Future Cars

Archive for August, 2011

As far as the consumer is concerned, the history of the great Ford Mustang began when it was shown to the public at New York’s World Exhibition. The prototypes had been in existence since 1962, with the Mustang 1 (T-5) being first introduced to the motor racing world at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix where Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney drove it for a few laps each as a demo.

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It seems that the 1990s was the decade of the SUV in the United States. During that time, we saw the market go from only a handful of different models to dozens and dozens of different choices. Every carmaker had to offer at least one SUV model to be competitive, if not more. That momentum has continued into the 2000s, but consumers’ tastes are ever so slightly changing. Whether it be because of higher gas prices or simply a desire of consumers to want something more than the lumbering feel of large body-on-frame SUVs, the market is trending towards somewhat smaller and better handling “crossover” vehicles. Crossovers blend the looks of an SUV with the handling dynamics of a car, thanks to their unit-body construction. In fact, most of these vehicles are based directly on car platforms. It is predicted that the crossover segment could be the fastest growing segment in the American automotive market over the next few years. In the second part of an ongoing series on Ford’s “Year of the Car,” AutomotiveArticles.com looks at Ford’s latest crossover, the Freestyle.

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