Save Ford
#1
08-14-2005 | 08:05 PM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Save Ford
They Need To Save Ford
Ford Motor Company has fallen on hard times. The fresh new designs aren’t selling - the dependable old SUV’s and F150’s are sitting on the lots, endangered species threatened by looming $4 per gallon gasoline prices - and the competition is offering better looking, better running, more dependable vehicles at lower prices. Insular, “hide your head in the sand and maybe they’ll go away” management has failed to fill the pipeline with the cars and trucks needed to match the new market realities. The massive problems with quality that plagued them in the 70’s and 80’s are thankfully gone, but that just means that buyers are now shopping for style, performance and utility rather than simply how many tiny flaws can be spotted on a new car by J.D. Powers and Associates.
Speaking of the paramount importance of styling, Mays, self-anointed “chief design executive“, has fled the s-storm in Detroit and set up shop in his preferred digs in London, his fresh, newly recognized “center of the creative universe”. While the white collar faithful back in the USA have their morale hammered by yet another decimation of their ranks, he and his cronies lounge in the salons of Soho dreaming up new Ford 500’s, Freestyles and Escapes to plague their long-suffering dealers with. Bill Ford, a Mays admirer, doubtless has given them their marching orders: Design gorgeous bodies for the hybrid vehicles to make them more saleable (which would mean they were selling at all, of course) - design the successor to the Think electric cars (have they shipped all those ill-fated mistakes back to Euroland yet?) - oh, and be sure to pen some quickie layouts for the glue-on decals for the exciting new SVT Ford 500, SVT Escape (er, Adrenaline), and the SVT Freestyle (no, that‘s been canceled, but a new image for the Edsel-clone and utterly failed vehicle when its reintroduced in 2008 or whenever).
If Ford wants to save Ford (and how many entendre’s can one find in that simple phrase ?), he might give some thought to the following:
1. Quit blaming the lack of sales and profits on the unions and retirees. His competition has all the same problems, so a level playing field has already been achieved. Sure, some of the guys build components in countries where the labor is cheap and the UAW doesn’t exist - so does Ford. Just because folks have believed the old bromide that “they can’t make any profits because of the evil unions” in the past doesn’t mean that the same lame excuse will play today. He might even discover that the unions would talk sanely if management ceases to blame them for all the ills of the world…
2. Fix some recent mistakes. Axing middle management engineers creating things like the GT just before you bring it to market was unwise (yes, I’m talking about Colleti here). What should have been a shining corporate icon in a dark product universe has been dulled by bonehead problems with castings that break and $275,000, 200mph sports cars gathering dust in dealer’s maintenance bays waiting on parts. (Of course, why the $140,000 GT’s are being gouged at twice the price by desperate dealers is just another indication of systemic failure).
Depriving the Ford SVT fans of their cherished Lightnings, SVT Foci and Cobras just so you could win some low level corporate coup was misplaced schoolyard ego at best.
3. Regain control over the design process. The picture of an American corporate icon like Ford lacking a design center and being totally dependent on the whims of a flake squatting in a flat in London is not a pretty one. Disconnecting from the American buying public and plugging into the artsy set in England is no way to fix the problem with new designs that don’t appeal and don’t sell. You’ve got a serious mismatch between your designers and your market. You need the American shopper - and he and she don’t live in Soho. Fix it or die.
4. Finances. If you want to stop whimpering about money, and really want to make a change that can help everybody, pick up Neal Boortz’s new book about a national retail sales tax to replace the income tax. Want to streamline white collar labor costs and free up capital to invest in your company? Imagine the savings when you don’t need tax lawyers, accountants and the IT and clerical support staff that goes with them! Between the direct costs of complying with federal corporate income tax rules, and accounting for all your employee’s income tax withholding needs, the savings would be huge. Add the sudden lack of that overhead to price competition with foreign auto manufacturers, and suddenly it will be THEM squealing about unfair price advantage!
