2011 Ford Explorer Priced at $28,995

Big day in the US today, as American manufacturer Ford is slowly pulling the wraps off the new, reinvented, Explorer SUV. As the media buzzes with excitement and all try to have their say about perhaps the most expected Ford release of the year, a company insider found time to leak info on the price for the SUV.

According to Freep, citing as source Ford spokesman Jay Ward, Ford will charge for the new Explorer $28,995, $1,000 less than the outgoing model. Of course, a full price list is yet to be released. We expect more details about the prices throughout the day, so stay tuned.

“Ford has changed everything about the all-new Explorer, yet it’s still instantly and instinctively recognizable as a Ford Explorer,” Moray Callum, North America Design executive director said about Ford's star of the week.

“We believe that’s because it’s a contemporary interpretation of the same capabilities Explorer has always stood for, without compromise.”

The new Explorer, as we told you earlier today, will be equipped with two engines, a 3.5l V6 (290 horsepower and 255 lb.-ft. of torque) and a 2.0l four cylinder EcoBoost (237 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 250 lb.-ft. of torque).

The engines will be paired to a six-speed transmission as standard. The XLT and Limited trims offer a SelectShift Automatic transmission which allows drivers to manually change gears using a shifter-mounted +/- toggle switch.

It will be offered in three versions, base, XLT and Limited. Full details and a photo gallery of the new Explorer can be found at this link.