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As seems to be the norm lately, Ford has employed the "slow drip" method of leaking tidbits surrounding the 2011 Explorer SUV. Headlights, tailgates, and various other body parts were dribbled out over the course of several weeks, and other specs have been alluded to earlier than that. On July 27, 2010, we got an up-close look at the whole vehicle. For West-Coast journalists and dealers, the unveil was held in Venice Beach, California, that counter-cultural Mecca of Southern California. And when I say it was held on the beach, I mean literally on-the-beach. The young female PR reps had already long since forsaken their shoes, and many other women did likewise. Had I known the exact venue, I also probably would have sported my Rainbows that day, but I managed to avoid getting an excessive amount of sand in my Ecco loafers.  As a teaser leading up to the grand unveiling, Ford commissioned some professional sand sculptors to do some interpretive art showcasing some of the vehicle's new features. Namely, Terrain Management, as well as the Explorer's new styling.
To be perfectly honest, I have mixed feelings on Ford's new bread-and-butter midsize SUV. From a market positioning standpoint, I think it's exactly where it needs to be. In features, packaging, and capability, it's right where most of the competition is, and better, in some respects. I think it's a safe assumption that sales will probably surpass the relatively dismal sales of a little over 50,000 last year of the outgoing model. Considering that at its peak, the Explorer sold more than 400,000 units a year, that's a pretty precipitous drop. But again, that's over two decades worth of sales, and the SUV segment has fragmented considerably since the early 90s. Since that time, we've seen the emergence of "cute ute" vehicles such as the Toyota RAV4, Ford's own Escape, Honda CR-V, as well as "crossovers" in various shapes and sizes promising a car-like driving experience with the packaging of an SUV or Minivan. The traditional body-on-frame, transfer-case 4x4 SUV is becoming more and more of an endagered species year by year. But in the case of the Explorer, does anyone really care?
Don't get me wrong. I understand the symbolic significance of body-on-frame construction, solid axles, transfer cases and related hardware to the off-roading hobby. But the Explorer was never marketed as a hard-core rock-crawler, as the Wrangler, FJ Cruiser, and to a lesser extent, even the Grand Cherokee were. It just so happened those pieces were what were in Ford's corporate part bins when development on the first-gen Explorer started. Have I occasionally seen a hacked-up, solid-axle massively-modified Explorer on the trails? Sure. But it's far more common to see modified XJ Cherokees, ZJ Grand Cherokees, Toyota 4Runners, Nissan Xterras, and naturally, CJs and Wranglers of all generations.
 Frankly, I think the 2011 Explorer's immediate predecessor was massively over-built for its intended mission. Properly-outfitted, a 2010 Explorer could tow a maximum of 7,115 pounds. With the exception of VW Touareg, which is theoretically capable of towing 7,716, it had by far the highest towing capacity in the midsize class. The best-selling models in the segment, namely, the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander and Chevy Traverse, are in the 4,500 to 5,000 pound range. The 2011 with the V6 is rated at 5,000, right in the middle of the class norm.
If towing is a big priority, consider upgrading to the Expedition, which can lug 8,700 pounds behind it. Sure, it's a little larger, and less fuel efficient, but in all honesty, probably better-equipped and more comfortable to tow with than a midsizer.
So although sometimes it seems like the purpose-built production off-roader may eventually dwindle down to one or two models, is it really worth losing sleep over, when we lose one, when its core mission to begin with was soccer-practice shuttle?
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