5. Dust off all those market segment studies and plan cars that match the segments.
5.1. Toyota’s Scion line is an excellent example. Do that, and do 2 versions - one for Mercury, too.
5.2. Give poor old Mercury some help - you simply can’t afford (unlike GM, who seems to think nothing of killing off entire car marques) to let Mercury die. Bring back the Cougar - use the power of the new Mustang (your sole success story this year, lack of GT supply notwithstanding) to build up Mercury dealers. Get a young, meat-eating American designer to pen the simple changes (keep her close to the Mustang, keep the design changes simple but potent). Maybe make the lines just a touch more European…
5.3. Add back the Mustang niche models you axed - the new Shelby is great, but add a Mach 1 (the new body lines were meant for this) and an IRS option for the Shelby, if not a complete new Cobra (use the 4.6 with a blower and IRS - suspension tuned like the racers).
5.4. Revive the Lightning. Put the same 5.4 in as the new Shelby.
5.5. Bring out the Adrenaline, too, but don’t plan on selling as many of these as you do of the Lightning. Its still a butt-ugly overall design.
5.6. Revive the SVT Focus. Get some AWD action in this lineup to compete with the Subarus. Add a turbo.
5.7. Kill the Freestyle ASAP. Money pit, and that’s it. No need to resurrect the corpse - let it die.
5.8. Put some effort into a new Ranger pickup - grab your scattered design staff and get them moving right away on this. Use some imagination.
5.9. Revamp the brand new, but not working, design for the Ford 500. Rethink the CVT - it can work, but not the way it does now. DO NOT wait the “normal” grace period for new designs to take hold. That’s 90’s think - and defunct.
5.10. Lincoln needs to be competing with Cadillac, Lexus, and Infiniti - not Saab and, er, Ford. Rethink dropping the Aviator SUV - gas prices may change that market a lot. Moving a small Jag design in was a good idea at the time, but it has rotted on the vine. More promising would be a BIG Jag design as a new Continental - leave the large-format Town Car as is - totally refresh the small Jag Lincoln - and add a new sports car Mark IX based on the Jag XK. Once set up, the same production line (moved to Atlanta?) might even be expanded to include some Jags, with little effort…
5.11. Mercury would benefit from the ideas I’ve espoused above, with the following new moves: Dump the euro-cougar and add the new Mustang-clone cougar… Advertise the Marauder more, and put some giant tires on her… Give Mercury a pickup truck, with front end styling similar to the Mountaineer - don’t worry that it will compete with the Lincoln LT, the price differential should be substantial…
5.12. Jaguar needs the Mays touch. How about this idea: Keep him in London, let him fix the Jag designs, and hire a North Americano who lives in Detroit to design cars for us? Jaguar’s dealer network sucks - work on bringing them up to BMW specs, and steal all the best engineering from Jag for Lincoln’s dealers to capitalize on. Redesign the new XK (looks like an Aston Martin) to be the true child of the XKE that it deserves to be. If closing the one plant in England doesn’t stem the red ink, maybe making some Jags in the USA will…
5.13. Volvo needs to start assembling cars in the USA. Transform one of the plants (maybe the big Canadian item currently on the kill list) to making Volvos. Stay focused on the station wagon market for Volvo - its coming back…
5.14. Aston Martin - just keep making them.
5.15. Used Fords. Start a highly publicized effort to offer warranties to old Fords. Sure, you already do this in a half-hearted fashion - not good enough. Use this as a tool to insert the “We really care about our customers, now and always” line into the national psyche. Add on a new program to plug parts for Fords of all ages, yes, including ancient items from the 30’s, into the parts pipline going to the Dealers. Make it clear that you want people to continue driving their Fords for a hundred years, and you’re committed to help that happen. This is great PR, reminds everyone of the good times in the past, and helps funnel money to you and your strapped dealers. Everyone wins.
tripleblack
Ford Motor Company has fallen on hard times. The fresh new designs aren’t selling - the dependable old SUV’s and F150’s are sitting on the lots, endangered species threatened by looming $4 per gallon gasoline prices - and the competition is offering better looking, better running, more dependable vehicles at lower prices. Insular, “hide your head in the sand and maybe they’ll go away” management has failed to fill the pipeline with the cars and trucks needed to match the new market realities. The massive problems with quality that plagued them in the 70’s and 80’s are thankfully gone, but that just means that buyers are now shopping for style, performance and utility rather than simply how many tiny flaws can be spotted on a new car by J.D. Powers and Associates.
