2018 Ford Expedition / Lincoln Navigator: Staying Large while Slimming Down
What It Is: A Ford F-series with a longer roof, three rows of seats, and a whiff of Queen Family Truckster.
Why It Matters: People still buy personal-use minibuses and will continue to, even if gas rises back above $3 a gallon.
Platform: Although body stamping likely will be different, the Expedition/Navigator will follow the same steel-frame, aluminum-body approach as the F-150. Aluminum saved several hundred pounds on the F-150; the SUVs will see a similarly significant mass savings. As with current versions, the new SUVs will surely ride on independent rear suspensions.
Powertrain: These body-on-frame twins will carry on with their current powertrain strategy of offering only twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V-6s. It’s likely that the 2.7-liter will share the roster with the 3.5.
Competition: GM’s Suburban-based Cadillac, Chevy, and GMC triplets outsell the Ford/Lincoln duo by more than four to one. And somehow the Infiniti QX80, the soon-to-be-replaced Nissan Armada, and the Toyota Sequoia all outsell the aged Navigator.
What Might Go Wrong: Americans could embrace “It’s a Small World” as a transportation mantra; fuel prices may rocket up as quickly as they recently dropped; or aluminum could be linked to infertility. But none of that sounds terribly likely.
Estimated Arrival and Price: Late 2017 as a 2018 model, with prices mirroring today’s: from about $47,000 for a base Expedition to beyond $80,000 for a loaded Navigator L.
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