2009 FORD FLEX: All-New Full Size Crossover Redifines the Journey For The American Family - VIDEO STORY
• Bold Design Inside and Out: New Ford Flex full-size crossover is the
first vehicle of its kind with a bold design, striking interior and
seven-passenger seating for families.
• Cool Features: Interior refrigerator, second-row footrests, Ford Sync™
in-car communications and
entertainment system, capless fueling, a 2,300-song personal juke box,
programmable ambient interior “mood lighting” and a Multi-Panel
Vista Roof™ are among the many customer-inspired innovations.
• Safe and Secure: An available rear back-up camera, standard
front-and-side-seat mounted air bags, three-row Safety Canopy ® side curtain
and AdvanceTrac ® with RSC ® (Roll Stability Control) offer the safety and
security customers demand for their families.
• Powerful and Confident: An award-winning 3.5-liter V-6 engine, fuel-efficient 6-speed transmission and
available intelligent all-wheel-drive provide powerful and confident road
manners.
• On Sale Next Year: The 2009 Ford Flex goes on sale in the summer
of 2008, joining the Edge and Taurus X in Ford’s popular crossover
lineup.
NEW YORK - April 14, 2007: Ford Motor Company redefines the modern American family journey with the introduction of the 2009 Ford Flex, a full-size crossover that sets a new standard for style, features, functionality and comfort in the U.S. industry's hottest segment.
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On sale in the summer of 2008, the Flex is arriving as crossovers continue to outpace even the remarkable growth of SUVs during the 1990s and minivans of the 1980s.
Last year, crossovers surpassed traditional SUV sales for the first time, and they are trending toward annual crossover sales of 3 million units by the end of the decade. Such growth likely will make crossovers the first or second largest vehicle segment in the U.S.
“Flex is another example of Ford creating more of the products that our customers really want,” Fields said. “Ford intends to define crossover vehicles this decade just as we did SUVs in the 1990s.”
The Flex joins the Edge and Taurus X in Ford’s expanding crossover lineup. Ford’s success with crossover utility vehicles is substantial. In March alone, the company’s U.S. crossover sales were up more than 40 percent over last year – led by the success of the new Edge.
Redefining the Family Journey
Bold, expressive design and exclusive innovations define the new
Flex. “The Ford Flex has the power to move people emotionally as well as
physically,” said J Mays, Ford’s group vice president of Design
and chief creative officer.
“This crossover has been created for people who know it’s the journey – not the destination – that matters most,” Mays added. “Its upright, upscale design, versatility and clever touches allow Ford Flex to stand out in an increasingly crowded sea of crossovers.”
The Ford Flex brings to production the Ford Fairlane concept vehicle that turned heads at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
“Flex is following in the tire tracks, so to speak, of Ford vehicles like the Taurus, Explorer and Mustang. It’s the next iconic Ford,” said Peter Horbury, Ford’s executive director of Design for The Americas. “It shatters today’s image of people movers.”
Flex’s signature exterior design includes:
• Ford’s signature chrome horizontal three-bar grille, which builds
on the family “face” that defines the Ford Edge and Taurus X
crossovers, as well as the Ford Fusion sedan.
• A unique, all black “greenhouse” – defined as the windshield, rear and side
windows, and the pillars separating and connecting them to the roof. The
design brings together seamlessly the body with the available multi-panel
roof. Customers can pair a White Suede or Silver roof option with one of
Flex’s 10 available exterior colors or choose a body-color roof.
• Standard 18-inch or available 19-inch bright aluminum wheels, which plant
the new crossover firmly on the road.
• Flex’s integrated rocker panel
design, which eliminates the need for customers to step over the rocker
panel when getting in and out of the vehicle.
• Edge-inspired taillamps,
which are outlined in chrome. Flex Limited models have LED taillamps and a
brushed satin finish metal appliqué spanning the center of the
liftgate.
Interior Quality
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“More than 90 percent of crossover customers make their vehicle purchases based in part on the overall quality of interiors,” said Kate Pearce, Flex marketing manager. “When they see the Flex’s exterior, they’ll be intrigued. When they see its interior, they’ll fall in love.”
Flex’s interior provides a level of craftsmanship inspired by fashion and furniture design, with modern materials and soft touch points.
Details include tweed-like fabric for the base-level Flex SE’s seats, with inserts in a miniature houndstooth. Meanwhile, the Flex SEL features a soft insert with a more pronounced grain on the seat bolsters, while the Flex Limited features unique diamond-pattern perforations on the leather seat inserts. Contrast stitching also is available on leather seats and the center console.
Cool Features Built Right In
Flex is set apart from other vehicles thanks to a long list of
surprising features. They include:
• Class-exclusive refrigerator, mounted between the second-row
captain’s chairs. Unlike competitors’ systems that merely keep
cold beverages cool, the Flex’s available compressor-driven
refrigerator can cool up to seven 12-ounce cans, four half-liter bottles or
two 20-ounce bottles from room temperature to 41 degrees in just more than
two-and-one-half hours. That’s 40 percent faster than a standard home
refrigerator.
