Ford Freestar
The Ford Freestar is a van that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company from 2004 until November 2006. He replaced the Windstar in the 2004 model year. The name change corresponded to the Ford strategy to provide all models type names that begin with F. The Freestar and Mercury Monterey its sister model were built in Oakville (Ontario).
Equipment and technology
The Freestar could seat up to seven passengers and had a standard four-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission. There were five trim levels: basic equipment ( no designation), SE, Sport, SEL, and Limited.
In the U.S., the Freestar with two different gasoline-powered V6 engines were offered: The smaller 3.9 -liter engine developed an output of 144 kW at 4500 rpm and a torque of 325 Nm at 3.750/min while the larger 4, 2 -liter engine delivered an output of 150 kW at 4.250/min and reached a torque of 357 Nm at 3.650/min. The smaller motor part of the basic equipment in the United States, the larger was in Canada the only available engine.
Mercury Monterey
From 1950 to 1974 there was a large car of this name, see Mercury Monterey.
The Mercury Monterey was the Mercury version of the Ford Freestar. He filled in the model range the gap left by the setting of the based on the Nissan Quest Villager 2002. Like its sister model, the Ford Freestar Monterey offered the space for seven people. But he was offered in a more luxurious amenities, and the 4.2 -liter engine was standard equipment.
As with the Freestar is moving the sales figures of Monterey at a low level, because the construction is not over to the other manufacturers proved to be competitive and the demand for Vans subsided anyway. In August 2006, only 567 copies were sold from Monterey.
After only a short 2007 model year, during which 1,354 copies had been sold, the production was stopped. The factory in Oakville has been converted for the production of the models of the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. The last left Monterey on 25 August 2006 the production lines. A total of 32 195 Monterey were sold within a period of three years.
The selling price of the 2007 Mercury Monterey Luxury stood at U.S. $ 28 595, of the 2007 Ford Freestar Limited for U.S. $ 29,575.
Poor sales and early setting
Freestar and Monterey were blamed for the poor quality of their interiors and for the simple furnishings compared to the competition. From 2005 to 2006 the sales of the Freestar decreased by 20 % and that of Monterey by 40%. The last Freestar was built on November 17, 2006.
The renaming of the model from Windstar to Freestar ( the second in nine years ) may have contributed to his early separation. Experts saw it as an example of how the textbook that a name change can ruin a formerly successful product. The Toronto Star quoted an expert on product name, who described the whole thing as "Ford Fiasco ". Naseem Javed, president of ABC Name Bank International foresaw: "There will be chaos and confusion for consumers. "
Others called the idea to apply for all Ford vehicles with type names that start with an F, " plain stupid". Ford said that the idea came from the dealers and would suit the 600 million U.S. $ expensive revision of the van. Joe Greenwell, vice president of marketing and production at the parent company Ford Motor Co., assumed that the new name " increase interest in this product" would.
With the introduction of the Windstar, this has sold very well and forced Chrysler, also offer an aerodynamically styled Van. When, according to Ford advertising, " brand new " Freestar, it was, however, only a slightly revised version of the Windstar. It was based still on the Ford V- platform from the year 1999. Mainly the front end, the dashboard and the center console and the position of the rear floor pan had been revised.
The main novelty of the Freestar, a fold-down third row seats, there was at the competition models already, and so the Freestar occupied in many comparative tests last. He was no longer competitive, since the Japanese producers had entered the requirements of the class-leading Chrysler Vans terms of the design and size of its vehicles. The early production end of the Freestar was also due to financial problems of Ford, so you had been forced to the models Taurus, Thunderbird and the Ford GT also set. In addition, the new marketing strategy with F- type designations proved unsuccessful, and the original Five Hundred sedan was designated later renamed back to Taurus.
The Freestar had to 5th and 6th digits of the VIN code A5.
Recall
On 18 January 2012, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration NHTSA announced a recall for model years 2004 and 2005. Affected were 205,900 vehicles (including Mercury Monterey ), as a component of the drive can fail and it leads to an abrupt shutdown of the vehicle.
Successor
The successor of the Freestar, Ford Flex, was shown at the New York International Auto Show 2007. The new car is sold as a 2009 model since the summer of 2008. As of 2010, a greater Lincoln version to be offered under the name Lincoln MKT.
Countries where Freestar and Monterey sold
- Canada
- USA
- Mexico
- Taiwan
- United Arab Emirates
- Saudi Arabia
- Kuwait
- Qatar
- Netherlands