Ford D3 platform

The Ford D3 platform is an automobile platform used by Ford Motor Company for model years 2005-2019, as the fifteenth generation of full-size North American cars.

The platform used unibody chassis construction with a transverse V6 engine and front-or all-wheel drive, deriving it from the 1998-2016 Volvo P2 architecture designed prior to Ford's 1999 acquisition of Volvo. From model year 2008 on, the related D4 platform has served as a basis for crossover SUVs.

While the vehicles of the D3 platform were officially introduced as the replacement for the 1999-2007 D186 platform (Ford Taurus), in terms of market position and interior volume, they effectively superseded the Ford and Mercury vehicles of the 1978-2012 Panther platform.

Between 2004 and 2019. All D3 vehicles have been assembled at Chicago Assembly in Chicago, Illinois along with the D4 Ford Explorer; the D4 Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT are assembled at Oakville Assembly in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

Overview
The Ford D3 platform differs slightly from the original configuration of the Volvo P2 architecture, including steel suspension arms (in place of aluminum) and other cost-saving measures.

In contrast to the Volvo P2 architecture, Ford adopted a common 112.9 wheelbase for each D3 variant (three inches longer than a Volvo S80, two inches shorter than a Ford Crown Victoria). In place of the inline-5 and inline-6 engines used by Volvo, Ford adopted its own Duratec V6 engines. As with the front-drive P2 platform, a Haldex all-wheel drive (shared with the S80/XC90) was optional.

As the first front-wheel drive full-size car platform produced by Ford, the D3 platform is also the first full-size Ford car produced with fully independent suspension, with a multi-link rear axle, coilover shocks and MacPherson front struts. The D3 is fitted with four-wheel disc brakes.

D4
The D4 platform is a revision of D3 unibody platform produced since 2008. Developed to underpin crossover SUVs (including the Ford Flex, Lincoln MKT, and the MY 2011-2019 Ford Explorer), the variant is adaptable to multiple wheelbases; the suspension is also upgraded for off-road driving and towing.

Two variants of the D4 were developed as replacements for Panther-platform vehicles: the Ford Police Interceptor Utility (a police-use version of the Ford Explorer) served as a replacement for the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor; Lincoln introduced limousine, and livery variants of the MKT, replacing similar conversions of the Lincoln Town Car.

Vehicles
Between the 2005 and 2019 model years, the Ford D3 platform has been used by Ford, Lincoln, and the (now-defunct) Mercury brands. Introduced as the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, which were subsequently re-branded as the fifth-generation Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable for 2008.

For model year 2009 and 2010 respectively, Ford also marketed a Lincoln D3 variant, the MKS and the D3-based sixth-generation Ford Taurus.

After discontinuation of the Mercury brand, the Mercury Sable ended production after the 2009 model year. For 2017, Lincoln replaced the MKS with the revived Lincoln Continental, based on the CD4 architecture.

Concept cars

 * 2005 Mercury Meta One diesel-electric hybrid crossover SUV
 * 2008 Lincoln MKT luxury crossover SUV not to be confused with the production car of the same name that is on a modified version of the D3 platform known as D4.