2008 Ford Flex
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This is now the official name of the production version of the Ford Fairlane concept.
As you can see on these pictures, even thought the design will stay very close to the concept, the interior is completely different.
And they replaced the suicide doors by a more normal set up.
This seems to be a big gamble for a big manufacturer to replace a minivan by an all new kind of vehicle.
Let’s wish them good luck.
Good luck Ford. The interior seems nice from that angle. The exterior in concept form seemed a little too boxy for my liking, so I hope their marketing or research department did it’s homework and truley found out that boxey was good.
I thought fairlane was a better name. Flex isnt that great at all.
And i think this is a good move replacing the minivan like that. Its not liek the windstar was that great anyway. What do they have to lose as long as they really market this a minivan-like corssover.
what is the point of the freest… uh, taurus x once this thing comes out?
ford needs to speed up their small cars and stop wasting their money on a slew of van/suv things that are going to end up cannibalizing each other’s sales!
it would be interesting to combine the sales of the edge, taurus x and this (once its released) to see if it even meets the sales once acieved by the explorer at its peak..
Hmmm didnt there minivan buyers already switch over to the suv/cuv vehicles already ? and dumb dumb ford thinks there gonna put another crossover in there lineup to REPLACE a minivan ?
This thing will only steal sales from the edge, escape, explorer, expedition and the brand new (sik) taurus X .
The ford family of mazda,volvo, range rover,mercury,lincoln will now have 18 suv/cuv same type vehicles competing with one another ! in a dying market, makes sense dont it ? the cheapest gas i saw today was 3.15 a gallon, my f-150 is parked and the 4 banger toyota only can be driven now, and i make great money but not really into throwing it away in gas, and most of fords suv/cuv’s get around mid 20 mpg or worse real world gas mileage, and if gas goes up that market will get alot worse .
Yeah I don’t get the point of having the Edge, Taurus X, and the Flex(not a good name…), all in the same category. The Taurus X looks longer than the other two, the Flex would probably be cheaper, but size…Ford should’ve invested that money into an Aveo fighter or Outlook/Acadia/Enclave fighter(the Edge looks smaller than an the Outlook/Acadia/Enclave).
The Fairlane concept was stunning, but anything less is just another car.
Great design. Ford needs to start taking chances again. Billy was walking on eggshells for 6 years, and we saw how that worked out. Time will tell if minivan drivers jump ship to this.
It seems to me that the domestic auto makers can do no right. The critics are on a roll and they slam every effort. Finally Ford steps out with something bold and new yet the critics look only on the dark side. Let’s give our automakers some credit for innovating and actually improving their product offerings for a change. Way to go Ford! I think the Flex is a great move.
ford stoped making good mini vans in 2002 with the last mercury villager/quest sisters
poeple still need and will buy a good mini van , just ask honda or toyota…people with kids still need mini vans and a crossover wont cut it for me…
Given the dramatic amount of money that Ford is losing – as a result of bland styling and having too many gas guzzling SUV-like products instead of efficient stylish cars, it seems really puzzling that Ford would be bringing out a box of a crossover.
On top of it, while the Fairlane concept was mildly interesting, the Flex (stupid name) comes over as boxy instead – the concept didn’t translate well.
I don’t think the outlook for Ford is good. I am in the market for a new car and would love to get a Mustang, but I am not going there.