Oops.
Another bigger SUV is on the way.
Not one of the genre called behemoth, but rather one in which the emphasis is on “bigger” not “biggest.”
And you can thank a little SUV for making the bigger SUV possible.
The bigger SUV is the upcoming Ford Explorer, which gets a redesign and larger dimensions when it arrives shortly after the first of the year as a 2002 model.
Hard to believe, but Explorer is the oldest sport-utility vehicle in the Ford lineup, yet sales are up 10 percent this year from last. And Explorer is the top-selling Ford nameplate in Chicagoland among cars or trucks, according to Doug Scott, SUV group marketing general manager for Ford.
Scott was in town to brief the Midwest Automotive Media Association on Ford’s newest sport-ute, the compact 2001 Escape. And at the briefing Scott revealed that Escape’s stablemate, the Explorer, will not only be redesigned but also grow in size for 2002.
Scott wouldn’t get into specific details on the dimension changes, but said Explorer will swell sufficiently to offer a third seat in back for the first time. Third seats in SUVs are like cupholders in any other vehicle–gotta have ’em.
The new Explorer probably will be somewhat similar in size to the 2002 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, formerly Blazer; Oldsmobile Bravada; and GMC Envoy (the Jimmy name is being dropped). Those General Motors compacts (Transportation, April 23) grow to midsize models to keep up with the size of a Dodge Durango.
Olds will be the first GM division to bring out its redesigned Bravada after the first of the year, just about the same time as the new Explorer arrives. TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy will come out several weeks later.
Bravada will have its wheelbase extended by 6 inches, to 113; overall length by 10 inches, to 191.2; and width and height by 5 inches each, to 72.8 and 69.4 inches, respectively.
Bravada, like TrailBlazer and Envoy, also gets a new 4.2-liter, 250-horsepower in-line 6-cylinder engine, replacing the 4.3-liter, 190-h.p. V-6.
Scott wouldn’t talk about power plants in the larger Explorer, but noted that the new Escape is 1,000 pounds lighter than the Explorer and offers a 3-liter, 200-h.p. V-6 while the current Explorer offers a 4-liter, 210-h.p. V-6 and a 5-liter, 215-h.p. V-8. Rumor is a beefed-up 4.6-liter V-8 will replace the 5.
Other than the GM competition getting bigger, another major reason for Explorer to grow in size is that this fall Ford’s SUV lineup adds the Escape, which only slightly smaller than the current Explorer.
Scott said Explorer dimensions (and no doubt price) will be increased so Ford will offer two different size (and no doubt price) sport-utes so consumers don’t move out of Explorer and into the smaller (and no doubt cheaper) Escape.
As for Escape, the reason Scott was here, it will be offered only as a four-door. And 90 percent of the Escape build for this fall will be with the V-6, and 60 percent will be four-wheel- rather than front-wheel-drive versions.
In addition to the V-6, which comes with automatic transmission, Escape will offer a 2-liter, 130-h.p. 4-cylinder engine with manual transmission, Scott said. There are plans to add an automatic to the 4 eventually.
Gas prices, and an expected decline thereof, might dictate what Ford does, because Scott also said: “We’re going to watch market demand to see if we shouldn’t just offer the V-6 with automatic 100 percent across the line if that’s what consumers want.”
Gas prices may have soared in the Midwest, but Scott points out that the soaring prices aren’t universal across the nation.
A high-mileage diesel engine was talked about for Escape. But “diesels had a lot of negatives for the U.S.–smoke and noise–and were considered more suited in our full-size pickup trucks,” Scott said.
As a safeguard, however, Scott said Ford will bring out a gas/electric hybrid version of Escape for the 2003 model year, a vehicle that will obtain 40 miles per gallon in combined city/highway mileage. No word on just how many hybrid Escapes Ford plans to build.
And no word yet on Escape’s hybrid power plant. Scott said the batteries will be teamed with a new 4-cylinder gas engine. No details on that new 4-cylinder, however, or whether it will appear in other Ford vehicles.
