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Ford Developing Rear-Drive Models for North America

Front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive ... which drive configuration

People have been wondering what Ford will do next regarding its rear wheel drive platforms. Was last year's Interceptor Concept a hint? (Photo: Ford)

is the right one to base the future development of a car company on these days? It seems clear that an assortment of all three is optimal, with the most successful companies, in the premium sector at least, offering up at least two drive options, depending on the car and market it's targeting.

For instance, BMW's 3-Series and 5-Series are available with rear- or all-wheel drive, while its 6- and 7-Series models are only rear-drive. Cadillac is following the same route with its new CTS, although oddly it uses front-wheel drive for its largest car. Taking a different direction, Audi's A4 comes with front- and all-wheel drive, where its top-line models are only AWD, a model Lincoln has chosen for its MKZ. What about lower down the economic scale? Well, there really isn't any one successful rule of thumb, with the most popular Toyota Camry only available with front-wheel drive, a pattern followed by the second place Honda Accord. Subaru only sells its cars with all-wheel drive, although in much smaller quantities. Domestic automakers like GM, Ford and Chrysler are too large to think so small, however, and being that they're currently coming from behind with strong but less popular products, there's a need to be innovative in order to attract buyers not satisfied with the limited features available from the Japanese

Besides the Mustang, the only thing that Ford really has is the Panther platform, which is quite old. (Photo: Ford)

giants.

For the last two decades the domestics have based the majority of new cars on front-drive architectures, except for niche and fleet models. Recently, however, the highly successful Chrysler 300C, with its rear-drive layout, sophisticated multilink suspension and powerful Hemi V8 engine, redefined the rules and pulled off a major coup, achieving tremendous sales in its first few years and transforming the Pentastar brand's image from boring fleet car purveyor to carmaker to the stars. While 300C sales have slipped off due to high fuel prices and the need for an updated model, GM and Ford took notice of its initial success and started rear-drive programs of their own. The former will debut the production Pontiac G8 in Detroit next week, while Ford, a little late to the game, is finally getting serious about producing a modern, rear-drive architecture of its own.

Sure the Crown Victoria / Mercury Marquis / Lincoln Town Car platform is rear-drive and has enjoyed tremendous success in the

Wouldn't a rear wheel drive Lincoln also be fitting? (Photo: Lincoln)

fleet segment, but with an average retail buyer over 70 years of age, it can hardly be Ford's answer to the 300C. Still, Lincoln has a history of rear-wheel drive cars, including the recently deceased LS, and therefore not only feels the need to continue with RWD models for the sake of heritage, but also due to the reality that only rear-drive architectures are taken seriously in the premium segment. Sure you can offer AWD, but Acura, Saab and Volvo have shown that the majority of high-end customers want a rear-biased AWD system, if at all. The problem Lincoln faces is that it needs Ford to buy into a rear-drive model in order for economies of scale to make a RWD Lincoln cost effective.

According to a report by Automotive News, Ford is beyond contemplating RWD and is now in development of a new rear-wheel-drive architecture for both its Ford and Lincoln brands.

Many of the Taurus' rivals like the G8, 300 and Genesis are RWD. (Photo: Ford)

"It's important going forward," CEO Alan Mulally told journalists earlier this month during dinner in Detroit.

While details aren't yet out in the open, Ford's global product chief Derrick Kuzak added, "Yes, we're working on a rear-wheel-drive plan for the enterprise ... It's in the plan."

Two concepts hinting that the company is focused on returning to rear-wheel drive were last year's Lincoln MKR and Ford Interceptor, but until now no one at Ford was willing to admit actual production models were in the making.

So, is this a home brewed project or will Dearborn outsource

Ford's Australian branch does RWD quite well, its Falcon lineup being a solid example. (Photo: Ford)

architectures from outside the U.S., like GM did with its GTO, and more recently the G8? According to the report, Ford execs acknowledge that a new global rear-drive platform is available to them from its Australian operations, the continent where GM sourced its RWD architecture, so it makes sense that it will use this for the North American cars.

Still, it only makes sense to use the Australian team's technology, not its manpower to bring the North American cars to life. Commenting on whether or not Ford would produce its rear-drive cars in Australia, Ford group vice president of global manufacturing, Joe Hinrichs said, “There are good reasons not to: currency, freight."

One thing's for sure, they won't come out of Wixom. Just where Ford will build these new cars is anyone's guess, but the fact that Dearborn is working on new RWD cars to allow its Blue Oval and Lincoln brands to be more competitive in the upper end is a good sign.

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