In a Couple Years, Another Tombstone Will be Erected

Every year there are vehicles that die off either due to old age and a lack of modern conveniences or because they no longer fit in the market of today’s automotive world. The signs are usually right in front of any automaker as to what vehicles they need to get rid of and why and usually that reason is sales. If a model doesn’t sell the way it should, brands will pull the plug or try and find ways to make them more attractive for shoppers to buy them in order to justify the investment put forth for them.

One such vehicle that seems to have never caught on is the Ford Flex. While Ford has a more extensive lineup than nearly every other automaker in the market, the Flex is one vehicle that hasn’t quite ever been a sales success, but it’s actually hard to understand why. This SUV may not be the off road brute or have the on road style of the rest of the Ford lineup, but it has a large footprint to give you the space you need for the whole family to ride along and ride manners that make it feel like you’re driving something much smaller than the Flex.

This vehicle brings you a boxy shape and style that makes it different from others on the market and it’s powered by the EcoBoost V6 engine which makes it quick to accelerate and better on gas mileage than most other SUVs of this size. What the Flex really is, without stating it outright, is an SUV that replaces the minivan for those who don’t want to drive a minivan, but also don’t need the off road equipment, but need the on road manners and size that a minivan offers.

While this makes the Flex one of the best family vehicles on the market today, the idea of driving this vehicle instead of a minivan, or choosing an SUV that doesn’t offer you the benefit of 4WD or a higher ride height didn’t appeal to the market much at all. The sales have never taking off at all and this year there have only been 17,034 sold while Ford has sold nearly 600,000 F-150 models during the same period. Because of this complete lack of sales on the part of the Flex; Ford will put up the tombstone for this vehicle in 2020.

If you, like many of us who discuss vehicles regularly, love the Ford Flex, now is the time to buy one because it won’t be sold as a new model for many more years. This is a vehicle that I know I’ll miss, it’s been the perfect urban SUV that gave us a singular style and the large space we needed when a minivan wasn’t the right choice. It’s too bad the sales weren’t there to support this brute any longer; it certainly will be a vehicle that will be missed from the market after 2020.