Bill Pierre Ford

Ford Motor Co. is developing new rear-wheel-drive cars for its Ford and Lincoln brands, company leaders confirmed Tuesday.

“It’s important going forward,” CEO Alan Mulally said at a dinner with journalists in suburban Detroit.

Ford global product chief Derrick Kuzak said the automaker can’t yet share specific details of its plans for new rwd cars. But the comments on Tuesday were the first confirmation that Ford intends to go ahead with modern rwd cars.

“Yes, we’re working on a rear-wheel-drive plan for the enterprise,” Kuzak said. “It’s in the plan.”

Ford executives have long said they were exploring the possibilities. The company showed two key rwd concepts at the 2007 Detroit auto show: the Lincoln MKR and the Ford Interceptor.

But until now, company leaders stopped short of saying vehicles are in the product plans. Executives acknowledge they can build the vehicles using a new global rwd platform being developed in Ford’s Australian operations.

But that doesn’t mean production of rwd vehicles for global markets would be consolidated in Australia.

“There are good reasons not to: currency, freight,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford group vice president of global manufacturing, on Tuesday.

The Ford Explorer America concept to be shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit will become the production Ford Explorer when the next generation of America’s best-selling ute arrives in 2010 as a 2011 model.

While the next Explorer retains its SUV silhouette, the America concept indicates that just about everything else changes–along with America’s concept of an SUV.

Start with the chassis, which switches from the tried-and-true body-on-frame formula to a unibody design.

The new setup, likely based on the Taurus/Taurus X platform, will save weight and increase fuel economy while giving the Explorer vastly improved ride and handling. Yes, Dora, the Explorer–the vehicle that turned 6.5 million baby boomers into SUV lovers since its introduction 18 years ago–will technically become a crossover.

The next giant leap comes under the hood, where the Explorer will get its power from a line of all-new direct-injection, turbocharged gasoline engines, dubbed EcoBoost.

Ford product development vice president Derrick Kuzak says the direct-injection turbo route is less expensive than hybrid or diesel powertrains while producing excellent power and fuel economy gains and reduced emissions.

In the Explorer America concept, the engine is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder producing 275 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque, but a premium 3.5-liter, 340-hp, 340-lb-ft V6 will be offered when the Explorer goes into production. Mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, the new Explorer engines are expected to improve fuel economy by 10 percent to 30 percent over normally aspirated engines producing similar power.

In other words, EcoBoost technology means that a turbo six-cylinder will take the place of a standard V8 more efficiently, while turbo four-cylinder engines will provide the oomph that used to require V6 power. Ford also promises that the Explorer still will be able to tow up to 3500 pounds.

The Explorer won’t be the first application of EcoBoost–that will come in 2009 on the Lincoln MKS, which will feature a twin-turbo V6. The Ford Flex will come next, followed by the Explorer and other models. By 2013, Ford says it will have upward of half a million EcoBoost-powered cars and crossovers on the road.

Though EcoBoost may be used on bigger vehicles such as the F-150, Ford plans to continue to offer big V8s and diesels in its full-size trucks and large SUVs.