Ford Motor Company redefines the cutting-edge American own circle of relatives adventure with the advent of the 2009 Ford Flex, a significant crossover that units a brand new general for style, functions, capability and luxury withinside the U.S. industry's freshest section.
"The new Ford Flex crossover is a game-changer. It's the primary car of its type that mixes seating for seven, indoors spaciousness and unexpected functions with a hanging layout that appears top notch on the street and at domestic for latest cutting-edge American households," stated Mark Fields, Ford's president of The Americas, as he discovered the brand new car on the 2007 New York International Auto Show. "The Flex builds on Ford's management in crossover automobiles, that is the fastest-developing a part of the automobile marketplace today."
On sale withinside the summer time season of 2008, the Ford Flex is arriving as crossovers keep to outpace even the super boom of SUVs throughout the Nineteen Nineties and minivans of the 1980s.
Last year, crossovers handed conventional SUV income for the primary time, and they may be trending towards annual crossover income of three million gadgets with the aid of using the quit of the decade. Such boom probably will make crossovers the primary or 2d biggest car section withinside the U.S.
The Ford Flex joins the Edge and Taurus X in Ford's increasing crossover lineup. Ford's fulfillment with crossover application automobiles is substantial. In March alone, the company's U.S. crossover income had been up extra than forty percentage over remaining year - led with the aid of using the fulfillment of the brand new Edge.
Redefining the Family Journey
Bold, expressive layout and extraordinary improvements outline the brand new Flex.
"The Ford Flex has the energy to transport human beings emotionally in addition to physically," stated J Mays, Ford's organization vice chairman of Design and leader innovative officer.
"This crossover has been created for individuals who recognize it is the adventure - now no longer the destination - that topics most," Mays brought. "Its upright, upscale layout, versatility and smart touches permit Ford Flex to face out in an an increasing number of crowded sea of crossovers."
The Ford Flex brings to manufacturing the Ford Fairlane idea car that grew to become heads on the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
"Flex is following withinside the tire tracks, as a way to speak, of Ford automobiles just like the Taurus, Explorer and Mustang. It's the subsequent iconic Ford," stated Peter Horbury, Ford's govt director of Design for The Americas. "It shatters latest picture of human beings movers."
Ford Flex's signature outside layout consists of:
- Ford's signature chrome horizontal 3-bar grille, which builds at the own circle of relatives "face" that defines the Ford Edge and Taurus X crossovers, in addition to the Ford Fusion sedan.
- A particular, all black "greenhouse" - described because the windshield, rear and facet windows, and the pillars setting apart and connecting them to the roof. The layout brings collectively seamlessly the frame with the to be had multi-panel roof. Customers can pair a White Suede or Silver roof choice with certainly considered one among Flex's 10 to be had outside colorings or pick a frame-colour roof.
- Standard 18-inch or to be had 19-inch vivid aluminum wheels, which plant the brand new crossover firmly on the street.
- Flex's incorporated rocker panel layout, which removes the want for clients to step over the rocker panel whilst stepping into and out of the car.
- Edge-stimulated taillamps, which might be mentioned in chrome. Flex Limited fashions have LED taillamps and a brushed satin end metallic appliqué spanning the middle of the liftgate.
Interior Quality
Inside, Ford Flex supplies textures, functions and capability - along with section exclusives - that create a super ecosystem for discerning clients and their households.
"More than ninety percentage of crossover clients make their car purchases primarily based totally in component on the general pleasant of interiors," stated Kate Pearce, Flex advertising manager. "When they see the Flex's outside, they will be intrigued. When they see its indoors, they will fall in love."
Ford Flex's indoors presents a degree of expertise stimulated with the aid of using style and furnishings layout, with cutting-edge substances and smooth contact points.
Details encompass tweed-like cloth for the base-degree Ford Flex SE's seats, with inserts in a miniature houndstooth. Meanwhile, the Flex SEL functions a smooth insert with a extra mentioned grain at the seat bolsters, at the same time as the Flex Limited functions particular diamond-sample perforations at the leather-based seat inserts. Contrast sewing is also to be had on leather-based seats and the middle console.
Cool Features Built Right In
Ford Flex is ready other than different automobiles way to a protracted listing of unexpected functions. They encompass:
- Class-extraordinary fridge, installed among the second one-row captain's chairs. Unlike competitors' structures that simply hold bloodless drinks cool, the Flex's to be had compressor-pushed fridge can cool as much as seven 12-ounce cans, 4 1/2 of-liter bottles or 20-ounce bottles from room temperature to forty one stages in only extra than -and-one-1/2 of hours. That's forty percentage quicker than a general domestic fridge.
- Multi-Panel Vista Roof™. It now no longer handiest brightens the indoors, it offers Flex occupants seated in every row their very own unique skylight.
