(AP) -- DEARBORN - The Ford Explorer, the hulking family-hauler that helped launch the SUV boom in the early 1990s, is back. And it hopes to define a new generation of more streamlined, fuel-efficient sport utility vehicles. Ford begins a marketing campaign today for the 2011 Explorer, which will be in dealerships this winter.
Ford's marketing chief Jim Farley recently called the Explorer "the backbone of the brand." It's the Dearborn-based company's best-known product after the Mustang.
The new Explorer is built on a car platform, so it sits lower to the ground and has a smoother, more fuel-efficient ride. It has a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder EcoBoost engine, which has the power of a V-6 - 237 horsepower - with better fuel economy. But it will have less towing capacity - 5,000 pounds, versus 7,115 pounds.
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