mustang_sallad

I dunno if any of you have already checked this out. Just go to www.motortrend.com, the links for 2005 through to 2009 vehicle forcasts should be pretty obvious.

Here's the run up of all the ford stuff, some of it conflicting.

2006 Ford Crown Victoria : Freshening.

2006 Ford Explorer : Minor update.

2006 Ford F-150 : High-performance Lightning model added to wage horsepower war on the Chevrolet Silverado SS and the Dodge Ram SRT-10.

2006 Ford Fairlane : Fairlane is the working name for this rear-drive sedan conjuring nostalgic images, though Galaxy has been mentioned, too. To be based on the DEW Lite platform, the Fairlane is rumored to fit in above the Taurus, making it the likely Crown Vic replacement. ---- (i dunno bout this one, it seems to conflict with other stuff they say, seems pretty soon too, i think it'll be a freshening in 2006 with the redesign in 2008 that they mention)

2006 Ford Fusion : Midsize sedan derived from the Mazda 6 (CD3 platform) to slot between the Focus and Five Hundred. Will be offered with a 2.3-liter four cylinder, 3.0-liter V-6, and a hybrid drivetrain shared with the Escape. The original "Futura" name was scrapped after a trademark conflict with Pep Boys, who applies the name to a tire line.

2006 Ford Mustang Cobra : SVT returns with a high-performance Mustang Cobra for the history books.

2006 Ford Thunderbird : The retro-flavored T-bird is expected to be retired in 2005 due to declining sales, with no replacement on the drawing boards.

2007 Ford Econoline : Redesign.

2007 Ford Expedition : Redesign. Long version will soon follow to compete with the Chevrolet Suburban.

2007 Ford Explorer : Redesign.

2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac : Redesigned on latest version of the Explorer platform, finally.

2007 Ford F-150 : New Hemi-caliber V-8 launches with the F-150 and will spread to other trucks and even cars in the Ford portfolio. Still in development, this 6.2-liter engine will produce around 350 horsepower.

2007 Ford Focus : Redesign. Focus will again be based on the C170 platform in the United States, rather than the Volvo-designed C1 used for the European Focus and Mazda 3.

2007 Ford Freestyle : Freshening.

2007 Ford Super Duty : The heavy-duty workhorse truck range will be redesigned.

2008 Ford Crown Victoria : Redesign, based on next-generation, rear-drive Falcon platform developed in Australia.

2008 Ford Escape : Redesign on the Mazda 6 platform.

2008 Ford Focus : Redesigned on current platform, rather than adopt the European C1 platform used by the Mazda 3 and Volvo S40/V50.

2008 Ford Freestar : Redesign.

2008 Ford Fusion : Hybrid model added.

2009 Ford Freestar : Redesign.




My comments: 2007 looks like fun, just about all the trucks and vans with complete redesigns, its about time for the Econoline, how bout a new name too? Hopefully the redesigned Freestyle will get that horizontal chrome bar grill. 2007/2008 focus: why not the european platform?!
2008: sweet! bring on the falcon! that's cool about the escape and the 6 platform, the current gen is based on the old 626 i believe. (I still remember hearing wayyyy back when that mazda and ford were working on a new compact suv based on a car platform, i thought it was sooo weird)
Hybrid Fusion should be sweet, should be a decently quick powertrain for a small midsize car, as it will be the same as that used in the Escape.
2008/2009 redesign of the Freestar? Yes please.

Brian302505

One thing I don't see is a Ranger Redesign!!??

Dr Iven

That's TOTALLY fine with me, man! I still get comments from the less informed public on my '93 Ranger along the lines of, "is that a 2000, or is it newer?" The longer they hold out on a complete redesign of the Ranger, the BETTER. Well, for me, at least.

MustangMan311

Fairlane seems pretty cool. I'd like that.

mustang_sallad

The North American market will get a new Focus in 2008, analysts say. It will be "slightly different" than the car shown today in Paris but also based on the C1 architecture, said J Mays, group vice president of Ford design.
---http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0409/23/b01-282419.htm

J Mays knows better than Motor Trend.

so that's reassuringly conflicting with what MT says for the 2008 redesign. This agrees with what i've heard previously, that eventually, NA will get the C1 platform for the focus, as well as 427 styling.

Moosetang

I doubt we'll get a Fairlane/Galaxie AND a CV based on the Falcon. They're just throwing up all the rumors without checking for conflicts.

mustang_sallad

i agree
which would you rather see, a crown vic on the dew lite platform or on the falcon?
I'd rather the falcon, it seems to be a well proven platform

Moosetang

Proven, yes, but thats the same argument the Panther people use. I think the CV-replacement and the next-gen Aussie falcon should be developed together on the DEW-lite platform, heck putting the Aussies in charge would be a good idea..

Dr Iven

As long as the Aussies don't all act like Steve Irwin, it'd be great if they were put in charge.

Twilightblu92

I don't really think it matters which one is on the platform, cause if they're gonna change the looks of the CV and it looks similar to the Falcon...who cares Even if it doesn't, they could just change the name of the vehicle and you wouldn't be the wiser. Kind of like the taurus-sable thing that was going on, and the Mountaineer-Explorer look-a-likes

mustang_sallad

i think doing a simple name change would be easier on the Falcon than trying to pull off the whole ford/merc differentiation thing, since no one in NA has ever really seen a falcon unless they've been to australia.

Dr Iven

What about this type of Falcon?

Twilightblu92

I agree, that is true, but wouldn't that be too much like GM
As long as it looks good I don't think I'll have a problem