Refreshed Ford Explorer For China Is Now On Sale

October 13, 2022 8:58 am

Images of a refreshed Ford Explorer for the Chinese market leaked back in February before it was teased a few months later and then officially revealed back in August. Sporting an entirely different look inside and out when compared to its North American counterpart, the Chinese Explorer was designed specifically to cater to customers in that country, much like many other newer Blue Oval products that have launched there recently. Now, the refreshed Ford Explorer is officially on sale in China following months of anticipation.

The newly-revised version of the crossover was designed to look like a “luxury yacht” inside and out, with a large bespoke front grille, a full-width front LED light bar, slimmer headlights, 21-inch Turbine fan wheels that spin like a ship’s propeller, a C-pillar graphic that echoes the mast of a luxury sailboat, and a massive 27-inch touchscreen spans the dashboard, coast-to-coast, with special seat materials and patterns to boot.

As Ford Authority previously reported, the refreshed Chinese Explorer will likely remain in China, however, and won’t be coming to the U.S. In fact, the 2023 Ford Explorer in America will carry over to the new model year largely unchanged. However, North America will be getting its own refreshed Explorer for the 2024 model year, a fact that Ford Authority spies recently confirmed after spotting both a new ST and Timberline prototype driving around.

Looking further down the road, an all-electric version of the long-running crossover is currently slated to launch in 2025, while an all-new, completely redesigned gas-powered model is expected to arrive a little later, in 2026. Ford CEO Jim Farley previously stated that traditional ICE Explorer customers may not like the EV variant, so it’s very likely that the two models will diverge in terms of exterior styling, at the very least.

We’ll have more on the Explorer soon, so be sure to subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Explorer news and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.

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By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.