Ford Scraps Explorer Sport Trac
When the Ford Explorer Sport-Trac debuted years ago, it made a lot of sense. Four big doors and proper seats, decent fuel economy, and a reasonable cargo area made it perfect for the weekend warrior, weekday carpooler, but that was then and this is now. Considered by many to be defunct when Ford’s new F-150 posted superior fuel economy and a lower price tag, the Sport Trac soldiered on; buoyed into production by its Explorer underpinnings and relatively low cost of production. But that was then, and this is now.
And now, Ford has a new Explorer in the lineup; one that doesn’t boast the same body-on-frame architecture as the previous model, meaning the Sport Trac was going to have to adapt a similar unibody layout (ala the Honda Ridgeline) or die. Thankfully, Ford’s brass chose the latter. With Sport Trac sales totaling roughing 20-25% of Explorer sales in its latter years, it was already proving itself a relatively slow seller, and with the alleged introduction of a new Ranger/F-100 looming large, to create a unibody Sport Trac simply wouldn’t be viable in Ford’s new slim-and-trim business model.
