2024 Ford Excursion Citing the NYTimes that Micheline Maynard said Ford Motor Company has decided not to build the second generation of the Excursion sports car, which is seven feet tall and can accommodate a softball team, people close to Ford’s future product program said tonight.
The Excursion, cited by critics as the industry’s most visible symbol of sports vehicle excellence, is expected to be discontinued at the end of the 2004 model year, meaning it will only last a generation. The Excursion was introduced in 1999 as a 2000 model year vehicle.
Sarah Tatchio, a Ford spokeswoman, declined to confirm whether the company would drop the 19-foot vehicle, which gets 10 miles per gallon, is too long to fit in many garages, and takes up two conventional city parking lots.
”I can’t talk about the future like that,” Ms. Tatchio. ”The Excursion is part of our lineup for ’03 and that’s all I can say.” The final report on the Excursion appeared tonight on WDIV-TV in Detroit. Some industry analysts have also projected Excursion’s eventual demise.
2024 Ford Excursion Review: Close to Ending
Ford introduced the $45,000 Excursion in a bid to seize sales from the industry’s perennial leader in the extra-large sports car market, the Chevrolet Suburban. By the time it was conceived, the Detroit automaker was enjoying strong sales and healthy profits for sports vehicles.
“Detroit is absolutely crazy when it comes to trucks,” said Christopher Cedergren, managing director of Nextrend, a consulting firm based in Thousand Oaks, California. “They thought if it was a truck, it would sell and make a lot of money.”
Ford’s expectations were relatively modest, however. Given that Suburban sales reach 100,000 per year, it is expected to sell at least 50,000 Visits per year. It’s estimated the vehicle, based on the Ford F-series Super Duty pickup, could complete a lineup of vehicles including the Ford Explorer and Ford Expedition, which look tiny by comparison.
But the Excursions stumbled from the start, in part due to a wave of negative publicity fanned by environmental groups like the Sierra Club. Even before the Excursion was officially introduced, the group held a contest on its Web site to choose a nickname for the vehicle. The winner was the Ford Valdez, after the Exxon tanker that ran aground in Alaska.
Tonight, Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, lauds the delayed demise of the Excursion. “I think this is a sign that the age of dinosaurs is coming to an end,” he said.
The introduction of Excursion comes less than a year after William Clay Ford Jr., an acclaimed environmentalist, and great-grandson of the company’s founder, became chairman in 1998. Ford found itself in the awkward position of having to justify the vehicle, which the Sierra Club argues will emit 130 tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, compared to 23 for a conventional car.
However, Mr. Ford, who became chief executive last year, defended the Excursion, arguing it had received a “rap bum.” He pointed to the $15,000 potential profit that Ford hopes each vehicle will generate, even while acknowledging that Ford relies too much on truck sales.
But instead of the expected result, industry analysts say Ford is likely to lose money on the Excursion. It would need to sell around 40,000 a year to break even. In the first half of this year, Ford sold 15,107 Excursions, down 16 percent from its 2001 pace, meaning it is likely to sell only about 30,000 this year.
Mr. Pope said, ”William Clay Ford will come down as smart enough to kill the Excursion before it became Edsel” referring to Ford’s unpopular cars in the late 1950s.
In fact, the Excursion’s lack of market success was the main reason why Ford discontinued the Excursion, not criticism from environmentalists, said Michael Luckey, president of the Luckey Consulting Group in Pompton Plains, NJ.
While Ford recently ended a streak of losses by posting modest second-quarter profits, it has warned investors to expect losses for the third quarter and has embarked on a strong cost-cutting campaign. Ford recently announced it would discontinue the Lincoln Blackwood luxury pickup truck, which was on sale for less than nine months.
‘They saw everything with a fine-toothed comb,’ said Mr. Luckey. “If Ford makes $4 billion to $5 billion a year, it might last into the next generation.”
Mr. Luckey said the eventual disappearance of the Excursion didn’t mean Americans were completely bored with sport utility vehicles, just that they had more options. Some vehicles have three rows of seats, one of the Excursion’s main selling points, but are easier to maneuver, he said.
