Why did they? Everyone who has one loves them

 

Slowing sales, which never reached the level Ford wanted anyway.

Like anything else, there will be loyal followers. For most, too big, too thirsty, too trucky.

Ford may discontinue Excursion, Aviator production in 2006 - Business First of Louisville:

I couldn't find good sales figures, but the one item I did find said sales were headed to 30,000 for 2002, and Ford needed 40,000 to make money.

 

Political correctness.

 

The first rule in business. Supply and demand.

There was not enough demand for the supply.

 

Please, there is no political correctness in business. Supply and demand rules. Demand dropped below 25000 units per year and it was no longer profitable to incur the costs associated with an update.

Roy

 

PC my ***. I could run over countless hippies before I had to shift to 4wd.

It's not a superduty, so it doesn't fit that market. It's not a regular suv. It's oversized in every aspect without the ability to match the capabitilies of a superduty of the same size. Also, anyone iwth a heavy trailer that I see is typically using a 5th wheel, not a tongue trailer.

 

I am not saying this to make a political point. I am just pointing out the process that lead to the discontinuation of the Ex.

At the time there was a push against Suburbans and especially the ExxonValdez of the highway (As it was refered to in many a magazine), the Excursion.

At one point the Surburban was the only product on the market. If you wanted a full sized car similar to one built in the 60's and before you had to buy the Suburban. You know, like the old 18 foot long Cadillacs, Chryslers, and Lincolns. But when the Ex came onto the market there was a tremendous effort to get rid of all of them.

Yes, there has always been a few whining about the standard sized vehicles like our Ex. But from the time the Ex was introduced there was an extra effort to get rid of them by the press and others. This effort was supported by many in political power.

The result was the lack of units being purchased. There were just not enough people willing to ignore the peer pressure and buy them. And, that is what the PC process is all about. Peer pressure. Just like in high school.

The lack of units sold was the reason for the discontinuation of the Ex and the size reduction of the Suburban to a mid-sized SUV.

Again, this is not a political statement. Just what happened.

 

Regarding the points you make above:

--Agree, the handwringer/greenie/moron crowd campaigned against the Excursion due to the poor fuel economy, forgetting the capacity and utility.

--You refer to an Ex as a "standard size" vehicle. It was in fact the largest of the large. You would catagorize a Taurus as a mini then?

--"lack of units sold..." Yes, Ford did not sell as many as they wanted nor enough to be profitable.

--"size reduction of the Suburban..." What? Subs are 79.1" wide and 222" long, a little longer than the '70s models. Was there some model of the Sub that was bigger than today's model?

I agree there was a lot of PC babble about the Ex, but the truth was it was the biggest and thirstiest, and the extra size and thirst didn't buy it an advantage over the Sub, which was available in several flavors to boot.

 

Exactly! they marketed it towards the wrong person. it should have been marketed towards the person with horses, RV`s boats and so on who wanted an SUV with guts. instead they tried selling it to the soccer moms! that`s where they went wrong!

 

Mine gets better fuel mileage that my Toyota 4runner.......and weighs like 4000lbs more

 

I doubt if they targeted soccer moms but the moms probably figured they were a bit much and you got the tree huggers and granola eaters (I kind'a fit in that category) scoffing at them at the same time. So the people that liked them really liked them but there just wasn't enough people that fit in that category. I really like mine.

 

At the time Ford could sell every Superduty they could build, and then some. The assembly plant was limited to how many they could produce, and Excursion production reduced the number of Superdutys that were built. Eliminating the Excursion with it's poor sales numbers allowed Ford to build and sell more Superdutys.

The only reason the Ford dropped the Excursion was to make more money selling more Superdutys.

 

"--You refer to an Ex as a "standard size" vehicle. It was in fact the largest of the large. You would catagorize a Taurus as a mini then?"

A Taurus is a small car. The current Five Hundred is a small car.

Yes, when I was a teenager we had a 65 Chrysler Newport that my Dad & I slept in when we went camping. In the trunk. It was your average sized car. A GTO/Le Mans was considered a mid sized car. Your Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Chryser Imperial was a large, full size, car. Some as long as the Ex. There was a "Full size" Chrysler that was 20' +/- long and over 6' tall. Of course that was one that had the place for the chaufer in the front without a roof for him. It had 20" rims.

Today's "large cars" are small compared to something like a 70s Chevy Caprice.

6 large construction workers could sit in a Caprice without a complaint.

When I go camping I roll out a piece of foam, my sleeping bag, and sleep nice and soundly in the back.

--"size reduction of the Suburban..." What? Subs are 79.1" wide and 222" long, a little longer than the '70s models. Was there some model of the Sub that was bigger than today's model?"

Yep, It has been downsized from what I had in the 80's to between what it was, and a Tahoe. Kind of like the Expedition XL. A long Expedition.

"I agree there was a lot of PC babble about the Ex, but the truth was it was the biggest and thirstiest, and the extra size and thirst didn't buy it an advantage over the Sub, which was available in several flavors to boot."

Except that, as a diesel, it did pretty well. Now, if you had a V10 in it, that would be a thirsty animal. Similarly to my Suburban with the 454 I would guess. (What is the cubic inch displacement of the V10. Anybody know?)

When the Ex came out it was going in a direction that the PC crowd didn't like. It was getting larger and thirstier. So, it was attacked by those who want to micro and macro manage everyone else's lives.

Oh, well. I am just glad I got mine before they were discontinued. I like the room, the luxury, and the convenience. I am 56 and I hope to be driving it when they take away my license when I am old and grey.

And, I believe that it will be a very long time before we see the likes of a "full size" car again. If ever.

 

I suspect this to be true. They are in business to make money.

 

The Excursion was over-priced and not economical! Ford should have made all Excursions with a Diesel and priced them to where families could afford one! Then they would have sold many more!!