Why Ford's Flex dropped the sliding doors
One of the criteria that doesn't make Ford's new Flex a minivan is its lack of sliding rear doors. Instead, the production version of the Flex gets traditional swing doors, unlike its concept inspiration, the Fairlane, which allowed rear passengers to enter via a set of suicide doors.
The move to nix the sliding doors wasn't so much for aesthetics as it was an opportunity to reduce costs. According to J Mays, the extra cash saved by using a traditional hinge setup allowed the automaker to invest in higher-grade leather, more luxurious interior materials, the glass roof, an 8-inch DVD and even an optional fridge.
While all those things aren't present just because of door selection, they allow the Flex to offer more features not traditionally associated with the benign people movers. So be sure to thank both Mays and Ford's beancounters when you're able to pacify the kiddies with a cold drink and Shrek on DVD.
[Source: Autoweek]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Shawn 4:24PM (4/10/2007)
...If you want a minivan, get a minivan. This vehicle is clearly aimed at people that don't want to drive minivans or SUVs.
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Mark 4:55PM (4/10/2007)
What a pathetic excuse. "Because we dropped sliding doors, we were able to offer features that every other minivan on the market offers." Haha.
Don't get me wrong, the Flex is a great car (sans the stupid name) and, IMO, a real winner, but why is Ford trying to make excuses?
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John P. 4:29PM (4/10/2007)
I think this vehicle may end up being really fun to customize.
I like it.
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HotRodzNKustoms 4:29PM (4/10/2007)
Surely this is a very smart move to invest the money in areas people care about and also remove the minivan stigma from what is essentially a bitchin' minivan.
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nj 4:35PM (4/10/2007)
sliding doors are dangerous too. I knew a kid who almost had to have his arm amputated after his brother shut the sliding door on it.
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Dave 4:38PM (4/10/2007)
The Honda Odyssey returns.
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Michael Karesh 4:41PM (4/10/2007)
I don't quite buy that killing the sliding doors permitted the fridge, sunroof, and DVD player. All three should be extra-cost options, and thus they pay for themselves. Within twisted Detroit logic, though, it likely made sense to think of the amount they could invest in the development of the vehicle as fixed, no matter the size of the feature set.
This is how you end up with vehicles that lack profitable features.
I personally like the Flex quite a bit more than I expected to. Especially the interior. Nice use of fake burl, interesting upholstery, and what appear to be excellent seats.
Now Ford just needs to make this product the rule rather than the exception.
My full initial impressions of the Flex:
http://www.truedelta.com/blog/?p=83
Thanks again to AutoBlog for providing such great photos.
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kp 4:44PM (4/10/2007)
If someone is careless enough to crush an arm in a sliding door they are also careless enough to crush a arm, hand or leg in a swing door. That is a non-issue.
What will be a problem, at least for the unfortunates that park next to these things, is little Timmy swinging one of those giant doors open after Mom parks in a compact spot. I hope they only park next to Saturns because that is going to leave a ding big enough to make a pool out of.
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Bryan 4:50PM (4/10/2007)
KP---your rant is pointless and ignorant. 95% or more of vehicles have traditional doors. Is that the best you can do?
Personally I think it was a good move. Now the customer can have more for less. It's a good way of cost cutting and giving customers what they really want.
Karesh...you sound like the fool that held a cult in Waco, Texas...haven't you figured out no one cares what you say and your site is a joke. Please bother others on another site. Thanks.
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Jared 4:56PM (4/10/2007)
How does the Flex differ from the Taurus X?
It's a good idea to have a vehicle in that segment, but why have two. They both have FWD or AWD, 3.5L V6, three rows of seating...
I think they could get rid of the Taurus X. The idea of the vehicle is nice but I don't like that they call it a Taurus. The Flex fills the same space, but looks better and seems like it will have more options.
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prasank 4:58PM (4/10/2007)
isn't this being sold as "Ford Endeavor" in India? I'm pretty sure, I saw these last time I was there...
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dskinner 5:00PM (4/10/2007)
I certainly think that Ford did a good job with the design, and conventional doors complete the look. I have never been a big fan of Ford minivans (or most of their products over the past decade), but this Flex is awsome. I would prefer a Flex over any minivan on the market, and most all mid-sized SUVs. Great job Ford!
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HotRodzNKustoms 5:02PM (4/10/2007)
I think what they mean about not having sliding doors allowing them those other features all comes back to developement costs, tooling costs, and assembly costs, not so much the costs of the features themselves. Sliding doors are fairly unconventional, complex, and today's soccer mom is so lazy she must have both of them to be powered. That is expensive!
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rich 5:06PM (4/10/2007)
can i think ford when my kid throws the door open and nails a bicyclist or dings the car next to us?
i like the flex, but in people mover mode, you can't beat sliders for ease of entry/exit.
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eggman 5:08PM (4/10/2007)
when i was a child, my parents' CROSSOVER, a two-tone chevy impala with a giant v8, incredibly also had FOUR REGULARLY OPENING DOORS! who knew how innovative we were back then. but we didn't have a fridge! we got jipped!
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Tom 5:16PM (4/10/2007)
While I actually like the Flex, I guess I'm just not understanding what Ford is doing. Exactly how many similar vehicles does it take to satisfy the demand Ford believes it has. Escape, Edge, Freestyle/TaurusX, Explorer--all so close in size and concept.
What's interesting about the Flex is the really basic styling--very much like a big Scion xB.
About the sliding doors...give me a break. The only reason there are no sliding doors is simply because Ford announced it was leaving the minivan business behind them. How would it look if they came out with a Flex with sliding doors?? Nothing screams MINIVAN more than sliding doors. To me this is also Ford simply admitting defeat in the minivan wars. Chrylser, Honda, Toyota and Hyundai/Kia aren't abandoning the market, but Ford is and that is what a company does when it just doesn't have the design talent and creative ideas to meet the challengers of that market segment.
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Tom 5:27PM (4/10/2007)
I do applaude Ford for seeing the appeal in Scion xB type styling with a Mini Cooper white roof!
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Gardiner Westbound 5:25PM (4/10/2007)
Karesh nailed it. Auto show and focus group attendees responded positively to the concept Fairlane's feature set. Marketing the car without a key feature prejudices its success.
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SGV 5:46PM (4/10/2007)
Gardiner,
Check your facts. The Fairlane concept had suicide doors not sliding doors. Or what features in the Fairlane concept that are missing in the Flex are you talking about?
Karesh,
You cherry pick what you want of the note to make sense of your no-point. The hinged doors, while killing any minivanish stigma that could have doomed the Flex also allowed for better and more luxurious materials. The fridge, the DVD player and the BASR are options that should pay for themselves, the high quality materials are going to be all accross the Flex lineup.
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SGV 5:46PM (4/10/2007)
Gardiner,
Check your facts. The Fairlane concept had suicide doors not sliding doors. Or what features in the Fairlane concept that are missing in the Flex are you talking about?
Karesh,
You cherry pick what you want of the note to make sense of your no-point. The hinged doors, while killing any minivanish stigma that could have doomed the Flex also allowed for better and more luxurious materials. The fridge, the DVD player and the BASR are options that should pay for themselves, the high quality materials are going to be all accross the Flex lineup.
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