The Ford Explorer was treated to a full redesign for the 2020 model year, ushering in a new era for the long-running model. In the meantime, China’s version of the Explorer recently underwent a refresh, while the North American crossover received a few changes for 2022 and will carry over into the 2023 model year mostly unchanged. The Ford Explorer is set to receive a refresh for the 2024 model year, though the next-generation ICE-powered model will likely follow in 2026, according to Automotive News.
The gas Ford Explorer will continue to be built at the Chicago Assembly plant “for the foreseeable future,” according to the report, including the next-gen model when it launches in 2026. This is notable because the all-electric versions of the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator were previously expected to be built at the at the Cuautitlan Assembly plant in Mexico alongside the Ford Mustang Mach-E, but that plan was later scrapped, with both EV crossovers being pushed back to 2024 as a result.
Recent rumors indicate that the Explorer and Aviator EVs could be produced at the Oakville Assembly plant in Canada, which will be retooled for the production of five all-electric models beginning in 2025. However, that report also left open the possibility that the Explorer and Aviator EVs could wind up being produced at the Chicago plant alongside their ICE counterparts at some point in the future.
In the meantime, the 2023 Ford Explorer will carry on following a host of changes for the 2022 model year, including the addition of standard rear-wheel drive for the ST, the new ST-Line trim, and a few other minor tweaks. As Ford Authority reported in June, 2023 Explorer order banks opened up on August 11th, 2022, while production is slated to begin at the Chicago Assembly plant on November 7th, 2022.
We’ll have more on the next-gen Explorer soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Explorer news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
If Ford knows what’s good for them they will continue to produce the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator ICE vehicles completely in the USA !!!!!!!!!!
I hope all Explorer production is assigned to the Chicago plant. It seems logical to think that moving the EV model to Oakville brings with it the potential for quality problems (being that it would be an all-new product for them). That’s the last thing Ford needs.
If Ford knows what’s good for them they will slow thier rush to electric powered vehicles. Just look at the idiot in Commie-fornia who decided that no gasoline powered cars will be sold after 2035 and the very next day the electric grid officials came out and urged Californians to not charge their electric vehicles among other things to conserve electricity and avoid brown-outs.
The wack-o birds are running the ship into the ground.
if we are forced to all electric heat,cooking,autos,a/c,lights all china ,iran russia have to do is hack,missle,or bomb our electric grids and we are done for some idiots deciding this are in it for personal gain or want to destroy america.