A Rear-Wheel Drive Explorer? Yep, It’s Reportedly Coming Back in 2020 [News]

Ford Uncovered - Overview
A new Explorer (under the sheet) is coming, including a performance ST model. [Photo: Ford]

A Ford dealer from Alabama provides a close look at the new Ranger, plus some insight on the new Explorer

Our coverage from the “Ford Uncovered” event shows a lot of products are coming out of the Ford mill in the next two years. The company is planning to hybridize their entire lineup – yes, including the Mustang. They’re also leaning hard on driver assist systems to create cars of the future. Not only will Ford’s cars talk to other cars on the road, but they’ll also communicate with the environment around them. While the event covered Ford’s future as a major player in the automotive industry, they didn’t forget to stay in the moment. To that end, they’re also refreshing their lineup and coming out with products you’ll be able to buy very soon.

Take the 2019 Ford Ranger, for instance. We’ve covered the Ranger to some extent on TFLtruck, and now an Alabama dealer takes us around the truck. This comes from YouTube channel Town and Country TV and covers the NADA Show which took place this weekend. In it, we get a look at the top-of-the-line Ranger Lariat with a sport package. While that’s an interesting piece of news, that’s not the only thing he mentions here.

Spy photo of the new Ford Explorer. [Photo: Brian Rabenhorst]

There will be a rear-wheel drive Explorer, according to reports

Around the 9:00 mark, he gives some insight as to the other Ford products coming up. Per our post on the Ford Uncovered event, the company’s coming out with a new Escape and a new Explorer. Not only that, but they’re coming out with a hot Explorer ST, adding some meat to their performance lineup. That could be welcome news to anyone seeking a bit more spice in their family hauler. However, what’s even more significant is the new Explorer will return to rear-wheel drive. Perhaps that means the we’ll see a rear-wheel drive Explorer ST (or at least rear-biased all-wheel drive)?

For the Explorer’s fifth and current generation, Ford changed the game and made the Explorer front-wheel drive with an all-wheel drive option. That comes in addition to the car’s unibody construction. Until that point, all Explorers – dating back to the model’s debut for 1991 – had been body-on-frame, and rear-wheel drive. While Ford hasn’t confirmed any information about the new Explorer just yet, multiple media outlets strongly suggest the new platform will be based on a rear-wheel drive layout. All-wheel drive will still be available, of course.

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