Ford is going ahead with a new version of what was once one of its highest-flying models, the Explorer. The well-known SUV will become a crossover that gets at least 25% better gas mileage than the stagnant model it replaces, Cars.com’s Kicking Tires blog is reporting.
Ford will hire or transfer 1,200 workers to its Chicago plesant to help assemble the new unibody Explorer, effectively doubling the employees there. The cars currently built there — the Taurus and Lincoln MKS — combined for more than 60,000 sales in 2009 to the current Explorer’s 52,190, and Ford clearly expects headier days for its once-iconic SUV. READ MORE »