• Multi-Panel Vista Roof™. It not only brightens the
interior, it gives Flex occupants seated in each row their own special
skylight.
• Second-row, best-in-class legroom, including class-exclusive
adjustable and removable footrests. The Flex’s second-row seats fold
and tumble to provide access to the third-row and fold flat into the floor
for added cargo space. An available one-touch system folds and tumbles the
second row.
• Seven-color programmable ambient lighting. Flex owners can
choose interior lighting to fit their mood. With this feature – which
also is being introduced on the 2008 Ford Focus – customers use a
dashboard switch to change the lighting on two LEDs mounted on the front
console, two on the footwells and two around the cupholders.
• Capless fuel filler system. This exclusive feature eliminates the likelihood of
forgetting to put the gas cap back on after fueling. It also saves time by
doing away with unscrewing and replacing a fuel-filler cap and provides a
better seal, cutting down the emissions of smog-forming vapors.
• Ford Sync™, Ford’s industry-exclusive, voice-activated hands-free
in-car communications and entertainment system. This available system fully
integrates mobile phones and digital media players into the vehicle. The
Sync in-car communications system was developed in collaboration with
Microsoft and will be offered exclusively on Ford, Lincoln and Mercury
vehicles later this year.
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• Ford’s exclusive second-generation door-entry keypad. Housed within the vehicle’s black B pillars, the flat-panel, backlit keypad eliminates the need for door-mounted buttons and gives customers the ability to unlock doors, disarm the alarm system and disable the auto-lock function by entering a five-digit code. Quiet, Confident Ride
The Ford Flex’s chassis was designed to be capable, including more than 4,000 pounds of towing capacity, while still delivering the quiet, confident ride that crossover customers demand.
“A quiet ride is no longer a luxury,” said Gary Boes, Flex chief engineer. “It’s something that customers have come to expect from their vehicles and equate with quality. Flex has been engineered from the onset with reduced noise, vibration and harshness in mind.”
Engineering advancements include a new independent rear suspension system (IRS) with unique geometry that allows for better tuning to deliver a broad range of capabilities without compromising the interior package. Interior noise was minimized by using sound-deadening materials in the dash panel, headliner and under the carpeting.
In addition, a 6-millimeter thick windshield helps reduce wind and powertrain noise, while specially selected tires make road noise nearly unnoticeable.
Powerful V-6 with AWD
Flex is powered by Ford’s award-winning 3.5-liter V-6 engine and
is mated to a fuel-efficient 6-speed transmission. The powertrain is
expected to deliver more than 260 horsepower, 245 lb.-ft. of torque and
good fuel economy.
Flex’s available intelligent all-wheel-drive system is tuned to provide confident driving in all weather conditions. Intelligent AWD uses an active, on-demand electronic center coupler to allocate a precise amount of torque from front to rear – up to 100 percent to either axle. The system also can anticipate wheel slip before it happens.
Safety Families Demand
Flex comes equipped with features that reflect Ford’s commitment
to keeping customers and their families safe and secure. The new
crossover’s body structure has been optimized with side intrusion
beams in the doors, strategic use of high-strength boron steel and
specially designed, energy-absorbing interior door trims.
Other safety advancements include:
• Rear back-up camera. Mounted in the bottom of Flex’s liftgate
badge, the available camera is activated when the vehicle is shifted into
reverse, giving the driver a view of what’s behind the vehicle. The
system works in conjunction with the vehicle’s reverse sensing system
and uses the navigation screen as a display.
• AdvanceTrac ® with RSC ® (Roll Stability Control). This system can predict a vehicle’s path, using a
sensor to measure oversteer and yaw by monitoring the vehicle’s
speed, throttle position and steering wheel angle. When the system senses
wheel slip or the loss of traction, it applies braking where needed to keep
the vehicle safely on its intended path.
• Ford’s Personal Safety System. This suite of safety features includes dual-stage driver and front
passenger air bags, thorax side air bags for front seat occupants, safety
belt pretensioners, seat weight sensing system for the passenger seat and
crash severity sensing.
• Ford’s exclusive Safety Canopy ® side curtain air bag.
Designed for all three rows, this feature utilizes roll-fold
technology to efficiently deploy the air bag when an occupant’s head
is resting against the side glass. In the event of a crash, the roll-fold
bag will deploy between the occupant's head and the side of the vehicle.
• Ford’s BeltMinder™ safety belt reminder for driver and front
passenger. Flex also comes equipped with such standard features as child
safety locks on the rear doors, the LATCH child safety restraint system and
Ford’s tire pressure monitoring system.