By Brent Snavely
Detroit Free Press
Ford Motor Co., already facing increased competition for the police car market it has dominated for more than a decade, will launch its new Ford Police Interceptor in 2011.
On Friday, Ford confirmed that it is phasing out its Crown Victoria police car and plans to replace it in 2011.
But the new car has big shoes to fill. The Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, introduced in the early 1980s, continues to command about 75% of the police car market even though it was the target of numerous lawsuits earlier in the decade for gas-tank explosions during rear-end collisions.
Police departments have been clamoring for years for better police car choices, said Travis Yates, a captain with the Tulsa Police Department and a national driving consultant. Yates said he is excited about Ford’s announcement as well as other new cars on the way.
“Ford is going to remain a powerhouse,” Yates said, but the company “needed to step it up, because honestly, the technology is old.”
By the time Ford’s new police car reaches the market, it will face stronger competition from rivals including Chrysler Group LLC, General Motors Co. and new player Connersville, Ind.-based Carbon Motors Corp., who all plan to either increase their market share or launch new police cars.
“We are at 70-plus percent, and we intend to stay there,” Ken Czubay, vice president of marketing and sales for Ford, said Friday. “We understand the police business, we’ve been doing it for decades and ... I think we demonstrated integrity and service to these branches of government and we’re going to continue.”
Through August, Ford has sold 28,458 Crown Victoria’s, a 33% decline compared with last year, according to Autodata Corp. About 90% of Crown Victoria’s sales are to police departments and for other government and municipal uses, Ford sales analyst George Pipas said.
Ford confirmed Friday that its new car would be developed from Ford’s current full-size platform, which also is the basis for the 2010 Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS full-size sedans. The platform comes in two drive versions: front-wheel and all-wheel drive.
Ford has been developing the car for the past 14 months with input from its own Police Advisory Board.
The Crown Victoria’s popularity with police departments is due in part to its rigid, full-frame construction and because it is a rear-wheel drive vehicle. Ford declined to say Friday whether its new car will be rear-wheel drive.
“We are very confident that the vehicle will provide the safety, performance, and the durability that is ... demanded in the marketplace,” said Kevin Koswick, Ford’s director of fleet sales.
Chrysler spokeswoman Kathy Graham said Chrysler’s goal is to expand its police car market share from 17% to 40% market share in the next 12 to 18 months with its rear-wheel drive Dodge Charger Police Car.
“Based on results of third-party testing and the activities going on in the marketplace, we feel there is a good opportunity to grow our sales,” Graham said in an e-mail to the Free Press.
In October, GM announced plans to introduce the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle in 2011. According to GM, the Caprice is a modern, full-size, rear-drive sedan that will offer both V8 and V6 engines.
“It really outperforms the highest volume car in the segment now, the Crown Victoria,” said GM spokesman Brian Goebel.
Carbon Motors, meanwhile, plans to begin producing a vehicle called the E7 in 2012 that is specifically designed for police departments.
Carbon Motors Chairman and CEO William Santana Li said the company already has orders for 12,000 units from more than 200 law enforcement agencies across the nation.
“We’ve got a healthy demand for a product designed by cops for cops,” Li said.
Copyright 2009 Detroit Free Press