After many years of being truck-based on the Ford Ranger platform, the all-new Explorer, this year, will convert to a unibody, car-based chassis......not surprising, since few SUV owners in this class actually go off-road. However, since frame-rail vehicles usually have higher towing limits, it could (?) lose some towing capacity as a result...we'll have to wait for the official specs.

Another significant feature of the new Explorer its that it will be released on Facebook first, rather than the traditional way at at the auto-show circuit.


http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...rer09_ST_N.htm


DEARBORN, Mich. — As Ford Motor attempts to make itself more relevant to the masses, it's taking a unique marketing approach for the all-new Ford Explorer: launching it on Facebook instead of at an auto show.
Makes sense, considering customers may more likely be found hanging out online at the social-networking site with nearly 500 million members.

"We live in a 140-character society," says Scott Monty, Ford's head of social media, referring to the Twitter character limit. "When we have people's attention, we want to make sure it sticks."

Next week, Ford will begin its launch campaign for Explorer with teasers saying the SUV will be revealed "soon" on Facebook. Ford has not announced the date, just that it will be in July.



Production begins at the end of this year for the 2011 version of the vehicle that more than any other popularized the SUV. The original rolled out in 1990 as a 1991 model.

The new Explorer will, for the first time, be a car-based crossover, not a body-on-frame truck. Ford says the new model will get 25% better fuel economy, will have more safety features (such as inflating rear seat belts) and have a terrain-management system that lets drivers select drivetrain and suspension settings to fit the road or landscape.

The current Ford Explorer is "an old-school SUV," says Jake Fisher, senior engineer at Consumer Reports. "The new Ford Explorer is the type of vehicle that people want. It should hit the market much better than the last generation."

The marketing message will stress that the new Explorer better matches drivers' lives. "You're not going to see Explorer parked at the top of a cliff" in ads, says Matt VanDyke, director of U.S. marketing communications for Ford.

Over two decades, Explorer's marketing themes never strayed far from the outdoorsy life. Ads often showed it splashing through mud, winding around mountain roads and, yes, parked on cliffs.

The rugged SUV image went from cool and exciting in the '90s to a politically incorrect gas hog in the 2000s. Only 52,000 of the aging Explorers sold in 2009, down from 480,000 in its 1998 peak. The new one will be "realistic, yet aspirational," says Ford marketing manager Eric Peterson. "People still want to go someplace new and different. ... It's just not something they'll take to the top of K2."

Linking the Explorer with Ford's social-marketing strategy could help the brand be more relevant. Monty says Ford is using the Internet to help customers see it not as a faceless monolith, but as an organization of people like them who can answer questions, and listen to ideas and complaints.

Still, the Explorer reveal on Facebook is chancy.

"The auto industry is so closely tied to reviews and news from traditional media outlets that I think it is a risky move to eliminate an auto show announcement," says Heidi Sullivan, vice president of media research for Cision. But, "The buzz created could far outweigh any negative reactions."

 

Wow it is car based....

Ford's track record as of late has been good so this should be good. I'm sure Ford saw the Crossturd disaster on FB

 

Interesting approach (Facebook) for the new Explorer.

In reality being unibody and related towing capacity will be a non-issue.

Current truck-based Explorer has max towing capability of 7115 pounds. Current unibody Jeep Grand Cherokee (a similar sized and priced SUV) has max towing capability of 7400 pounds. In short proper design of unibody SUVs can meet the towing capacity limits that marketing wants, but the typical buyer rarely uses.

 

The type of frame/chassis involved plays a big role in towing capacity, but, of course, other factors are also involved. Engine torque, transmission/final-drive gearing, engine/transmission cooling-system capacity, tire PSI and capacity ratings (we found that out the hard way with previous Explorers), torsional/longitudional resistance of the frame to bending, suspension stiffness.....all of that, of course, plays a role.

As far as the towing-capacity issue itself is concerned, an increasing trend to that today is to simply rent a big, full-size, truck-based SUV for the few times one really needs it, like for towing horses or boats. You are correct that many owners rarely use the actual towing limits on most SUVs.

I agree with you that off-road capacity is not much of an issue, as the vast majority of Explorer owners remain on hard pavement most of the time. That is why Mercury didn't bother to put a low-range transfer case at all on the Mountaineer....the Explorer's twin. The Mountaineer, though, will obviously soon be out of production.

 

Yes, high limit towing capacity can and has been achieved with a unibody construction.

The reality is most buyers will never use the towing capabilities, but the marketing folks will insist on the ability to promote those kind of impressive towing limits.

The offering of low-range transfer case is another issue with a different kind of usage in mind. With the new Explorer offering low-range transfer case is not an alternative, being derived from a new Taurus.

 

Selected "like" on the Explorer page, uber excited for this one!!

 

All interesting questions, but not a test that most consumers will put the SUV to. Plus some of the other major components are more likely to fail before the frame (like tranny and cooling system, etc.) So in real life, because 98% of the SUV owners will not tow anything close to the limit, I think it's a non-issue.

 

^^^I agree. I find it odd that for example my body on frame brand new 2010 Toyota 4runner can "only" tow 5000lb while some car based SUV's can tow 7000lb???? Odds are my 4runner will hold up better(tranny, cooling, etc) than most car based SUV's and probably can tow more....Gx460 case in point(higher tow rating - same chassis). I am beginning to think tow ratings are decided by the makers lawyers rather than the engineers

Back on topic - hope the new Explorer is a hit for Ford!

 

Yes, and on the subject of the new Explorer, I'm expecting the new tow limits to be reduced from 7K to closer to the 5K-6K range.

 

Of course, with the new type of Facebook marketing, it's hard to predict what kind of reception the new Explorer will get, but, in general, I wouldn't predict a repeat of the early 1990's. Back then, the Explorer and the Jeep Grand Cherokee pretty much owned the mid-sized, mass-produced SUV market, as the Camry/Accord/Taurus did for mid-size sedans. Initially, there was little SUV competition, but, as the SUV-crazed 90s went on, the Explorer and Grand Cherokee went on to inspire a huge number of both truck and car-based competitors. Many of those competitors, of course (or THEIR successors), are still with us today, so the new Explorer, unlike 1990, is going to be stepping into an arena already filled up.

 

facebook????? Wow times have changed

 

I believe the current Grand Cherokee is still frame based, and its definitely riding on solid rear axle. The upcoming GC (if Chrysler survives until then) is supposed to be unibody with IRS.

The current Explorer, even if it is body on frame, utilizes independent rear suspension.

 

Grand Cherokee currently is unibody construction with solid rear axle, same as last gen.

 

Unconventional types of marketing, though, don't always work. For instance, Daewoo, a Korean firm, had been selling some of its vehicles in the U.S. under other brand names (such as the Daewoo-derived Pontiac Le Mans and the later Chevy Aveo and Suzuki Verona/Forenza/Reno). But, when they tried marketing vehicles under their own nameplates here, like the Lanos/Nubira/Leganza, they chose an unconventional method of pushing them mostly through college campuses (even in the car-rich D.C. area, there was only one conventional Daewoo franchise that I remember, co-located with a Ford dealership). The result was a huge flop......Daewoo, after a couple of years, gave up and pulled out of America. They continue, however, like before, to sell rebadged vehicles here under other names.

Of course, I'm not saying that will happen to the Explorer....most likely, it won't. Unlike Daewoo, the Explorer has already had years of great popularity here. But it DOES show that unconventional types of marketing often carry a risk.

 

I'm not so sure that anything will save the Explorer. I think that there is a spot for it, but it will def. never even see close to the numbers that it did.