10 October 2002: Ford in the US is getting on the ‘crossover’ bandwagon, with the debut of a new car in 2004 – the Ford Freestyle.

Freestyle is a six- or seven-passenger vehicle with three rows of seats and available all-wheel-drive.

US dealers got a sneak peek of the new car during their annual meetings in Las Vegas this week.

The Freestyle, and the top-end saloon with which it shares common architecture - the Ford Five Hundred are just two of the products the company be introducing in the coming years. The next generation of the world’s best-selling vehicle, the Ford F-Series pickup, is due next year. The production version of the GT40 concept will also debut in 2004.

It’s not impossible that the Freestyle will find its way to this side of the world, where the ‘crossover’ concept is now well rooted, perhaps to pick up on a lower end of the market at which Ford brand Volvo is targetting with its XC90.

And on that basis, what's the betting that this is the 'secret car' which Ford is going to show amongs its lineup at the British International Motor Show in Birmingham at the end of the month?

Watch this space.