Ford Motor Co. denied a published report Monday that it will stop building the Freestyle sport-utility vehicle in 2007 at its Torrence Avenue plant on Chicago’s South Side.
Trade newspaper Automotive News, citing unnamed sources, said the car-based “crossover” SUV would be dropped just three years after launch because of sluggish sales and because Ford will introduce similar models to replace it.
Vehicles normally stay in production at least five years to recover development costs.
“We’re committed to making the Freestyle for a long time,” Ford spokesman Dan Bedore said in denying the report.
“The Freestyle will continue, but I’m not going to put a date on it. In order to correct the story, I’d have to put out future product plans that we’re not ready to announce,” he said. “It’s a very speculative story. It doesn’t really characterize the situation that clearly.”
The Freestyle shares its platform and major mechanical components with the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans that Ford also builds at Torrence Avenue.
Production of the three models began in August 2004, and the plant is scheduled to add a Mercury version of the Freestyle in 2006 with different styling.
Ford projected the Freestyle and Five Hundred would each sell about 100,000 annually. This year, the Freestyle is lagging well behind, at 35,497 of an expected 49,138 through June.
Bedore said that is not a concern because a flexible manufacturing system at Torrence Avenue allows shifting production among the three models as needed.
“The beauty of it is that with the flexibility we’re able to change our production mix based on demand,” he said.
The news report comes after the Freestyle enjoyed its best month, selling 6,820 in June.
What’s more, crossover SUVs like the Freestyle are the industry’s hottest segment, drawing buyers from traditional truck-based SUVs like the Ford Explorer. Sales of crossover SUVs are up 16.3 percent this year, and truck-based SUVs are down 8.5 percent.
June was the first month the Freestyle and Five Hundred carried a cash rebate, $1,000 compared with $4,000 on the truck-based Explorer. Both are included in Ford’s employee-discount program this month and are getting deeper price cuts as a result.
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rpopely@tribune.com