”SUVs are going to be very popular, but as far as bigger is better, this could be a sign that people have said enough is enough,” Mr. Luckey said.
Old 2005 Ford Excursion SUV Specs
- Body style: SUV
- 0-60 mph: 9.1 to 11.1 seconds
- Bore: 3.6 to 3.7″
- Cargo volume: 48 ft³, 146.4 ft³ with seat area
- Compression ratio: 9 to 18
- Engine cylinder configuration: V engine
Read next: 2024 Ford Ranger: New Generation Ranger Pickup Truck Expert Review
Configurations:
- XLS
- XLT
- Eddie Bauer
- Limited
New Ford Excursion
No matter what the advantages of the new Ford Excursion–and there are many–sufficient people seem to have trouble seeing through the mass of this thing. Some of these same people caused a huge stir when Ford’s new empire-size utility vehicle – now the absolute king of motorized mastodons – was unveiled earlier this year.
They describe the Excursion as an unmitigated threat to smaller vehicles and, with an unlikely fuel economy of 18 mpg, spewing out serious carbon dioxide – a so-called greenhouse gas – despite the Excursion’s Low-Emission Vehicle status.
To be sure, there is no denying the dimensions of the Excursion. At 226.7 inches by 80.0 inches by 77.4 inches (including roof rack), it is 7.2 inches longer, 3.3 inches wider, and between 5.4 and 5.8 inches taller than General Motors Suburban today. It’s also heavier, with curb weights meeting the four-ton border.
But let’s get a little perspective here. The Excursion is one big bopper, sure, but the Suburban is no ghost, and the full-size sports utility market has been cornered for about 65 years.
Although Ford took part in the full-size SUV business with the Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator, Suburban sales continued to soar, surpassing 150,000 last year. Ford executives could see no reason to allow GM to define and dominate the ever-expanding segment.
“It’s basically been a one-vehicle segment for a long time,” said Ford Division president Jim O’Connor. “That’s unheard of in this business.”
Ford’s entry into the mastodon market was driven by several interesting motives. First, the Expedition/Navigator program, which surpassed Ford’s wildest dreams, proved that the market for large sports utilities still had considerable growth potential.
People want big tools for heavy tasks, like towing, that smaller ones can’t handle, or can’t handle either. The Expedition’s upper towing limit, for example, is 8300 pounds; A properly equipped excursion can tow trailers weighing up to 10,000. The same goes for Suburban.
Second, there is money to be made from an expensive large SUV based on a large volume pickup. Financial analysts calculate that each Navigator earns nearly $15,000 for FoMoCo. It is not unreasonable to assume that each Excursion will contribute nearly as much cash as the company’s profits. You don’t make that much money on Escorts, guys. Or in Explorer.
There is some other irony associated with Excursion’s initial reaction. Despite being heavier, the Excursion’s dimensions are about the same as Ford’s largest Econoline van, the kind of vehicle that has so far failed to spark its fair share of outrage among self-appointed environmental ombudsmen.
In this case, there’s a Ford full-size pickup whose roots are half as long as the Excursion. Where were these people when the civil edition of the AM General Hummer came along? Of course, the Sierra Club isn’t after companies that sell only a handful of vehicles for $70,000 to $85,000.
Speaking of safety, one of the main concerns of the anti-ute hysteria is what happens when a giant SUV, with its high ground clearance, crashes into a regular passenger car. We think Ford has a pretty good answer in Excursion’s patented BlockerBeam system, a tubular steel fixture that mounts under and behind the front bumper.
If or when hard contact occurs, the beam is designed to prevent the Excursion from rising and passing smaller vehicles. At the rear, the modified Class IV trailer hitch serves the same function.
The Excursion can accommodate up to 165 cubic feet of the car with the middle seats folded forward and the rear seats removed. Thanks to a pair of rollers, one person can manage the removal task, even if you have to crawl in to lift the base free of the hooks.
There’s room for four by eight feet of building material everywhere on a nearly level floor, though there’s a spare tire inside (which helps make room for the 44-gallon fuel tank).