Speaking of the paramount importance of styling, Mays, self-anointed “chief design executive“, has fled the s-storm in Detroit and set up shop in his preferred digs in London, his fresh, newly recognized “center of the creative universe”. While the white collar faithful back in the USA have their morale hammered by yet another decimation of their ranks, he and his cronies lounge in the salons of Soho dreaming up new Ford 500’s, Freestyles and Escapes to plague their long-suffering dealers with. Bill Ford, a Mays admirer, doubtless has given them their marching orders: Design gorgeous bodies for the hybrid vehicles to make them more saleable (which would mean they were selling at all, of course) - design the successor to the Think electric cars (have they shipped all those ill-fated mistakes back to Euroland yet?) - oh, and be sure to pen some quickie layouts for the glue-on decals for the exciting new SVT Ford 500, SVT Escape (er, Adrenaline), and the SVT Freestyle (no, that‘s been canceled, but a new image for the Edsel-clone and utterly failed vehicle when its reintroduced in 2008 or whenever).
If Ford wants to save Ford (and how many entendre’s can one find in that simple phrase ?), he might give some thought to the following:
1. Quit blaming the lack of sales and profits on the unions and retirees. His competition has all the same problems, so a level playing field has already been achieved. Sure, some of the guys build components in countries where the labor is cheap and the UAW doesn’t exist - so does Ford. Just because folks have believed the old bromide that “they can’t make any profits because of the evil unions” in the past doesn’t mean that the same lame excuse will play today. He might even discover that the unions would talk sanely if management ceases to blame them for all the ills of the world…
2. Fix some recent mistakes. Axing middle management engineers creating things like the GT just before you bring it to market was unwise (yes, I’m talking about Colleti here). What should have been a shining corporate icon in a dark product universe has been dulled by bonehead problems with castings that break and $275,000, 200mph sports cars gathering dust in dealer’s maintenance bays waiting on parts. (Of course, why the $140,000 GT’s are being gouged at twice the price by desperate dealers is just another indication of systemic failure).
Depriving the Ford SVT fans of their cherished Lightnings, SVT Foci and Cobras just so you could win some low level corporate coup was misplaced schoolyard ego at best.
3. Regain control over the design process. The picture of an American corporate icon like Ford lacking a design center and being totally dependent on the whims of a flake squatting in a flat in London is not a pretty one. Disconnecting from the American buying public and plugging into the artsy set in England is no way to fix the problem with new designs that don’t appeal and don’t sell. You’ve got a serious mismatch between your designers and your market. You need the American shopper - and he and she don’t live in Soho. Fix it or die.
4. Finances. If you want to stop whimpering about money, and really want to make a change that can help everybody, pick up Neal Boortz’s new book about a national retail sales tax to replace the income tax. Want to streamline white collar labor costs and free up capital to invest in your company? Imagine the savings when you don’t need tax lawyers, accountants and the IT and clerical support staff that goes with them! Between the direct costs of complying with federal corporate income tax rules, and accounting for all your employee’s income tax withholding needs, the savings would be huge. Add the sudden lack of that overhead to price competition with foreign auto manufacturers, and suddenly it will be THEM squealing about unfair price advantage!
5. Dust off all those market segment studies and plan cars that match the segments.
5.1. Toyota’s Scion line is an excellent example. Do that, and do 2 versions - one for Mercury, too.
5.2. Give poor old Mercury some help - you simply can’t afford (unlike GM, who seems to think nothing of killing off entire car marques) to let Mercury die. Bring back the Cougar - use the power of the new Mustang (your sole success story this year, lack of GT supply notwithstanding) to build up Mercury dealers. Get a young, meat-eating American designer to pen the simple changes (keep her close to the Mustang, keep the design changes simple but potent). Maybe make the lines just a touch more European…
5.3. Add back the Mustang niche models you axed - the new Shelby is great, but add a Mach 1 (the new body lines were meant for this) and an IRS option for the Shelby, if not a complete new Cobra (use the 4.6 with a blower and IRS - suspension tuned like the racers).
5.4. Revive the Lightning. Put the same 5.4 in as the new Shelby.
5.5. Bring out the Adrenaline, too, but don’t plan on selling as many of these as you do of the Lightning. Its still a butt-ugly overall design.
