Firm to Make High-End Explorer
Tapping into the nation’s seemingly limitless appetite for sport-utility vehicles, specialty car maker Saleen Performance Cars is preparing to unveil a high-performance version of Ford Motor Co.’s best-selling Explorer.
Racing driver Steve Saleen, who has been building high-performance Mustangs since 1984, says he plans to build about 500 of the highly tuned and restyled Explorers in the next year.
That’s barely a blip in a market that devours about 2 million sport-utility vehicles a year, but analysts say Saleen should have no problem meeting his goals, even with price tags ranging from $41,990 to $55,000.
“The growth rate for SUV sales is slowing a bit, but it is still a huge market, and there’s activity at the high end,” says analyst Chris Cedergren, managing director of Nextrend, a Thousand Oaks auto industry consulting firm. “It’s a pretty good niche for a high-performance sport utility to be in.”
Consumers spent $3.7 billion last year to restyle and boost the performance of their cars, with niche manufacturers and equipment installers taking in about 30% of the total, according to the Specialty Equipment Market Assn. in Diamond Bar. A big chunk of the trade group’s members are in Southern California, making the region the capital of the nation’s automotive aftermarket.
Only a few are classified as specialty car makers, though, and Saleen Performance in Irvine is the nation’s largest.
The company changes the suspensions, brake systems, steering geometries, engines, interiors and body panels of the Mustangs it markets. It will do much the same for the Explorers, though it is leaving engine modification, including a supercharger, as a dealer-installed option to preserve the factory warranty.
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At the top end, the Saleen Explorer Performance Utility Vehicle--or PUV--will come with a supercharged, 292-horsepower V-8 engine that is the most powerful available in a compact sport- utility vehicle. The current power leader, Chrysler Corp.’s Jeep Grand Cherokee with a V-8, has 245 horsepower and a price range of $30,000 to $38,000.
Like the Saleen Mustang, the Saleen Explorers will be sold only through a network of 100 Ford dealers--six in Southern California. They will come with full factory warranties, a feature that makes Saleen’s performance cars unique in the industry.
The basic Saleen Explorer will use the stock V-6 and V-8 engines. The vehicles will be lowered two inches and equipped with 18-inch wheels and tires. Heavier shocks, springs and front and rear anti-sway bars will be installed, and Saleen will add special interior, body and paint modifications.
Options include leather sports seats, a lightweight carbon fiber composite hood, a race-bred performance brake system, custom gauges and superchargers made by Powerdyne Automotive Product Inc. in Lancaster.
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The $3,000 supercharger option--which increases the flow of air and fuel to the engine--will boost the V-6 from its stock 205 horsepower to about 260 horses, and push the stock 222 horsepower V-8 to almost 300 horsepower, Saleen says.
“That kind of power is what is needed to help bring the enthusiast into the sport-utility market,” said auto analyst John Rettie of J.D. Power & Associates.
The danger, of course, says Rettie, “is that if he does too well, Ford is probably going to look at making a high-performance Explorer of its own.”
