I have a CD player in my Fusion and Escape. Never used either of them. I don't know if the Explorer has one or not. Never bothered to check and it wouldn't have changed my decision to purchase. I must say, with all these music streaming services, smart phones, bluetooth and USB availability in cars, 4G speed and the reintroduction of unlimited data, CDs are becoming less and less popular. I was younger when audio cassettes were phased out but I image that this is probably how it was done and I'm sure there were people that did not like the change. At least it is easier to rip CDs and upload them to a phone or thumb drive.