5.6. Revive the SVT Focus. Get some AWD action in this lineup to compete with the Subarus. Add a turbo.
5.7. Kill the Freestyle ASAP. Money pit, and that’s it. No need to resurrect the corpse - let it die.
5.8. Put some effort into a new Ranger pickup - grab your scattered design staff and get them moving right away on this. Use some imagination.
5.9. Revamp the brand new, but not working, design for the Ford 500. Rethink the CVT - it can work, but not the way it does now. DO NOT wait the “normal” grace period for new designs to take hold. That’s 90’s think - and defunct.
5.10. Lincoln needs to be competing with Cadillac, Lexus, and Infiniti - not Saab and, er, Ford. Rethink dropping the Aviator SUV - gas prices may change that market a lot. Moving a small Jag design in was a good idea at the time, but it has rotted on the vine. More promising would be a BIG Jag design as a new Continental - leave the large-format Town Car as is - totally refresh the small Jag Lincoln - and add a new sports car Mark IX based on the Jag XK. Once set up, the same production line (moved to Atlanta?) might even be expanded to include some Jags, with little effort…
5.11. Mercury would benefit from the ideas I’ve espoused above, with the following new moves: Dump the euro-cougar and add the new Mustang-clone cougar… Advertise the Marauder more, and put some giant tires on her… Give Mercury a pickup truck, with front end styling similar to the Mountaineer - don’t worry that it will compete with the Lincoln LT, the price differential should be substantial…
5.12. Jaguar needs the Mays touch. How about this idea: Keep him in London, let him fix the Jag designs, and hire a North Americano who lives in Detroit to design cars for us? Jaguar’s dealer network sucks - work on bringing them up to BMW specs, and steal all the best engineering from Jag for Lincoln’s dealers to capitalize on. Redesign the new XK (looks like an Aston Martin) to be the true child of the XKE that it deserves to be. If closing the one plant in England doesn’t stem the red ink, maybe making some Jags in the USA will…
5.13. Volvo needs to start assembling cars in the USA. Transform one of the plants (maybe the big Canadian item currently on the kill list) to making Volvos. Stay focused on the station wagon market for Volvo - its coming back…
5.14. Aston Martin - just keep making them.
5.15. Used Fords. Start a highly publicized effort to offer warranties to old Fords. Sure, you already do this in a half-hearted fashion - not good enough. Use this as a tool to insert the “We really care about our customers, now and always” line into the national psyche. Add on a new program to plug parts for Fords of all ages, yes, including ancient items from the 30’s, into the parts pipline going to the Dealers. Make it clear that you want people to continue driving their Fords for a hundred years, and you’re committed to help that happen. This is great PR, reminds everyone of the good times in the past, and helps funnel money to you and your strapped dealers. Everyone wins.
tripleblack
#2
08-15-2005 | 01:14 AM
More Cowbell
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,003
From: North Carolina
You could probably say the same thing for the other big domestic auto corps. the big three are in trouble. My company supplies parts for Ford and our orders are at an alarming low rate. Same as GM and Chrysler. I think Ford is probably doing better than the other 2. But the whole economy in the US is struggling right now. That effects the buying of new and used vehicles. Gas prices are crazy right now and auto companies are paying the price for that with low sales on gas guzzlers. We are all on the same ship Union or not. And the ship has hit rough waters. My company is going through the roughest times I've ever seen. And i've been working there for 27 years.. 
#3
08-15-2005 | 06:47 AM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Bad Times Ahead
Originally Posted by rebelyell
You could probably say the same thing for the other big domestic auto corps. the big three are in trouble. My company supplies parts for Ford and our orders are at an alarming low rate. Same as GM and Chrysler. I think Ford is probably doing better than the other 2. But the whole economy in the US is struggling right now. That effects the buying of new and used vehicles. Gas prices are crazy right now and auto companies are paying the price for that with low sales on gas guzzlers. We are all on the same ship Union or not. And the ship has hit rough waters. My company is going through the roughest times I've ever seen. And i've been working there for 27 years..
Ironically, its the only one of the big three that's owned by Europeans (Chrysler) that's pursuing an America-centric plan. They even just promoted the well-qualified German dude running Chrysler to boss Mercedes, putting a long-time American Chrysler exec in to take over.
