As Ford (F) races to import some small cars in time for the 2010 selling season, its designers are hard at work on...another SUV. Demand for SUVs and trucks--and anything that looks like an SUV or truck--has cratered. So Ford's response is to call its new SUV something else.
Ford is designing a "crossover' luxury car based on the design of its Ford Flex. The three-row lincoln MKT will feature a sleeker design than the Flex (pictured to the right) and is currently being billed as the "Learjet of the road." It looks more like a 767. WSJ:
Among its competitors would be the Acura MDX, the Audi Q7 and the Mercedes R class, people familiar with the matter said. But the MKT is not designed to be a large production run. The company expects annual sales in the range of the mid-20,000 vehicles.
...Despite a flood of new models in the segment, sales of crossovers -- car-based wagons designed to look and function like sport-utility vehicles but with modestly better fuel economy -- were down 11% in July compared with July 2007, according to Autodata Corp., representing the third straight month of sharp declines amid a wider downturn in the overall market.
This stubbornness is part of why Ford stock is down 69% since 2004--to $5. The new model sounds suspiciously like the "Canyonero," a fictional SUV lambasted in a classic episode of the Simpsons.
See Also: Ford Swears Off SUVs
