Lincoln's Navigator was also unmentioned in the release, but the brand expects big things from its upcoming Aviator replacement
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| Lincoln's new 250-horsepower 3.5-litre V6-powered CUV should help pull luxury buyers back into its showrooms. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
(or whatever they call it when it debuts on January 9), a model which shares underpinnings with its new Zephyr sedan and will debut Ford's new 250-horsepower 3.5-litre V6 along with the Ford Edge, a blue-oval companion to the Aviator.
Ford has also been busy showing variations on the pickup truck theme at recent auto shows, starting with its Explorer Sport Trac replacement, expected soon, and only recently by the 4-Trac concept that showed up at the Thailand International Motor Expo in Bangkok.
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| Ford's new Explorer Sport Trac replacement, to debut in production trim in L.A. on January 5, should improve truck sales even further. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
Thailand, incidentally, is the largest market for pickups outside the U.S., and Ford's regional production hub for pickup trucks. The truck shows off Ford's new design language, highlighted by angular headlamp clusters and a grille insert featuring horizontal chrome slats, similar to that on its new North American-market Fusion and expected to adorn its Five Hundred sedan when it gets a mid-cycle upgrade. The Ranger is currently sold in international markets much the same as we see it here, so there's a good chance that what we see here as the 4-Trac could become our next-generation North American-bound Ranger. At the very least its styling will influence future blue oval trucks here at home.
