The current Explorer is a truck-based, seven-passenger SUV with a standard V6 engine and an optionalV8. In our testing, it felt crude and antiquated, got lousy fuel economy, and didn't score well enough to be recommended.

The new Explorer by contrast is car-based, sharing a platform with the Taurus and Flex. It still seats seven, but no longer has low-range gearing for off-road adventures. (Think more like the Honda Pilot.) A smaller, contemporary multivalve V6 is standard, but the extra-cost optional engine (due out later) will be a EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder that Ford promises will have more torque and better mileage than the V6. Instead of a low-range it will have Land Rover's Terrain Response Management dial, which changes shift patterns, throttle response, and stability and traction control settings. It will be narrower and shorter than a Ford Flex with more ground clearance.

This transition comes late to Ford and is reminiscent of GM's slowly supplanting the Chevrolet TrailBlazer with the Traverse. In the mid 1990s, Baby Boomers bought over 400,000 Explorers a year, partially inspired by the tagline: "No Boundaries." Now instead of buying a vehicle that purports to satisfy every fantasy, consumers are more likely to consider buying a vehicle to meet their specific needs, Pipas says. And while he predicts that SUVs (and CUVs) will continue to make up 25 to 30 percent of all vehicles sold, he expects that families will no longer fill their garages with two SUVs. This fits the advice Consumer Reports has long provided: buy vehicles that fit your current everyday needs.

Millions of consumers bought the original Explorer for AWD, elevated ride height, and the versatility to pursue an active lifestyle, heading to mountains or beach for great escapes. (Never mind if they actually needed the elevated ride height or all-wheel-drive traction to get there.) But the reality is that the Explorer, once the car to have and be seen in, got too crude and rough riding for typical suburbanite families and fell behind its competitors. Now with the advent of car-based SUVs, consumers have lots of choices of vehicles with comparable abilities and requiring fewer compromises. Pipas says the company no longer expects to sell 300,000 Explorers—understandable given the capable competition and Ford's own Flex.

Also revealed in the briefing was a note about Ford's Sync system, which helps drivers connect cell phones and other electronics to the car. Pipas revealed that the next generation of Sync will include its own applications store where consumers can download new applications, much like the App store at Apple or Google. That strikes us as something that could really meet consumers' needs, so long as it doesn't lead to newfound driving distractions.

—Eric Evarts