Ford may lead the full-size pickup market, but it has a long way to go if it’s ever going to stand a chance of challenging General Motors in big SUVs. And it knows it’s not going to get there with the current Expedition, which has been on the market now for ten years. Fortunately it has a brand new model in the works, and here is our first look at it.

Pictured in these latest spy shots, the upcoming fourth-generation Ford Expedition is anticipated to launch in a little less than a year from now as a 2018 model. When it does, we can look forward to a fresher design than the facelift Dearborn gave it a couple of years ago, this time to be rendered in aluminum like the groundbreaking body on the F-150 on which it will be based.

It’s hard to make out much from these spy shots, heavily disguised as the prototype is, with what appears to be a false rear end hiding more slanted rear glass. But we can anticipate similar design cues to the pickup, albeit with a longer roof and more space inside.

Power is expected to come from the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 that Ford slotted into the revised Expedition with the 2014 update, but this time it’ll get the pickup’s new ten-speed automatic to replace the old six-speed to the benefit of both performance and economy. Rumor has it that the Blue Oval could also offer a smaller 2.7-liter version, while a hybrid based on the 3.5 could be in the cards for later launch as well.

Ford launched the Expedition in 1996 to slot in above the smaller Explorer, followed by the larger Excursion in 1999. But since the Excursion was discontinued in 2005 and the Explorer switched to a crossover platform in 2010, the Expedition has been left as Ford’s only traditional body-on-frame sport-utility vehicle.

The Blue Oval automaker sells about 40,000 Expeditions every year, which closely matches the GMC Yukon – but only comes in around half the number of Tahoes that Chevy sells each year. That doesn’t include the larger Suburban (or Yukon XL) with which, together with the Tahoe, Chevy accounts for approximately half of all full-size SUVs sold in America. By comparison, Dodge sold nearly 65,000 Durangos last year, while Toyota and Nissan each sold about 12,000 units of the Sequoia and Armada.

Expect the new Expedition to breed a new Lincoln Navigator as well with more luxurious appointments. Last year Lincoln sold nearly 12,000 Navigators, compared to the 36,000 Escalades which Cadillac sold (including 21,000 standard and 15,000 extended ESV models).

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