting tired of seeing very sophisticated interiors in Chinese Ford products and then we get rather utilitarian versions.  Are Ford products in China considered more up market or are they similarly priced to the American versions?

[rmc523]

2 hours ago, tbone said:

Well, I don’t usually like to buy vehicles before a generation change or mid cycle but these pics tentatively make me feel good about taking delivery of a 2022 ST tomorrow night to replace our 2020.  I guess we will have to wait and see what the American version looks like to determine if that was a good decision or not.  
 

One point of contention, I am getting tired of seeing very sophisticated interiors in Chinese Ford products and then we get rather utilitarian versions.  Are Ford products in China considered more up market or are they similarly priced to the American versions?

 

I think ours will be more toned down than what we see here.

 

But I do agree on the interior comment - seems like the last few releases (namely Escape and Explorer) have been criticized for being behind the competition/not good enough.

 

Does Ford still sell last-gen versions of products alongside new gen stuff over there?  I wonder if that approach allows them to push the newer products a bit higher?

[bzcat]

13 hours ago, tbone said:

 

One point of contention, I am getting tired of seeing very sophisticated interiors in Chinese Ford products and then we get rather utilitarian versions.  Are Ford products in China considered more up market or are they similarly priced to the American versions?

 

In a word, yes.

 

Basically, car buyers in the US have the lowest expectation of all the major markets so car companies (not just Ford) tend to give the US market the cheapest interior they can get away with. They wouldn't do that in Europe or China because consumers will not put up with rough plastic or crude designs. This has been the case forever. 

 

[silvrsvt]

1 hour ago, bzcat said:

Basically, car buyers in the US have the lowest expectation of all the major markets so car companies (not just Ford) tend to give the US market the cheapest interior they can get away with. They wouldn't do that in Europe or China because consumers will not put up with rough plastic or crude designs. This has been the case forever. 

 

But IMO I think in some cases (cue the infamous Focus interior complaints 20 years ago) its way overstated-That is seeing actual product overseas and owning a similar product at the same time.

 

The other issue is Ford vs Lincoln, in most overseas markets Ford doesn't have Lincoln to compete against, so they can spend more on interiors. 

[akirby]

2 hours ago, bzcat said:

 

In a word, yes.

 

Basically, car buyers in the US have the lowest expectation of all the major markets so car companies (not just Ford) tend to give the US market the cheapest interior they can get away with. They wouldn't do that in Europe or China because consumers will not put up with rough plastic or crude designs. This has been the case forever. 

 

Ummm… you’re forgetting that we have Lincoln in North America and most other countries do not.   In addition to local tastes and competition.

[Donaldo]

2 hours ago, bzcat said:

 

In a word, yes.

 

Basically, car buyers in the US have the lowest expectation of all the major markets so car companies (not just Ford) tend to give the US market the cheapest interior they can get away with. They wouldn't do that in Europe or China because consumers will not put up with rough plastic or crude designs. This has been the case forever. 

 

 

From what I can gather the base price 4 cylinder (XLT equivalent) trim Explorer in China costs $45,000 USD, while the USDM market base price is $36,000. I believe Europe is similar in that they pay more than US customers do. 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Donaldo