Ford Explorer Sport Trac and Mercury Mountaineer Cancelled - Automobile Magazine
At its peak in 1999, the Ford Explorer platform, which also underpins the Explorer Sport Trac pickup and Mercury Mountaineer, yielded sales of 556,372 units. This year, sales are down more than 50 percent, putting sales of the SUVs at closer to 39,000 units for the Ford and 25,000 units for the Mercury variant. Automotive News reports that the Ford Explorer SUV, along with the Ford Explorer Sport Trac pickup and Mercury Mountaineer SUV, will be dropped from the automaker's lineup after the 2010 model year. The Explorer name will live on, ditching its traditional body-on-frame construction for a unibody structure based on the Ford Flex/Lincoln MKT platform. Although Ford combines sales of the Sport Trac with the Explorer, Automotive News projects the Sport Trac is on track to sell about 10,000 units this year--not enough to warrant the development of an open-bed version of the truck on the new... With Ford's plans for Mercury to focus on small cars, the premium brand likely won't get a version of the new Explorer either. Source: www.automobilemag.com
