Ford Motor prepares to increase its lineup of sport utility and crossover automobiles in the United States to 13 models from 7 by 2020, according to business officials and supplier sources, in reaction to quick development in SUV sales.
A minimum of 3 of those future models have been passed for production in the past two years, sources stated. Considering from 2014, the marketplace share of sport utilities has boosted from 32.6 percent to almost 40 percent of overall U.S. vehicle sales in last year.
That shift is equal to more than 3 automobile assembly plants worth of production yearly, and is driving other companies, including General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, to direct more investment to SUVs and trucks, industry executives stated.
“SUVs are the top-selling sector in the United States,” stated Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service. “That is why we are introducing five new SUVs in the United States by 2020.”
Supplier sources stated independently that a sixth brand-new model would carry the Lincoln badge.
This fall, Ford will introduce a revamped 2018 variation of its big Expedition SUV, which takes on the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban in among the most profitable market sectors in the global auto industry. General Motors lineup of large SUVs dominates the sectors.
Ford Division, that makes the Ford-branded vehicles, informed its present four-model SUV lineup, which includes the Escape, the Edge and the Explorer, will be signed up with the next 3 years by the compact EcoSport, which will be imported from India from 2018; the mid-size Bronco, which enters into production in 2019 in Michigan, and a battery-powered compact crossover with a 300-mile range that starts production in Flat Rock, Michigan, in 2019.
Ford Division officials did not reveal information on 2 other unknown models. Supplier sources said those automobiles likely are new compact models, where consumer demand is biggest. One is based on the next-generation Focus small car, the sources stated, while the other could be based upon the next-generation of the subcompact Fiesta.
