DETROIT -(Dow Jones)- Ford Motor Co. (F) next month will take the wraps off its new Ford Flex, a crossover vehicle intended to give the company a boost in an evolving segment that was once dominated by minivans and has typically returned profits to U.S. auto makers.

Multiple sources at the company familiar with the plans said Ford will debut the vehicle, which mirrors the Ford Fairlane concept crossover, on April 4 at the New York Auto Show. The unveiling comes more than two years after the company first unveiled the boxy Fairlane at the Detroit auto show, and four years after the vehicle was conceived following conversations between Ford's Chief Designer J Mays and legendary apparel designer Ralph Lauren about such a vehicle.

Ford aims to sell approximately 100,000 Flexes annually starting in 2008, according to one union source who was shown the vehicle in January at Ford's Dearborn design studio along with other union representatives. The vehicle will be built in Oakville, Ont.