Ford reinvents popular Explorer
’20 model new “from ground up,” company says.
The redesigned 2020 Ford Explorer, America’s best-selling SUV in history, made its public debut last week at a huge company celebration in Detroit.
Car buyers will see the popular vehicle in showrooms later this year. It is the Explorer’s first complete redesign since the 2011 model year.
Ford engineers described it as lighter, leaner and stronger – but, most importantly, designed with the consumer at the center.
“We reinvented the Explorer from the ground up,” said Bill Gubing, global chief engineer of the Ford Explorer program. “Over the last eight years, our team has been together, living this customer, breathing this customer – studying, learning, understanding this customer.”
He added, “We went to observe them in the wild” to get candid, unscripted feedback.
Engineers and designers observed every major and minor detail, adding storage space to the interior, “a landing pad for the foot” just inside the rear doors to stand and load things onto the roof. It has square cup holders for juice boxes, said Gubing, himself a father of young kids.
When Ford employees participated in a day to bring children to work, youngsters were set loose in the Explorer for observation, and engineers watched the children climb the center console and realized that a component not usually designed to handle weight needed reinforcement.
The company touted the fact that the vehicle has a reversible cargo floor in the rear, with rubber covering one side for easy cleaning after a muddy soccer practice.
‘Adventure enabler’
Identifying “pain points” and eliminating them was crucial, the team said.
“The second row has more head and hip room. Space for the occupants seems to matter most,” Gubing said. “And this is the fastest Explorer we’ve ever designed and built.”
During consumer research interviews, customers said towing capacity was “very, very, very, very important,” said Craig Patterson, SUV marketing manager at Ford.
But when asked what they tow – boats, horse trailers, equipment – folks answered again and again, “Nothing.”
“What that told me is that the customer wants the vehicle to enable whatever that adventure might be,” Patterson said. “They might want to go buy a boat or someday get a Jet Ski. This is an adventure enabler.’”
Company Chairman Bill Ford, at last week’s event, said, “At Ford, we believe in the freedom of movement and the power of the outdoors to remind us of our humanity.”
With more than 7.8 million sold, more Explorers have been purchased since the original model debuted as a 1991 model than any other SUV.
This latest endeavor involved inhome visits to families that agreed to an offer of $250 for two-hour observation of use of space in garages, basements and closets.
“We wanted to see how customers live and interact day to day,” Patterson said.
The rear-wheel drive layout (with an all-wheel-drive option) enables a sporty design, improved on- and offroad capability, and 600 pounds more towing capacity. The SUV has a 10.1-inch touch screen; drive-assist technology that includes reverse brake assist, and active park assist.
The 2020 Ford Explorer has folding third-row seats and easily adjustable second-row seats that are kid-friendly and also allow drivers to create a flatfloor cargo area that’s wide enough to fit standard 4-foot building materials.
Crucial for Ford
The launch of the latest Explorer comes at a crucial time for Ford, said Eric Noble, a product development consultant and professor of vehicle technology at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. “If the F-series is Ford’s bread, Explorer is the butter,” he said. “And they’ve clearly worked very hard to keep it that way.”
Still, former buyers may be fickle, analysts warned. “The Ford Explorer was introduced to a consumer base in 1990 that was desperate for a mass market four-door SUV,” said market economist Jon Gabrielsen.
Competitors have a strong hold on the market now, and Ford may find it challenging, analysts have said in recent months.