I'm writing a paper for my college marketing class on the Excursion, specifically the ethics behind it, what Ford did, and the marketing impact.

I'm looking for some pro-excursion websites. All I can seem to find through google is plenty of anti-suv sites. Any history of the Excursion, or Ford marketing information about the Excursion would be helpful.

What fuel mileage do most Excursion owners get? Both with the diesel and V10. and with just the truck vs. towing a full load?

Also am I correct in saying it is based on a F250? frame and all?

 

Yessir. Based on the 250 frame.

City on my 2005 ex limited get 13.6 and highway around 80 get 17.9 with a inch magnaflow turbo back exhaust. Towing 7k boat i get 11mph city.

Good luck on the paper.

 

Interesting topic for a paper. This is the right place to start looking for information... The fuel economy topic is discussed at length (many times over) in this forum. Use the search feature - it is your friend!

 

I can't see the topic in "ethics" and "marketing" -- what's the brief?

You might look at marketing the Excursion by its strengths and illustrating that smaller, seemingly "eco-friendly" vehicles consume more resources and emit more harmful chemicals per mile per passenger.

Look at bio-diesel and alternate fuels that car makers deliberately do not bring to market.

Perhaps look at government involvement and the ineffective and often counterproduct impact of various government authorities.

There's just so many approaches to the general topic of "ethical transportation" and so many levels of examination, I think you'll have to be more specific to encourage people to offer more useful first-hand information.

Cheers,

 

One point that is first on my list was the poor marketing, my diesel Excursion gets about the same mileage as a Ford Explorer. The general public is unaware that the X gets average or better mileage when it comes to SUVs. This is plainly FMC's fault for not marketing it. Think about it, a commercial that markets "something for nothing" and it is true. That would be like moving out of a 2000 sq. ft house into a 6000 sq. ft house without any increase in your utilities. For the rebuttal of the initial cost, it could be offset by buying an Excursion used, which should fall about the same as a new smaller SUV.

 

7 passengers, 1 driver, all their stuff for the weekend, 15 mpg hiway, quiet ride, room to be comfortable, cup holders galore, safety aspect...... can't do that in an econoSUV

 

It was also Ford's most profitable mass-produced vehicle per unit ... making them and their shareholders about $10K for each one built.

Your research may want to include some FMC sites, as well as shareholder data.

 

Our family needs the seating capacity of either an SUV or a mini-van. We own both--an '03 Ford Excursion and an '05 Honda Odyssey. The Odyssey is nice but I consider it to be a relative gas hog. It only gets about 17 mpg around town, 22 mph on the highway. Our (diesel) Excursion gets about 15 mpg around town and over 19 mph on the highway, but is way more capable.

Example. We have a travel trailer to spend family time together. The Excursion is ideally suited to tow it. We can put seven people in the Excursion along with all of their gear. Then, we hitch up a 9000 lb trailer and head for the hinterlands. There is no way you could do this with a mini-van.

It is easy for critics to condemn what they don't know anything about.

 

I had a 96 Bronco with a 351W which was based on the F150 and it averaged worse mileage than my V10 X which is bigger, badder and better. Of course both vehicles had 6 inches of lift or better and 35-36 inch tires. The X is only 2wd making up for some of the difference. You just cannot show us loyal X owners a better 7/8 person people hauler with a towing capacity even close. Ford had it right when they were the only full size SUV with a Diesel option. As I have told many people while getting gas...I pay the same $ per gallon as you do and I have the right to burn it as I see fit, and then I normally rev it past 3K a few times before leaving the pump. There is one guy at my son's daycare that drives a Prius and he will not even look at me. We pick our kids up at the same time 3 out of 5 days. It is just funny.

 

Perhaps you can clarify the brief for the paper.
I don't know of any "pro-Excursion" sites, but obviously enough any enthusiast forums tends to attract the advocates (and the lurking, trolling argumentative types.)

Personally, I think you stand to learn a lot more about people that sincerely care about balancing their lifestyle preferences with a sense of environmental responsibility. This really is little to do with the word "ethic" so again, I think you have to expand upon the purpose of the paper -- perhaps just type the essay brief verbatim so we can all contribute.


Cheers,

 

I've had my Excursion for over 5 years now, I have yet to tow with it, but often (sometimes as many as a dozen times a month) it does the work of two vehicles. Twice a week I take seven or eight employees over sixty miles each way to and from work. It still has room for all the gear, keeping at least two other vehicles off the road. A couple of times a month it hauls supplies that used to take two vehicles at a time. Whenever the whole family goes anywhere together, it does the job of two vehicles. I think it handles better than the full sized vans I tested before my purchase, and the configuration of seats to cargo area is perfect for my needs. On the day I purchased it (Father's Day 2000) I also test drove a Suburban. At 6' 2" with a 36" inseam, I just did not feel comfortable in the Chevy. When you spend a couple of hours of each day in a vehicle, not getting a leg cramp is a big consideration. It would take a small army of Priuses to do what I do every day with my Excursion (and I really am capable of driving only one car at a time). Anyone that question's the "ethics" of my vehicle choice needs to spend some time removing the log from their own eye before pointing out my splinter.
It's too bad that schools spend so much time on this claptrap. When my wife moved from her tiny Bronco II to an Expedition, she was a Girl Scout leader, and right away the problem of getting enough vehicles to get the troop to events was solved. She and another mom (with an SUV) could get them places that previously took an armada of vehicles and women. On weekends she takes extra employees back and forth with her.
Maybe schools should consider teaching the ethics of creating a generation of kids who spend there time getting into other people's business with out any concern for facts or circumstance, or even common courtesy. (Like that nut that vandalized the Hummer dealership).