2021 Ford Excursion Howard Becker
Behind the flashy facade of the Oxnard, California store, Howard Becker turned ordinary SUVs and vans into ultraluxe transportation for the likes of Edgar Bronfman Jr., Tiger Woods, and King Abdullah of Jordan. His clients wanted Rolls-Royce or Maybach gear but preferred to do so unnoticed, the cars tended to be interesting—at least for some time.
Hardly anything fits into the crowd more easily than the usual Ford Excursion platform or E-350 Super Duty van-Becker—but nothing out of the ordinary with the interior. The typical layout of the convertible SUV calls for the elimination of the second and third-row seats, replaced by two large seats and up to three rear-facing jump seats, all upholstered in high-grade leather.
Beautifully finished wood trim accents the cabin. The large flat-screen monitor doubles as a divider that can be raised and lowered, and can be connected to entertainment systems and computers. The satellite link, wireless keyboard, telephone, and foldable desk allow for full connectivity during travel.
For relaxation, the chairs recline fully and CDs and DVDs provide entertainment. (With the advent of Wi-Fi networks, in-car entertainment options are expanding. We’ll soon be able to enjoy media downloads from our home computers.) Thanks to exclusive suspension modifications, the SUV’s ride quality is much better than we nightly hoped for, and there’s no way we’ll flinch.
Wake up from a nap. Vans – generally Ford or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter – offer more space and flexibility – individual chairs or sofas, for example. And because they are more fashionable than SUVs, vans can also achieve a lower profile.
Different levels of stealthiness can be achieved. Leave the exterior of the Excursion or GMC Denali completely stock and neither will be the wiser. Define an all-black exterior with custom wheels and roof-mounted satellite gear and other motorists will notice. Most Becker cars fall somewhere in the middle.
The importance of stealth often hinges on our security concerns. Becker’s priority was to create an environment that felt as normal as possible.
Touches such as fully operational windows all around mean that adults feel less claustrophobic and children may not even notice they are driving an armored car. We think the armored Excursion feels heavier than a standard car and isn’t quite as restrictive as some of the armored sedans on the market today.
Wild Ford Excursion Lambo Doors
Ford Excursion Costing $135,000 to build this heavily modified one will have shag carpet and a bed in the back. But not. Instead, you’ll find a 60-inch curved Samsung TV — and two smaller ones embedded in the exposed tailgate of the Ford.
But those are just a few of the many upgrades Franklin Williams of Onslow County, North Carolina, has made to his SUV, which is the featured vehicle in the new Barcroft Cars YouTube video.
Williams bought the 2003 Excursion about 10 years ago to haul work equipment before it became a family vehicle. However, one day his son suggested they turn it into a show truck, and that’s exactly what Williams did, starting five years ago with a simple lift and 20-inch tires.
Currently, the Excursion has a 19-inch lift, 42-inch tires, and 30-inch rims, which are secured with specially honed wheel nuts to deter thieves.
The raised suspension and gold accents on the white exterior are sure to catch the eye, as are the scissor doors – the “Lambo” – too. They are still stock ones, but they have modified hinges and lift assemblies.
Williams took three days to get it fit, but they’re open to reveal a completely renovated interior, with crocodile and ostrich skin used throughout. There are also more TVs – one on each door and a sun visor. It has an improved sound system too.
Ford is covered in custom parts, such as the grille and bumper, badges, and even the headlights, which have “Sexcursion” engraved on their lenses. There’s also a custom five-inch TSO exhaust tip, which helps the under-hood 6.0-liter diesel breathe.
Williams also reached speeds of up to 125 miles per hour (201 kilometers per hour). Gold accents also go into the engine room. Excursion Williams is almost 20 years old but seems to have a bright future as an amazing show truck. It has won more than 100 awards.
Ford Excursion Price
An SUV or Becker van with all the luxuries and protective options can run up to $365,000, about the price of an unmodified Rolls-Royce Phantom or Maybach. Unarmed examples usually sell for north of $200,000.
