Ford Motor Company unveiled the new version at Ford Field. It comes just before next week's press days at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where the new SUV will be on display. Sales of the venerable Explorer had held up well but dropped 3.5% last year to just under 262,000. The SUV's appearance doesn't change much, but the roof line does slope more from front to back. Customers have told engineers that hip space in the front seats seemed cramped, and it was hard to get into the third row of seats. Ford took care of both problems with more interior space and second-row seats that tip and slide forward with the touch of a button. Standard on all models is Ford's suite of advanced safety features that includes automatic emergency braking, blind spot detectors and lane keeping. The base price will rise $400 from the current $32,365 excluding shipping. Fuel economy wasn't announced. The Chicago-built Explorer goes on sale in the summer.