Ford Flex Appeals to Disappearing Minivanistas. Go Figure.
While we here at TTAC like to pretend we know everything, we don't. Don't know everything, and don't pretend to know everything. For example, why is Ford sales analyst George Pipas talking about U.S. minivan sales? As Bloomberg reports, Ford's Windstar minivan sailed into the history books back in '06. Apparently Pipas' sliding door fixation stems from the fact "The company later this year plans to roll out the seven-passenger Flex, a 'car-based vehicle it's aiming to sell to families that don't want a traditional minivan.'" Oh, so American car buyers don't want minivans but they do want a family vehicle, to the tune of some 100k+ Flexible flyers per year. Gotcha. Only why would Ford's stat man then advertise the fact that "industrywide U.S. sales of minivans may fall to a 23-year low this year… as more consumers turn to smaller cars" [emphasis added]. Or email someone and point-out that "In the 1980s, minivans were America's family car. Today, this category is approaching niche segment status"? Hell if I know.
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I like this car. It's fairly expensive and higher-class than the typical Ford vehicle. I think it might help Ford change it's downmarket image. As to the styling, I'll quote Edmunds: "Not Just Weird; Powerfully Weird". The term "wacky" turns up quite a few times in their review. I think Ford should use that as the Edge's slogan. "Not Just Weird; Powerfully Weird". They'd sell by the truckload.
@ Bunkie: http://www.slate.com/id/2148392/
"Case in point: the Windstar became the Freestar in 2004, for some inexplicable reason." The reason was that the Ford Leaders who grew up watching Sesame Street concluded that Fords start with "F". Brought to you by, the letter "F".