If we're not careful, the only American-owned manufacturers of vehicles in the US is going to be Orange County Choppers and the Tuttles.
Rebelyell, what company do you work for, and what do they make? I live in Atlanta - maybe I know the firm.
tripleblack
#5
08-15-2005 | 08:38 AM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
GT 500 drag - Cobra road
The idea is to have the best of both worlds - either by making the irs an option, or Ford making both the GT 500 Shelby and the Cobra.
The whole concept is to give the buyer more choices - not dictate to free marketeers who'll ignore Ford if they try such a tactic.
tripleblack
The whole concept is to give the buyer more choices - not dictate to free marketeers who'll ignore Ford if they try such a tactic.
tripleblack
#6
08-16-2005 | 09:34 PM
More Cowbell
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,003
From: North Carolina
Originally Posted by tripleblack
I'm sorry to hear about your company's problems. Unfortunately, I fear the worst is yet to come - much worse, if I'm right. The American manufacturers can turn it around, though - but with American solutions. So long as they seek to emulate the Europeans - and this is progressively their route - they will continue to lose ground to their foreign competition.
Ironically, its the only one of the big three that's owned by Europeans (Chrysler) that's pursuing an America-centric plan. They even just promoted the well-qualified German dude running Chrysler to boss Mercedes, putting a long-time American Chrysler exec in to take over.
If we're not careful, the only American-owned manufacturers of vehicles in the US is going to be Orange County Choppers and the Tuttles.
Rebelyell, what company do you work for, and what do they make? I live in Atlanta - maybe I know the firm.
tripleblack
Ironically, its the only one of the big three that's owned by Europeans (Chrysler) that's pursuing an America-centric plan. They even just promoted the well-qualified German dude running Chrysler to boss Mercedes, putting a long-time American Chrysler exec in to take over.
If we're not careful, the only American-owned manufacturers of vehicles in the US is going to be Orange County Choppers and the Tuttles.
Rebelyell, what company do you work for, and what do they make? I live in Atlanta - maybe I know the firm.
tripleblack
#7
08-16-2005 | 10:23 PM
Guest
Posts: n/a
blah, this will prolly be the last ford i own. My next car will be most likely a nissan 350z, Lexus IS350, or Acura TL. Like even though I love my stang, You gotto admit man, you cant compare the luxury of an Acura to a stang. A stang is all plastic inside, an acura is awesome leather everything with marble trim and aluminum pannels with tiptronic transmission.
#8
08-16-2005 | 10:36 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,095
From: Ft Wayne, IN
I dont think fords new cars are doing to bad.
The explorer is still the best selling midsize SUV, the escape is the best selling small SUV, the F150 is by far the best selling truck and they sold 154,000 of them last month (most of a single model since the Model T).
The Mustang is selling in numbers it hasnt seen in at least 10 years. The GT mustangs are what 75% of the sales too so higher margin cars are being sold.
The Ford 500 is everywhere, it may be boring but it sells more cars than the "hot" chrysler 300.
The GT while having a few issues still is a hot car and they will sell every one they would ever want to build even with the dealers price gouging.
The fusion has some promise too, it looks great imo, especially considering its a Taurus replacement.
They still have the Focus which year in and out is one of the best selling compact cars.
Ford is turning things around and has already started. I think GM is the one who needs to worry about its long term viablity. Talk about boring cars.
The only thing they have I like is the vette, and the upcomming Solstics and Sky.
The explorer is still the best selling midsize SUV, the escape is the best selling small SUV, the F150 is by far the best selling truck and they sold 154,000 of them last month (most of a single model since the Model T).
The Mustang is selling in numbers it hasnt seen in at least 10 years. The GT mustangs are what 75% of the sales too so higher margin cars are being sold.
The Ford 500 is everywhere, it may be boring but it sells more cars than the "hot" chrysler 300.
The GT while having a few issues still is a hot car and they will sell every one they would ever want to build even with the dealers price gouging.
The fusion has some promise too, it looks great imo, especially considering its a Taurus replacement.
They still have the Focus which year in and out is one of the best selling compact cars.
Ford is turning things around and has already started. I think GM is the one who needs to worry about its long term viablity. Talk about boring cars.
The only thing they have I like is the vette, and the upcomming Solstics and Sky.
