Ford Brand Audit
Introduction:
The Ford Explorer is one of the most popular sport-utility vehicles sold in North America and built by Ford Motor Company. Since the early 1990’s the “Explorer” has been the head of the mid-sized SUV fleet in North America by Ford. It was born as a replacement for the Ford Bronco II, which ended production when restyling in 1989, did not have the desired market capturing success. In addition, safety reports of 1989-1990 suggested the Bronco II was prone to rollovers, poor handling, and the new restyling had functional design flaws causing an overabundance of accidents. This led to its demise and ultimate end of production on February 7th, 1990. The “Explorer” was the successor vehicle originally designed for small active families with a variety of cargo and an “on-the-go” lifestyle. The Ford Explorer has been instrumental in turning the SUV from a special-interest vehicle, consistently losing out to mini-vans, into one of the most popular vehicle types on the road today.
Born March 1990 in St. Louis, Missouri the first-generation of the “Explorer” was equipped with similar features of the Bronco II and almost immediately recaptured its market share. Available in both 2-door and 4-door models, with rear or four-wheel drive the “Explorer” had a successful beginning in its first generation offering. The “Explorer” saw significant exterior, interior, and suspension updates in 1994 with the second-generation offering. It was paired with the “Explorer Sport” which was a trimmed, 2-door version of the standard 4-door “Explorer”. This generation of Explorer is known for its durability and longevity with many versions of these models still on the road today. The 4-door “Explorer” was significantly redesigned stylistically in its third generation in 2002, and the “Explorer Sport” was dropped in 2003 due to a lack of demand for small 2-door SUV’s. The third generation included a third-row of seats bringing capacity to seven, fully independent rear
The Ford Explorer is one of the most popular sport-utility vehicles sold in North America and built by Ford Motor Company. Since the early 1990’s the “Explorer” has been the head of the mid-sized SUV fleet in North America by Ford. It was born as a replacement for the Ford Bronco II, which ended production when restyling in 1989, did not have the desired market capturing success. In addition, safety reports of 1989-1990 suggested the Bronco II was prone to rollovers, poor handling, and the new restyling had functional design flaws causing an overabundance of accidents. This led to its demise and ultimate end of production on February 7th, 1990. The “Explorer” was the successor vehicle originally designed for small active families with a variety of cargo and an “on-the-go” lifestyle. The Ford Explorer has been instrumental in turning the SUV from a special-interest vehicle, consistently losing out to mini-vans, into one of the most popular vehicle types on the road today.
Born March 1990 in St. Louis, Missouri the first-generation of the “Explorer” was equipped with similar features of the Bronco II and almost immediately recaptured its market share. Available in both 2-door and 4-door models, with rear or four-wheel drive the “Explorer” had a successful beginning in its first generation offering. The “Explorer” saw significant exterior, interior, and suspension updates in 1994 with the second-generation offering. It was paired with the “Explorer Sport” which was a trimmed, 2-door version of the standard 4-door “Explorer”. This generation of Explorer is known for its durability and longevity with many versions of these models still on the road today. The 4-door “Explorer” was significantly redesigned stylistically in its third generation in 2002, and the “Explorer Sport” was dropped in 2003 due to a lack of demand for small 2-door SUV’s. The third generation included a third-row of seats bringing capacity to seven, fully independent rear
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