So Ford will lose 5% of the market that really gives a flying fart about whether the car is a "real SUV" or not while gaining 50% more market because it still does what any soccer mom needs it to and more, looks better doing it, doesn't have the ever-growing stigma of driving an "SUV", and yielding 20% better gas mileage than the outgoing model.
Yeah, what a stupid idea.
It sounds like the truck guys that were lamenting Ford putting a V6 into the F-150 and how it wasn't going to be a 'real truck' without the V8 and real men wouldn't buy it that way and it was a waste of time and other stupid BS. In a span of just 5 months Ford went from not selling a V6 F-150 at all to V6s making up the MAJORITY of what was being purchased. Most people don't need to tow 10,000lbs with their F-150 just like most people don't need their Explorer to ford a 6ft ditch. So big whoopty-doo if some "true SUV" whoops its ass offroad. If you're one of the 6 people in the country for whom that
really matters, go ahead and buy the "true SUV".
Fact of the matter is that the new Explorer is selling better than the old one had in a half-decade and almost as well as it
ever had, and is outselling those "true SUVs" from Chrysler by 50% (Cherokee) and 300% (Durango). And it's doing so at a lower production cost per unit and a higher average sales price, so while the other manufacturers are busy demonstrating their "true SUV"s offroad prowess, Ford's busy using the Explorer to haul all its extra cash to the bank.
Sounds to me like they really were paying attention after all -- to what the
market said it really wanted rather than the handful of braindead rednecks making "Muddin'" YouTube videos that was apparently the entirety of the focus group that Ford used for its entire lineup the past 10 years.
I fully agree, it's exactly as you state, but it will sell the same and deliver 100% better for 95% of previous buyers!