- Second-row, best-in-elegance legroom, along with elegance-extraordinary adjustable and detachable footrests. The Ford Flex's 2d-row seats fold and tumble to offer get admission to to the third-row and fold flat into the ground for brought shipment space. An to be had one-contact device folds and tumbles the second one row.
- Seven-colour programmable ambient lighting fixtures. Flex proprietors can pick indoors lighting fixtures to match their mood. With this selection - which is also being delivered at the 2008 Ford Focus - clients use a dashboard transfer to extrade the lighting fixtures on LEDs installed at the the front console, at the footwells and across the cupholders.
- Capless gasoline filler device. This extraordinary function removes the probability of forgetting to place the fueloline cap again on after fueling. It additionally saves time with the aid of using putting off unscrewing and changing a gasoline-filler cap and presents a higher seal, slicing down the emissions of smog-forming vapors.
- Ford Sync™, Ford's industry-extraordinary, voice-activated hands-loose in-automobile communications and leisure device. This to be had device absolutely integrates cell telephones and virtual media gamers into the car. The Sync in-automobile communications device became advanced in collaboration with Microsoft and could be provided completely on Ford, Lincoln and Mercury automobiles later this year.
- Ford's next-era navigation device, offering voice popularity era and extra than a hundred and fifty hours of tune garage. Users can browse the tune jukebox thru contact-display or with the aid of using the use of voice popularity. They also can create custom play lists and burn CDs for garage at the device's tough power. The device additionally integrates the weather manage and SIRIUS Satellite Radio into one easy-to-use, smudge-resistant, 8-inch contact-display display. Premium AM/FM/MP3 audio structures are also to be had with a six-CD changer, auxiliary jack to deal with MP3 gamers and the cutting-edge era DVD leisure device with a massive 8-inch, drop-down display.
- Ford's extraordinary 2d-era door-access keypad . Housed in the car's black B pillars, the flat-panel, backlit keypad removes the want for door-installed buttons and offers clients the cappotential to release doors, disarm the alarm device and disable the automobile-lock characteristic with the aid of using getting into a five-digit code.
Quiet, Confident Ride
The Ford Flex's chassis became designed to be capable, along with extra than 4,000 kilos of towing capacity, at the same time as nonetheless turning in the quiet, assured journey that crossover clients call for.
"A quiet journey is not a luxury," stated Gary Boes, Flex leader engineer. "It's some thing that clients have come to anticipate from their automobiles and equate with pleasant. Flex has been engineered from the onset with decreased noise, vibration and harshness in mind."
In addition, a 6-millimeter thick windshield enables lessen wind and powertrain noise, at the same time as specifically decided on tires make avenue noise almost unnoticeable.
Powerful V-6 with AWD
Ford Flex is powered with the aid of using Ford's award-prevailing three.5-liter V-6 engine and is mated to a gasoline-green 6-pace transmission. The powertrain is predicted to supply extra than 260 horsepower, 245 lb.-ft. of torque and appropriate gasoline economy.
Ford Flex's to be had shrewd all-wheel-power device is tuned to offer assured using in all climate conditions. Intelligent AWD makes use of an active, on-call for digital middle coupler to allocate a specific quantity of torque from the front to rear - as much as a hundred percentage to both axle. The device can also assume wheel slip earlier than it happens.
Safety Families Demand
Ford Flex comes ready with functions that mirror Ford's dedication to maintaining clients and their households secure and secure. The new crossover's frame shape has been optimized with facet intrusion beams withinside the doors, strategic use of high-power boron metal and specifically designed, energy-soaking up indoors door trims.
Other protection improvements encompass:
- Rear again-up digital digicam. Mounted withinside the backside of Ford Flex's liftgate badge, the to be had digital digicam is activated whilst the car is shifted into opposite, giving the driving force a view of what is at the back of the car. The device works along side the car's opposite sensing device and makes use of the navigation display as a display.
- AdvanceTrac ® with RSC ® (Roll Stability Control). This device can expect a car's path, the use of a sensor to degree oversteer and yaw with the aid of using tracking the car's pace, throttle role and guidance wheel angle. When the device senses wheel slip or the lack of traction, it applies braking wherein had to hold the car correctly on its meant path.
- Ford's Personal Safety System. This suite of protection functions consists of dual-degree motive force and the front passenger air baggage, thorax facet air baggage for the front seat occupants, protection belt pretensioners, seat weight sensing device for the passenger seat and crash severity sensing.
- Ford's extraordinary Safety Canopy ® facet curtain air bag. Designed for all 3 rows, this selection makes use of roll-fold era to correctly install the air bag whilst an occupant's head is resting towards the facet glass. In the occasion of a crash, the roll-fold bag will install among the occupant's head and the facet of the car.
- Ford's BeltMinder™ protection belt reminder for motive force and the front passenger. Ford Flex additionally comes ready with such general functions as infant protection locks at the rear doors, the trunk LATCH device and Ford's tire strain tracking device.