#9
08-16-2005 | 11:39 PM
Shut Up & Lift
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,304
From: New London, CT
I have noticed not too many 05's on the road as much as you see older style stangs!! I can clearly understand why too! I myself Love my stang, but i agree with whoever said they wanted a 350 z or an acura TL, they are nice cars!!! I want a 350z but I am very glad n lucky i have a mustang!!
#10
08-17-2005 | 12:03 AM
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,176
not too many 05's??? are you nuts? Well, maybe true in your area, but where I live, it explodes with them. I'm basically middle-class america where we arent poor, but its not a high class area. So the mustang is PERFECT for looks and performance for the price. hence why its so popular where I live. However, in lowerclass areas, they cant afford the stang. And in high class areas, its not good enough. Thats a big problem. They need to make a high class stang, like when the shelby comes out. Something to give those who make six figures a reason to buy the stang. OTherwise, they turn their head to the new vette. or the new viper.
#11
08-17-2005 | 12:08 AM
Shut Up & Lift
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,304
From: New London, CT
Yea, i have only seen about ten 05's in my area!!! I live in middle class area too! But its all about the interior of stangs that most people dont like! I dont mind the plastic parts i have in my car, but i couldnt see a stang with a wood grain finish! eww lol
#12
08-17-2005 | 05:49 AM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Hang in there
Originally Posted by rebelyell
I work at Purolator Products. a subsidy of ArvinMeritor. We are up for sell right now. And we're getting ready for a big layoff it seems. My boss got the axe last week as did 5 other's in upper mgmnt. Luckily I am one of 2 people in the whole plant qualified in Injection Molding. I'm safe for right now.
I need a new filter for my stang (well, not exactly - I just changed the oil - but I need to put one or two on the shelf in my garage), and I'll be buying Purolator this week.
It sucks your company is for sale - I used to work for Simmons (mattress), and we were sold down the river 4 times - the geniuses-of-the-week managed to shrink the company's market share down to next-to-nothing eventually.
Speaking as an old industrial engineer, you skills look very desireable to me - I bet you can find another job in that category if you look around. Unfortunately, you may have to relocate - always a hassle.
Keep us up to date - maybe we can get MT to start selling Purolator filters with their syn oils...
tripleblack
#13
08-17-2005 | 06:23 AM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Show me the money
The Explorer used to sell 50% of its market segment - now it sells 10%.
Normally, 66% of all mustangs sold have a 6 cylinder. In 2005, this percentage went up, not down, mainly due to lack of supply of 8.8" rears, 4.6 motors, and problems filling customer orders with their desired options. Ford CHOSE not to produce more GT's (the Romeo engine plant where they build the 4.6's never worked a minute of overtime - one shift, that's it).
The Ford 500 (great hope to supplant the Taurus as a hot seller) is selling roughly 1/4 the number of cars that the Taurus did when first introduced. For a long time, the Taurus was the #1 selling car in America (I know, hard to believe it hasn't always been either a Toyota or a Honda). One thing that kept the Taurus alive for so long was fleet sales - which have dropped like a rock for the new Ford line. When Hertz (owned by Ford for the moment - just heard yesterday they're trying to sell it to raise money) is the only rental agency buying your cars in big numbers, you're in trouble. I wasn't really comparing the 500 to the 300 (they really don't intersect segment wise - the average sale price for the 300 is about 2-3 segments above the 500 - as they should be, with Hemi V8's in a lot of them).
You're right that they are selling every GT they want to build - but why the gouging is tolerated (which in any management situation, means it is encouraged) is the question, not why they aren't selling more GTs.
The Fusion is still an unknown - I don't like its styling and powertrain, but maybe the buying public will. I hope it proves better than their recent track record would predict. Bill Ford has presided over a Ford drop in market share from 24.5% to 18% (trending lower). He did this in just a few years. A few more years is all Ford (company and individual) have before they lose the economy of scale needed to be potentially (versus actually) profitable...
Borrowing money at junk bond rates doesn't help the bottom line much, either. There are guys sleeping under railway overpasses with better credit ratings than Ford Motor Company.
Market share for the Focus is in a slow, steady decline. Its an older design with no future.
