Ford puts Explorer Sport Trac on hiatus

[nsap]

Ford puts Explorer Sport Trac on hiatus


By Amy Wilson
Automotive News / April 25, 2005


DETROIT - Production of the Ford Explorer Sport Trac will halt for seven months starting in late June as Ford redesigns the model.

The Sport Trac, an Explorer-based SUV with a pickup bed, will go back into production as a 2007 model around Feb. 1 at Ford's Louisville, Ky., assembly plant. The hiatus means there will be no 2006 model year for the Sport Trac.

Ford is shutting down Sport Trac production so it can launch a re-engineered 2006 Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer later this summer.

The Sport Trac will migrate to the updated Explorer platform when it returns in 2006.

Until the planned break, Ford will try to boost inventories by shifting some additional production capacity to the Sport Trac, which is holding onto sales better than its bigger SUV siblings, Ford spokesman Dan Bedore said. But because of limited parts availability and scheduled downtime at the Louisville plant, the added production won't be enough to keep Sport Trac sales from trailing off sharply this year.

Ford won't break out exact numbers, but the company says Sport Trac sales rose by 20 percent in March and were flat for the first quarter as a whole. By contrast, total Explorer sales plunged by 25.1 percent in the first quarter. Ford sells about 60,000 Sport Tracs annually.


Continue Reading... http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=52719

[goblue]

Strange...
There must be a good reason for this, but most car companies are capable of redesigning a model while selling the previous generation. Is there another vehicle on the same platform that is finished, so the business case isn't there? I want to give Ford the benefit of the doubt on this part. But...

Regardless, as the Sport Trac is on the old platform - its probably better for society if they stop building them. I'm not going to take the time to look it up - but I remember the Sport Trac was not a particularly safe SUV. Really sad cost cutting that this thing wasn't on the current platform in the first place.

[joey]

So Ford's gonna stop making one of the few SUV models that's selling? Now I see why GM and Ford are loosing market share with bright moves like this. I would think the new sport trac would be made on the current Explorer production line. Why shut down the old line?

[Z28x]

When Ford posts Explorer sales, is the Sport trac included? Where is the new Ranger?

[zaxxis]

It could be that Ford is converting this facility over to their flexible build architecture.


Z

[dreadnaught1181]

Hopefully the new one can kill that ugly little gremlin of a truck called the Ridgeline.

[awalbert88]

Most likely the downtime at the plant is because it is being converted to their flexible manufacturing system. The same thing was done when the Mustang model switchover happened.

It's interesting that the Explorer is getting a major update this quickly. The current design came out in early 2001 as an 02 model, if I remember corectly. I'm rather pleased that Ford is seriously taking on the approach of redesigning their best sellers every few years, rather than letting them sit until every last sale of a model has been exhausted.

[asim]

i never really liked that truck. just didn't look good to me

[syr74]

A lot of different things could be the cause of this. Part of it is likely due to the conversion to flexible manufacturing. Ford is also going to want to work the bugs out of any new types of equipment they may be using and this is a lot easier to do with fewer body styles running down the line.

Also, Ford likely wants to concentrate on getting the Explorer/Mountaineer back on it's feet again and the Sport Trak could be a distraction. Keeping it simple works wonders in the world of marketing and Ford desperately needs to redefine and reinvigorate the Explorer.

With the new V-8 and much improved interiors the truck has the goods to be very appealing so Ford initially concentrating on these two would make sense.

[Swahili]

Originally Posted by dreadnaught1181

Hopefully the new one can kill that ugly little gremlin of a truck called the Ridgeline.

Agreed. Does Honda consider the Ridgeline to be a pickup or an SUT? Either way, I would also be pumped to see the new generation Sport Trac run circles around the Honda.

What I'm more curious about is the SVT concept of the Sport Trac, Adrenaline (sp?). Will it be produced as a new generation when the redesigned Sport Trac rolls off the line?

[genjy]

When I was reading that piece of news, I was hoping the Sport Trac would return on the new F-150's platform and not the Ranger/Explorer's. The Sport Trac Adrenaline concept shows that Ford has a F-150 based Sport Trac in mind.

[syr74]

Originally Posted by genjy

When I was reading that piece of news, I was hoping the Sport Trac would return on the new F-150's platform and not the Ranger/Explorer's. The Sport Trac Adrenaline concept shows that Ford has a F-150 based Sport Trac in mind.

The Adrenaline concept was based on the new Explorer, not the F-Series.

[AdmiralViscen]

Some points:

The Explorer Sport Trac doesn't sell that much, so this isn't an example of why the domestics keep sliding.

An F-150 Sport Trac would be no different from an F-150 Double Cab.

[tombalas]

Is the Honda Ridgeline selling well? The two at my local Honda dealer in NJ seem to be collecting dust - and I have never seen one on the road.

[Tiger]

Bring on the replacement! It's time. :thumbsup: