Monday, Aug. 1, 2005 | 9:36 a.m.
Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 U.S. automaker, will cut prices as much as 6.8 percent on its redesigned Explorer to halt a three year decline in sales of the world's top selling sport utility vehicle.
Prices for the 2006 Explorer will range from $27,175 to $33,160, compared with $27,810 to $35,630 for the 2005 model, Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford said in a statement today. Fuel economy will be improved as much as 11 percent on some versions.
Sales this year of the Explorer, the best-selling SUV for 15 years and one of Ford's most profitable vehicles, are about 40 percent below their record pace of 2000. The Explorer has been hurt by safety concerns, competition from General Motors Corp., and the popularity of "crossover" SUVs that are more like cars.
"They have to drop the price and pitch it as a value product," said Erich Merkle, an auto analyst at consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Ford sold 339,333 Explorers in 2004, a 9.1 percent decline from the previous year. Neither the company nor outside analysts expect the Explorer will regain its former sales levels.
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