Right now, around 23 percent of all Ford vehicles sold in the United States is a utility vehicle. By 2020, Ford expects that figure to increase all the way to 29 percent. Put simply, SUVs and crossovers are very big business at Ford. So, when it comes time to update the Explorer, Ford's original sport utility vehicle, you can be sure that a whole heck of a lot of effort goes into the process.

The 2016 Ford Explorer isn't rewriting the book on how the automaker goes about building its current crop of SUVs. At first blush, there isn't any radically new exterior styling to draw in the eye, but what has been updated is meaningful, and a new Platinum trim level, which will slot in above Sport and Limited trims, is noteworthy.

The biggest item that's new for 2016, though, is found underhood, with a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder taking over where the previous 2.0-liter unit left off. With 270 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque, the new slightly larger engine boasts 13 percent more horses and 11 percent more torque than the old engine, and Ford expects no fuel economy penalty. There's no official EPA rating yet, but Ford says the 2.3-liter engine should hit 28 miles per gallon on the highway, just as the 2.0 did last year.