03-26-2007, 09:31 PM
Ford Flex Replacing Minivan
26-3-2007
The Dow Jones newswires reports that Ford's new crossover vehicle, loosely based on the Fairlane concept from the 2005 Detroit show, will be shown in production-ready form at next month's New York auto show.
The Flex, Dow Jones says, is a larger crossover that Ford will use to effectively replace its minivans. The new vehicle will be built inOakville, Ontario, and will enter production on Sept. 15. The company will build 100,000 Flexes each year.
The Flex program, codenamed D471 inside Ford, has been one of the projects green-lighted as Ford reshuffles its product lineup, axing old vehicles and those in segments where Ford fell far behind in the 1990s. Ford's last minivan, the Freestar/Monterey, is exiting production this year.
The "Flex" badge is proof Ford hasn't entirely abandoned its obsession with nameplates beginning with the letter "F," despite going back on its Freestyle and Five Hundred designations in favor of Taurus.
And although we might know the new crossover's name, its final styling still remains a mystery. Unlike the Fairlane concept, the Flex will almost certainly have regular doors. But the extent of other changes is not known.
In December, Jim Hall, vice president of industry sales at AutoPacific, claimed to have seen the production model, and said it is notably different from the concept. "If you thought the concept was boxy, the production version won't be," he said.
However, Ford design chief J Mays recently stated it "looks almost exactly the same."
In January, Ford confirmed it would also build a Lincoln version of the crossover. Executives didn't provide a timeframe for the Lincoln vehicle, but said it would not be a simple re-badge of the Fairlane, although it will share some "key points" with the Ford version
26-3-2007
The Dow Jones newswires reports that Ford's new crossover vehicle, loosely based on the Fairlane concept from the 2005 Detroit show, will be shown in production-ready form at next month's New York auto show.
The Flex, Dow Jones says, is a larger crossover that Ford will use to effectively replace its minivans. The new vehicle will be built inOakville, Ontario, and will enter production on Sept. 15. The company will build 100,000 Flexes each year.
The Flex program, codenamed D471 inside Ford, has been one of the projects green-lighted as Ford reshuffles its product lineup, axing old vehicles and those in segments where Ford fell far behind in the 1990s. Ford's last minivan, the Freestar/Monterey, is exiting production this year.
The "Flex" badge is proof Ford hasn't entirely abandoned its obsession with nameplates beginning with the letter "F," despite going back on its Freestyle and Five Hundred designations in favor of Taurus.
And although we might know the new crossover's name, its final styling still remains a mystery. Unlike the Fairlane concept, the Flex will almost certainly have regular doors. But the extent of other changes is not known.
In December, Jim Hall, vice president of industry sales at AutoPacific, claimed to have seen the production model, and said it is notably different from the concept. "If you thought the concept was boxy, the production version won't be," he said.
However, Ford design chief J Mays recently stated it "looks almost exactly the same."
In January, Ford confirmed it would also build a Lincoln version of the crossover. Executives didn't provide a timeframe for the Lincoln vehicle, but said it would not be a simple re-badge of the Fairlane, although it will share some "key points" with the Ford version