It sounds surprising now but just a decade ago, the Ford Explorer SUV was the biggest-selling passenger vehicle in America.
It was around this time that problems with the Explorer's factory-installed Firestone 500 tires made big news. The tires' tendency to come apart after being driven on hot roads combined with Explorer's high ride height made for a deadly combination.
Even that wasn't enough to dent Explorer sales, though, which peaked two years later.
Ultimately, the advent of car-based crossover SUVs -- 2000 was also the year that Ford's first crossover, the Escape, hit the market -- has proven even more damaging to SUV sales.
An improved version of the Explorer remains on the market today and the name will continue on the 2011 Explorer, which will be another car-based crossover.
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