Ford Pitches Improved Fuel Economy to Sell Police Interceptors

Ford has dominated the police car scene for years with its Crown Vic Interceptors. But now, with the discontinuation of the venerable model, the Blue Oval faces stiff competition from Chrysler’s Dodge Charger and General Motors’ Chevrolet Malibu.

Ford is pursuing police fleet business with a two-pronged strategy. A Taurus-based Police Interceptor sedan will replace the Crown Vic, and an new unibody Explorer-based SUV for those that need a little more space and utility, such as K-9 units. One of the most prominent selling points of the new models are their approximately 20-percent fuel economy improvement over the previous V-8 powered, rear-drive CV-based Interceptor. Using the 6,200 vehicle fleet of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as an example, a fleet-wide 20-percent fuel economy gain would save the department at least $20 million a year at the current California per-gallon average of nearly $4 per gallon.

The Interceptor sedan model is available with the EcoBoost 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 from the Taurus SHO model. While its V-8-rivaling acceleration and performance has certainly won it some fans in the departments that have tested it, the drivetrain’s additional technical complexity with direct-injection, turbocharging, and the associated all-wheel-drive could prove intimidating to some fleet service departments accustomed to working on rear-drive, live-axle V-8 models.