2020 Ford Expedition King Ranch: Bringing Southern Charm to an Already Classy SUV
Starting at $74,290, even the price tag is Texas-sized.
The Ford Expedition lineup is expanding for the 2020 model year, bringing back the swanky King Ranch trim that adorned previous generations of the popular SUV. The move should please modern buyers, who according to the Blue Oval are already snapping up some the most expensive models of Ford's biggest SUV (and its Lincoln counterpart) at a record pace.
The King Ranch trim is available for both the Expedition and the larger Expedition MAX, and it sits above the Platinum model in hierarchy and price. The last time we saw an Expedition King Ranch was five years ago and this edition continues to wow with a full herd’s worth of premium Del Rio leather and wood grain trim pieces. Ford's Co-Pilot360 safety tech, adaptive dampers, and a 360-degree camera are also standard. Of course, like the F-150 King Ranch, the Texas-proud Expedition isn't shy with its polished badges on its sides, liftgate, and wheel center caps.
Just like the actual King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas, the Expedition boasts luxurious accommodations. Metallic exterior paints adorn the range-specific 22-inch wheels, as well as leather seats with perforated inserts. Not that heated seats and steering wheel are of much use in Texas, but those are included too, and so are multi-contour massaging seats.
Under the hood, the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 EcoBoost remains untouched but that's actually a good thing. Good for 375 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque, those specs translate into a maximum towing capacity of 15,300 pounds when properly equipped.
The move to beef up the large SUV lineup comes as Ford announced that Expedition sales are up 56 percent over last year, and noted that 20 percent of buyers opt for the range-topping Platinum trim. This means the addition of a King Ranch model will help it capitalize on the high-end SUV craze, especially considering the Texas market is one of the biggest for the Dearborn automaker. Margins on trucks and SUVs are higher than cars, so option-packed trims and packages drive those profits even higher.
The 2020 Expedition King Ranch starts at $74,290 after destination while the Platinum starts at $75,330—or basically a few bucks under the fancier Lincoln Navigator.
