Ford keeps its Explorer at home

The Ford Explorer, the world's best-selling four-wheel-drive, is to be dropped from the New Zealand and Australian markets.

Ford HQ in Detroit has decided not to build the 2006 model in right-hand drive. It says that re-tooling for both countries was too expensive.

"The combined sales of both countries don't justify the engineering investment," said Ford NZ marketing manager Graeme Whickman.

"They [Ford HQ] worked closely with us on the decision not to have the right-hand-drive version.

"Ford's concentration now is to make sure the 2006 Explorer in the States does as well as its predecessors."

The decision comes as Ford moves to cut costs across the board. It has dropped the giant US-only Excursion from its SUV line-up, after sales fell from a peak of 51,000 in 2000 to 7000 so far this year.

Whickman said Ford NZ had ordered enough new Explorers to last its dealer network about six months.

"The model will be officially discontinued after all stocks are depleted. But we will continue to offer sales, service, parts and warranty support for all current models."

The US-built Explorer has racked up sales of around 5.5 million units since it was launched in the US in 1990.

Since then, the total SUV market in the US has grown from 929,000 units (6.6 per cent of the overall market) to 4.8 million units (27.5 per cent) in 2004.

The Explorer went on sale in New Zealand in 1997. Ford dealers here have sold around 3500 variants in eight years, made up of 2242 4-litre V6 models and 1251 4.6-litre V8s.

The $82,500 V8 is now the only model available - the V6 was dropped from the line-up last year.