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The Ford Flex Sales Flux Has Fans In A Funk

“Do you like the Ford Flex?” It’s a loaded question, because while a large number of Americans with working eyeballs and occipital lobes find the Flex to be an unbearable eyesore, just as many are head-over-heels for its distinctly boxy shape (and reliability, fuel economy, etc.).

Regardless of how you feel about it, Automotive News reports that Ford Flex sales are slow – very slow. In fact, they have been since the Flex’s launch in 2008 as a 2009 model year crossover utility vehicle (CUV).

How slow are they? Reportedly, last year’s Ford Flex sales were somewhere in the vicinity of 25,000 – about a quarter of what former Ford Marketing Chief Jim Farley had targeted in 2008. Let’s put that in perspective in another way: according to Automotive News, in its seven or so years of existence, Ford Flex sales have totaled just 194,286 units. Compare that to the Flex’s platform-mate, the Ford Explorer, which totaled 209,994 units. Last year alone.

This is all despite high markings in reliability, being just one of two 2015 Ford models recommended by Consumer Reports. It also has a rather rabid fanbase, with about half of all Ford Flex sales attributed to customers new to the brand.

But speaking of that fanbase, they needn’t necessarily worry; the Ford Flex isn’t likely to go the way of the Dodo just yet, despite having no current plans for a top-to-bottom redesign. Automotive News reports that for one, a quarter of all Ford Flex sales occur in California – a state whose favor the automaker is desperate to attain. And then, there’s the profitability; Ford claims that even at 20,000 sales per year, the margin on the Ford Flex is high enough to keep the CUV profitable.

Which kind of makes us wonder if the $29,995 base price isn’t part of the Flex’s problem…

Aaron Birch is an automotive enthusiast and writer/filmmaker from Detroit, MI. As a rule, he only buys cars older than himself.

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