Totally agree about GM. Only rosey spot for Ford is that the GM cars are even worse. Other than Cadillac (which is thoroughly cleaning Lincoln's clock, and rightly has their sights set on BMW as the lux/sport market leader) and Corvette, GM has little I want. The Solstice is unlikely to arrive at the price point originally estimated (think SSR) - add a considerable sum over the $20000 target price. I have a huge soft spot for 2 seater roadsters, so I hope this car does well.
Of course, for it to do well, sales of Mustang convertibles (1/3 of stang sales) will probably go down.
Really, no argument that GM is in dire condition. Just my point. Ford is far along the same path.
tripleblack
Normally, 66% of all mustangs sold have a 6 cylinder. In 2005, this percentage went up, not down, mainly due to lack of supply of 8.8" rears, 4.6 motors, and problems filling customer orders with their desired options. Ford CHOSE not to produce more GT's (the Romeo engine plant where they build the 4.6's never worked a minute of overtime - one shift, that's it).
The Ford 500 (great hope to supplant the Taurus as a hot seller) is selling roughly 1/4 the number of cars that the Taurus did when first introduced. For a long time, the Taurus was the #1 selling car in America (I know, hard to believe it hasn't always been either a Toyota or a Honda). One thing that kept the Taurus alive for so long was fleet sales - which have dropped like a rock for the new Ford line. When Hertz (owned by Ford for the moment - just heard yesterday they're trying to sell it to raise money) is the only rental agency buying your cars in big numbers, you're in trouble. I wasn't really comparing the 500 to the 300 (they really don't intersect segment wise - the average sale price for the 300 is about 2-3 segments above the 500 - as they should be, with Hemi V8's in a lot of them).
You're right that they are selling every GT they want to build - but why the gouging is tolerated (which in any management situation, means it is encouraged) is the question, not why they aren't selling more GTs.
The Fusion is still an unknown - I don't like its styling and powertrain, but maybe the buying public will. I hope it proves better than their recent track record would predict. Bill Ford has presided over a Ford drop in market share from 24.5% to 18% (trending lower). He did this in just a few years. A few more years is all Ford (company and individual) have before they lose the economy of scale needed to be potentially (versus actually) profitable...
Borrowing money at junk bond rates doesn't help the bottom line much, either. There are guys sleeping under railway overpasses with better credit ratings than Ford Motor Company.
Market share for the Focus is in a slow, steady decline. Its an older design with no future.
Totally agree about GM. Only rosey spot for Ford is that the GM cars are even worse. Other than Cadillac (which is thoroughly cleaning Lincoln's clock, and rightly has their sights set on BMW as the lux/sport market leader) and Corvette, GM has little I want. The Solstice is unlikely to arrive at the price point originally estimated (think SSR) - add a considerable sum over the $20000 target price. I have a huge soft spot for 2 seater roadsters, so I hope this car does well.
Of course, for it to do well, sales of Mustang convertibles (1/3 of stang sales) will probably go down.
Really, no argument that GM is in dire condition. Just my point. Ford is far along the same path.
tripleblack
Originally Posted by 04DarkShadowGT
I dont think fords new cars are doing to bad.
The explorer is still the best selling midsize SUV, the escape is the best selling small SUV, the F150 is by far the best selling truck and they sold 154,000 of them last month (most of a single model since the Model T).
The Mustang is selling in numbers it hasnt seen in at least 10 years. The GT mustangs are what 75% of the sales too so higher margin cars are being sold.
The Ford 500 is everywhere, it may be boring but it sells more cars than the "hot" chrysler 300.
The GT while having a few issues still is a hot car and they will sell every one they would ever want to build even with the dealers price gouging.
The fusion has some promise too, it looks great imo, especially considering its a Taurus replacement.
They still have the Focus which year in and out is one of the best selling compact cars.
Ford is turning things around and has already started. I think GM is the one who needs to worry about its long term viablity. Talk about boring cars.
The only thing they have I like is the vette, and the upcomming Solstics and Sky.
The explorer is still the best selling midsize SUV, the escape is the best selling small SUV, the F150 is by far the best selling truck and they sold 154,000 of them last month (most of a single model since the Model T).
The Mustang is selling in numbers it hasnt seen in at least 10 years. The GT mustangs are what 75% of the sales too so higher margin cars are being sold.
