It has many iconic cars that have been on the market for years, there is no better example than the Explorer. It competes in the midsize SUV segment and has been in its segment for some time. That said, the midsize SUV segment is growing, and perhaps due to new competition, sales of the Ford Explorer are declining.
Sales of the Ford Explorer have stagnated
Ford introduced the Explorer in 1990 and its sales also peaked around that time. Ford was selling over 400,000 units a year of the Explorer in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but that changed during the mid-2000s. The economy collapsed and gas prices were high, so large SUVs like the Explorer were no longer favored.
, sales have since recovered, but are still a shadow of the Explorer’s glory days. Since 2014, Ford has sold approximately 200,000 units annually. In 2017, the automaker sold just over 238,000 units of the Explorer, and that was the SUV’s most recent sales peak. Interestingly, despite the onset of the pandemic and the resulting global supply chain crisis, 2020 was a good year for Explorer sales.
Ford moved 226,000 units of the SUV that year, a significant increase from the previous year. That said, sales have plummeted since then. In 2021, Ford sold about 220,000 units, and in 2022, the automaker sold just 208,000 units. Compared to the last decade, those sales numbers aren’t all that bad, but they do show that Explorer sales have stagnated.
The supply chain crisis is a likely culprit
The supply chain crisis has affected the entire world and Ford was no stranger. Due to lack of parts, especially semiconductor chips, Ford was forced to . Ford, like many other automakers, has also prioritized chips for its most popular models. The Explorer was one of the models affected by this slowdown and had some additional effects.
As there were fewer cars rolling off the assembly lines, prices for cars that ended up on a dealer lot skyrocketed. This made car buyers more strategic about the cars they bought and often meant choosing a used car or a smaller car. A brand new one starts at around $37,000, so it’s no surprise that some prospective owners have chosen a more affordable car instead.
New rivals in the segment may also explain why Ford Explorer sales have declined
Supply chain issues may explain Ford’s most recent SUV sales decline, but it doesn’t explain why Explorer sales have stagnated at about 200,000 units a year. There are still a lot of cars sold each year, but the mid-size SUV segment is growing, so in theory, Explorer sales should grow as well. In fact, Ford has redesigned the Explorer for the 2020 model year to help it compete against its new rivals.
Based on the sales figures, the redesign has helped, but the Explorer’s rivals are still gaining ground. One of the Explorer’s new rivals is the Kia Telluride, which only debuted in the 2020 model year. It also has a cousin that’s in the same segment, the Hyundai Palisade.
Both the Palisade and Telluride have won numerous awards and, as such, their sales numbers have grown dramatically since their arrival. Undoubtedly, newcomers like Kia and Hyundai are taking market share away from the Explorer.
