The Ford "Valdez" Is No More

[Perian]

Link: bizjournals.com

Ford Motor Ends Excursion Production
Friday September 30, 2:36 pm ET



Ford Motor Co. ceased production of its Excursion sport-utility vehicle at Louisville's Kentucky Truck Plant on Friday, according to the Financial Times.

The 19-foot-long vehicle, which carried a 44-gallon fuel tank, had been on the market for six years.

Published September 30, 2005 by Business First

Ford sold more than 50,000 of the 19-foot-long behemoths when the Excursion debuted in October 1999, but sold only 20,000 last year, the Detroit News said.

Conservationists and environmentalists made the Excursion a poster-child for Detroit excess dubbing it the 'Ford Valdez,' a reference to an Exxon oil tanker that ran aground in Alaska.

The Excursion was so big it couldn`t fit in some car washes and garages. The V-10 SUV had a 44-gallon fuel tank because it got around 12 mpg.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/b...Ford_Excursion

[Perian]

The Excursion was given the name "Valdez" by various environmental groups in an attempt to compare it to the famous 1989 oil spill.

According to posts on this and other websites, the Excursion will be replaced in about six months with an extended version of the new Expedition - as GM does with the Tahoe/Surburban.

The Excursion sold about 50,000 units a year until the invention of $3 a gallon gasoline sealed its fate.

[MelvinJ]

Seriously, 50,000?? I thought it was down to about 15,000/yr the past couple of years.

[GM_Fanatic]

50,000 still seems pretty profitable on a big SUV like that. I thought it was doing worse as well.

[FoMoCo Fan]

[quote=Perian]The Excursion sold about 50,000 units a year until the invention of $3 a gallon gasoline sealed its fate.[/QUOTE

WRONG. It was scheduled to depart long before gas went above $3.00 a gallon.

[Ming]

[quote=FoMoCo Fan]

Originally Posted by Perian

The Excursion sold about 50,000 units a year until the invention of $3 a gallon gasoline sealed its fate.[/QUOTE

WRONG. It was scheduled to depart long before gas went above $3.00 a gallon.

Didn't Ford plan to kill it by about a year ago and then renege and decide to build it a bit longer or "indefinitely"?

[Saturn69]

I'm sorry, but the only people I could see actually having a need for that...that...mini-semi (or is that semi-mini?) are the Partridge Family or Brady Bunch types, or rap stars. But of course, I've seen the 5'3" 40-ish woman driving one to the corner store. Lord knows she needs the room...? That there Big-Gulp won't fit in the car.

[mbukukanyau]

Originally Posted by Perian

The Excursion was given the name "Valdez" by various environmental groups in an attempt to compare it to the famous 1989 oil spill.

According to posts on this and other websites, the Excursion will be replaced in about six months with an extended version of the new Expedition - as GM does with the Tahoe/Surburban.

The Excursion sold about 50,000 units a year until the invention of $3 a gallon gasoline sealed its fate.

That thing is no bigger than the Suburban and the first time I heard production was scheduled for end of production was 2003, gas then was nowhere near where it is today. Plus, most excursions are power stroke diesels or Cummins…
Fuel for a buyer of such a massive vehicle is not an issue.. And Ford has scheduled a replacement with a Fugly expedition based SUV that will guzzle more….
Do you realize how members of the press will do anything to advance their agenda? All this is public information yet the author chooses to say what his ears love to hear, at the expense of misleading the society, whose function is very much dependent on dissemination of facual and truthful information..

The west in my opinion is headed for conflict and turmoil, primarily due to the half truths about democracy, governance, and conspiracy theories out there, that are repeated so often, that reasonable people believe them as factual and base their decision making on these lies

[notacarguy]

Ford's fuel-guzzling Excursion reaches end of line



By Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News


As gasoline prices hover near record highs and the company's chairman outlines a greener future, the last Excursion will roll off Ford Motor Co.'s assembly line in Louisville today -- marking the end for the gas-guzzling behemoth of an SUV that, for many, came to symbolize Detroit's excesses.


