Ford Motor Co. is upgrading – not abandoning – the Ford Flex for the 2013 model year. Introduced in 2008 to fill the gap where Ford used to have a minivan, Flex has failed to excite
buyers. Sales of about 23,000 through October are down almost 22%, and Ford sold fewer than 35,000 in 2010, down almost 12% from the previous year, according to Autodata Corp.
Ford executives
repeatedly have said there are no plans to discontinue the Flex, insisting it has its place in the lineup. The company will show a refreshed version next week at the Los Angeles Auto Show. One in five
retail sales are in California. The automaker has taken the unusual branding step of removing the Ford blue oval from the redesigned front end, which now only has the Flex name. Fuel economy improves
by 1 mile per gallon to 18 mpg city and 25 mpg highway by adding twin
independent variable camshaft timing to the 3.5-liter V-6 engine. It delivers 285 horsepower, which is up by about 20 horsepower.
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