Ford to reduce time between model style changes

The 2009 Ford Flex is just on its way to dealers, and FoMoCo is already working on the redesign that will be due out in three years.

“To be working on the next one immediately is quite unnerving. It is strange, really,” said Peter Horbury, FoMoCo’s North American design director. “What do we do? Usually it would have been five years.”

Horbury pointed out that a redesign is pursued to maintain sales, not necessarily boost sales. Ford hopes that a faster redesign will help its models stay fresh instead of getting boring, resulting in lower sales and big incentives.

While most of you are probably thinking that Ford may change a head lamp here and there, Horbury said that according to Ford’s research “there is no value in minor changes but a huge value in major changes. “The days of: ‘I got a 2009 and you have a 2008 because the front lamp is changed’ are gone.”

As for the next Ford Flex, Horbury said the doors, and glass will remain the same; beyond that designers are encouraged to shake things up.

Ford previously said that by 2009, the average of a Ford, Lincoln and Mercury model will be reduced by 35 percent.

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Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)