Ford to dump Aviator, Excursion
Automaker will cease production after 2005 model year

By Amy Wilson
Automotive News / December 13, 2004

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. will kill two of its priciest SUVs after the 2005 model year.

Production of the Ford Excursion, the automaker's biggest SUV, is expected to end in September, according to an internal Ford document.

A supplier source also confirmed the vehicle will be dropped from the lineup next year.

Lincoln Aviator production will end in July, according to the Ford document. Lincoln will revive the nameplate with a car-based SUV in 2006.

The St. Louis assembly plant that produces the Aviator and its sister Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer SUVs is dropping one of its two shifts in January.

Ford officials refused to comment on the demise of the two vehicles.

But the end of the Excursion and Aviator is not surprising.

Ford once said it would drop the fuel-hungry Excursion, a frequent target of environmentalists, after the 2004 model year.

But Ford Division President Steve Lyons this year said that production would continue through at least the 2005 model year.

The decision to end Excursion production comes as Ford seeks production capacity for its F-250 and F-350 Super Duty pickups, a Ford source says. Those pickups and the Excursion are assembled at the same plant in Louisville, Ky.

Also, Ford plans to introduce an extended version of its Expedition SUV during the 2007 model year.

Ford is scheduled to produce 15,277 Excursions in 2005, the internal document said.

Lincoln's Aviator nameplate will return. But Lincoln dealers face a year-long gap without a mid-sized SUV or crossover.

redriderbob

 

Thank God!Two less gas guzzelers on the road!

 

the aviator isn't bad for a ford, but the excursion needs to die...NOW. its like a semi, but semis look better

 

I can't blame them for building the Excursion. Once IH stopped building the Travellall (long long ago) the Suburban was the only choice for a 3/4-1 ton SUV till the Excursion came out. And you can get a diesel Excursion, where Chevy reserves the Duramax for the pickups. Of course now you can get a really nice quadcab pickup with a topper on it that'll do the same jobs and be only slightly more unwieldy.

 

Why the Aviator? It just came out! They should knock off the Navigator first, it's bigger! I kinda like the Aviator, it's got the same looks but smaller! And a smaller price!

 

Heck I thought that they stopped making the Excretion last year. Oh well, one less ford in the review.

 

I knew ford was going to get rid of that elephant sized Suv. That excursion was just ridiculously big and too much of a gass guzzling fool.



-Matt-