BusinessWeek Logo
Ford Expedition

By Jim Henry

Ford Expedition

Sales first half, 2008: 32,291
Sales first half, 2007: 50,334
Percent change: -35.8%

The huge Ford Expedition epitomizes the large SUVs that have become unfashionable in the era of $4 gasoline. On June 20, Ford Motor announced that, to avoid piling up unsold inventory, it was idling the plant that makes the Ford Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator for six weeks starting June 23. Ford had about 19,500 Expeditions in stock as of June 1, according to the Automotive News Data Center. That's a 100-day supply, meaning it would take that long to sell them at the current sales pace. A 60-day supply is the industry benchmark. Ford first introduced the Expedition in 1996.