Ford Motor Company Global Auto Shows

The 2007 Auto Show season has seen Ford Motor Company moving more in the direction of crossovers. The Ford Airstream Concept was the futuristic crossover unveiled at the NAIAS in January and on display in New York through April 15. Ford brought back the Taurus name with a sedan and the 7-passenger Taurus X. The Ford Explorer hybrid, which New York magazine called “A nearly perfect city car,” has been in New York City’s taxi fleet since 2005. They will be joined in the crossover space by the all-new 2009 Ford Flex, a vehicle that Mark Fields describes as “a new interpretation of the people mover.”

Ford CEO Alan Mulally sees Ford building more crossovers as providing “more of the products that our customers really want.” The crossover segment is expected to top 3 million units annually by the end of the decade and from 50 offerings to 90, vying with small cars to be the largest US vehicle segment.

Crossovers are at the intersection of trends in the economy and society that have been brewing for years. Couples are starting families later in life, while baby boomers are downsizing their lives and their vehicles. High fuel prices and intense competition are influencing vehicle choices as well. Fields thinks that crossovers like Taurus X and The Ford Flex will make Ford “the defining crossover company this decade, just as we defined SUVs in the ‘90s.” The positive reaction to the Ford Flex, which debuted last week, has been encouraging in a space where Ford wants to be distinctive.