The Excursion debuted in 2000. Ford sold more than 50,000 that year, but sales have slid ever since.

The company only moved 20,000 last year.

For environmentalists, the 19-foot-long SUV built on a heavy-duty truck frame exemplified the worst of sport utility vehicles. It was too big to fit in some car washes. It boasted a 44-gallon fuel tank. And, equipped with a V-10, it barely got 12 miles to the gallon, prompting some environmentalists to rename it the "Ford Valdez" after Exxon's ill-fated oil tanker.

"The fact that (Ford) realized the Valdez is not the way the market is going is another good sign," said Brendan Bell, a vehicle analyst with the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C., who also praised Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr.'s recent announcement that Ford will produce more hybrid vehicles. "We hope this is another sign that Ford is moving in the right direction. They need to be building vehicles that are more like the hybrid Escape and less like the Valdez."

Continuted at: http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosins...C01-332800.htm

[MelvinJ]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

That thing is no bigger than the Suburban and the first time I heard production was scheduled for end of production was 2003, gas then was nowhere near where it is today. Plus, most excursions are power stroke diesels or Cummins…
Fuel for a buyer of such a massive vehicle is not an issue.. And Ford has scheduled a replacement with a Fugly expedition based SUV that will guzzle more….
Do you realize how members of the press will do anything to advance their agenda? All this is public information yet the author chooses to say what his ears love to hear, at the expense of misleading the society, whose function is very much dependent on dissemination of facual and truthful information..

The west in my opinion is headed for conflict and turmoil, primarily due to the half truths about democracy, governance, and conspiracy theories out there, that are repeated so often, that reasonable people believe them as factual and base their decision making on these lies

It is actually about a half foot longer and I believe over 500 pounds heavier than the 3/4 ton Suburban (again, Ford keeps curb weight a secret on their website, but I think the V10 4X4 Excursion weighs about 7200 lbs vs. about 6500 for a 3/4 ton 4X4 Suburban).

[ElmerMCR]

It seems like I have been reading the same article about the Excursion's production ending for a few years now. At least it is really over now.

[MN12Fan]

Ford was considering ending production a good year or two ago because of bad PR but continued building Excursions since demand justified keeping it around. With the Super Duty platform, which the Excursion is based on, getting redesigned for '07 Ford was given the opportunity to decide what to do with the Excursion. They could put the Excursion on the new Super Duty platform, end production altogether, or base a new vehicle on the Expedition which is also getting redesigned for '07. They chose the latter. As such, all that is truly ending with the Excursion is the name. There will continue to be a very large SUV in Ford's stable after a relatively short hiatus.

[Perian]

[quote=FoMoCo Fan]

Originally Posted by Perian

The Excursion sold about 50,000 units a year until the invention of $3 a gallon gasoline sealed its fate.[/QUOTE

WRONG. It was scheduled to depart long before gas went above $3.00 a gallon.

True - but I said "Sealed its fate".

As you may be aware, the Excursion received several production extensions over the past few months.

With a profit estimate between 12 and 18 thousand dollars (depending on model variation), it was certainly in Ford's best interest to produce every unit possible.

[Swahili]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

That thing is no bigger than the Suburban

I think the Valdez...errr Canyonero....err..Excursion was slightly longer, wider and taller than the Suburban. It definitely weighs more as well.

My dad contemplated getting an Excursion and using it as a work vehicle. He used to have an extended length E-350 XLT with a 460 that he used for work. That thing was a beast. When he pulled all of the seats out, there was a ton of space to put his materials and tools and such, ladders and scaffolding went on the roof rack. When he got rid of the Club Wagon, he though of getting the Excursion because it was similar in size and usability. Instead, he bought a '98 Chevy 1500 W/T with which he does smaller jobs with.

[chickenkicker]

A close friend of mine owns one. She dislikes the mileage (she got the V8 not the V10) but needed something she can fit an entire girl scout troop and all their stuff/supplies/etc in. That's all it's used for tho, she drives a focus to work, etc.