 

You have chosen a good tack--engaging with the people who actually own and care for these large vehicles. A better title for your essay may be "Why do people drive SUVs?"

I personally believe people shifted to driving SUVs because they got much more capability for their money than with sedans.

At the beginning of the SUV craze (about 1992?), many of us wondered about the popularity of these vehicles. At the time, I drove a Taurus and a BMW 325i. Then, my family began to grow. I was worried about space for all of that stuff and the safety of my children. Both of our sedans were simply too small and impractical to answer either need.

We stepped up to a mini-van, which is a good choice for many people. In fact, my wife drives a mini-van every day. However, I occasionally towed a camping trailer, which soon burned up the transmission in the minivan. I then went to a Yukon XL (Suburban). It was wonderful--roomy, safe, and comfortable to drive. The Yukon XL proved to be just a bit weak for some of the towing duties that we later put to it, however.

Now, we have the Excursion, which was the only diesel-engined SUV available. This is a great truck. I use it for both my business and for pleasure. It can easily tow a loaded utility trailer to a customer site and then turn around and tow a big travel trailer to the state park for the weekend--all while getting commendable fuel economy. There is no real alternative, short of staying home.

 

I too had a Bronco. A 1994 351, that got about the same mileage as my current Ex. I drove it for 10 years before going to the Excursion.

The real reason Ford does not sell the Excursion anymore is simple. Sales, well, more likely the lack of.

The sales of the Ex have dropped over the years. Knowing it was the last year of production, I ordered mine and took delivery in January of 2005. Since we handle the advertising for a big Ford dealer in this area, we see the monthly sales reports for our zone, the Philadelphia area zone. These reports list how many cars and trucks each dealer sold, as well as how many of each model were sold in the zone. The month I got my Excursion only two were sold in this zone. (This is a large zone.) I know that other markets do better, but this is indicative of the Ex’s slowing sales.

I am involved in the old car hobby, and last weekend was at the AACA Hershey meet. There was no shortage of Excursions there, as those who need to tow a trailer (but don’t want a pick-up) are all too familiar with the Excursion.

Also, makers do not build cars for ethical reasons. They build them to make money. Stockholders could care less about being ethical…or being kind to the environment.
A good example is Toyota’s latest ad campaign to tout their new hybrid system. (I won’t get into the whole hybrid debate here.) They are spending millions to talk about how “green” they are due to this. But…they are not mentioning the thousands of full size SUVs and pickups they sell...with thirsty V-8s that are hardly green.

 

When I first got on this site (2-3 yrs ago) I remember a fellow that used his Diesel X for work. he did a breakdown of his expenses and it came down to his 7.3L pulling utility back and forth across the country only needed to be replaced every 1,000,000 miles. Yes I said 1,000,000 miles. 1 vehicle 2 employees, and gear on a trailer for 1,000,000 miles. How many Toyota Priuss' would be needed to do this.

Not to mention what kind of pollutants are created when manufacturing the batterries of the green cars.

You remember H-Cells. One H-cell produced more pollutants than driving a gas guzzler for the entire life of the engine.

What about the GMC/Chevy 1/2T Hybrid. Will that pull my family (and the in-laws) and 9000lb toyhauler. I think not.

 

The reason Ford built the Excursion was partially Ego and partially Profit.
As pointed out earlier in this thread, Ford made a Huge Profit on each Unit sold, as they do on all Full Size Trucks and SUVs. Ego was twofold. Firstly they wanted to be the Biggest Consumer Truck Manufacturer in the World hoping that the Emense size of the Excursion, at a time of realatively cheap fuel, would attract those who normally purchased Suburbans. Secondly the Planners set out to Conceive an SUV that was Larger than the Suburban simply for that Reason. It had to be Big. The Biggest. To make GMC look small. Pride and Ego. Besides, Ford was riding the wave, 'Kings of SUVs'.
How could they lose?? Tree Huggers, SUV Haters, Bad Press, the EPA? I vividly remember an article written by Harper's Magazine where the writer took a Ford Excursion for a ride around LA and reported that it only got 3.7 miles per gallon! If my Excursion only got that I'd hate it too!!
I truly believe that one reason Ford never Pushed, Advertised or Promoted the Excursion was plain and simple, Embarassment.
It's kind of like being the Biggest, most Akward kid in Highschool. All Anyone talks about is how Big you are. You try so hard to fit in and be Normal, without any success. All they do is talk about your size, nothing else. Embarassing! I really believe that Ford was always at a loss in trying to explain and market the Excursion. Of course, that then affects Sales. If you don't Market it, you won't Sell it.
Ford Execs have taken a beating since 2000 justifying and defending this Great Truck. The negativity never totally went away and with the rising cost of fuel this past year or so, it gave them a convenient excuse to throw in the towel. If fuel prices were still low and they killed it, it would look like they had finally bowed under pressure.
What an Awesome Truck. I bought an 05' Limited Diesel earlier this month. I'm getting 21 miles per gallon on the highway. I only got 17 at best with my 03' Expedition.
Why do I like the Excursion? You'd better ask my wife, she loves it and won't drive any of our other Vehicles!