The Ford 500 is everywhere, it may be boring but it sells more cars than the "hot" chrysler 300.
The GT while having a few issues still is a hot car and they will sell every one they would ever want to build even with the dealers price gouging.
The fusion has some promise too, it looks great imo, especially considering its a Taurus replacement.
They still have the Focus which year in and out is one of the best selling compact cars.
Ford is turning things around and has already started. I think GM is the one who needs to worry about its long term viablity. Talk about boring cars.
The only thing they have I like is the vette, and the upcomming Solstics and Sky.
#14
08-17-2005 | 07:36 AM
Married.
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,234
From: OK
Solstice? I heard that the only new parts on that thing are the body and interior. The chassis, and entire powertrain are already existing pontiac vehicles. My gf and I were at the pontiac dealership looking at g6's and the salesman acted like he had a hardon for the solstice. I think it borrows parts heavily from the Aztek (the haybailer, seriously, look at a haybailer sometime and the back of an Aztek, exact same.) To me, pontiac's entire line sucks GTO included.
o BTW; 350z are the one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen and they sound like crap. JMO
o BTW; 350z are the one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen and they sound like crap. JMO
#15
08-17-2005 | 10:06 PM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
350z
As an old Datusn Z man (owned 3, restored 2 - favorite was a 78 280Z), I really don't see the ancestry design-wise. The new cars favor the last-gasp designs of the 300zx (not a good looking car to me, and of course nothing like the xke/jaguar lines of the original Z). To make the 350Z sound good, I'd suggest re-routing the exhaust with small muffler mounted close to the rear (old monza style or new 05 mustang style). Car actually sounds restricted to me in stock form.
Correction: Did some checking on the GT sales in 05 - if you include early sales of new 04 GT's and the mountain of 05 GT orders NOT FULFILLED and promised for 06 model delivery, the percentages are very high. Take these numbers out, and the percentages are about 50/50 - still a very high percentage for a car that historically sells over 60% in 6 cylinder form.
Pontiac is the biggest disappointment in GM - mainly because they have the enviable job within GM of carrying the non/corvette/cadillac performance banner (at least until they figure out what in the hell they want to do with Chevrolet). Given the opportunity to build the new GTO, who among us would produce... THAT UGLY MONSTROSITY? Or the "Gram's Am"? Where are they getting their designs from? I've seen prettier cars in back issues of East German newspapers! (Well, at least most of the GM cars don't appear to be running 2 stroke engines - at least, not on purpose.)
tripleblack
Correction: Did some checking on the GT sales in 05 - if you include early sales of new 04 GT's and the mountain of 05 GT orders NOT FULFILLED and promised for 06 model delivery, the percentages are very high. Take these numbers out, and the percentages are about 50/50 - still a very high percentage for a car that historically sells over 60% in 6 cylinder form.
Pontiac is the biggest disappointment in GM - mainly because they have the enviable job within GM of carrying the non/corvette/cadillac performance banner (at least until they figure out what in the hell they want to do with Chevrolet). Given the opportunity to build the new GTO, who among us would produce... THAT UGLY MONSTROSITY? Or the "Gram's Am"? Where are they getting their designs from? I've seen prettier cars in back issues of East German newspapers! (Well, at least most of the GM cars don't appear to be running 2 stroke engines - at least, not on purpose.)
tripleblack
Originally Posted by FritoBandito
Solstice? I heard that the only new parts on that thing are the body and interior. The chassis, and entire powertrain are already existing pontiac vehicles. My gf and I were at the pontiac dealership looking at g6's and the salesman acted like he had a hardon for the solstice. I think it borrows parts heavily from the Aztek (the haybailer, seriously, look at a haybailer sometime and the back of an Aztek, exact same.) To me, pontiac's entire line sucks GTO included.
o BTW; 350z are the one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen and they sound like crap. JMO
o BTW; 350z are the one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen and they sound like crap. JMO
#16
08-17-2005 | 10:11 PM
Fixin Up My Stang
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 51
From: Orange County, California
ford
Ford needs to get the prices set to a single price and make more of the cars that are in demand and the 2007 corba no one will be able to get all the big shots for ford will be driving them. the 2007 corba is at 54,500 if they would make a **** load more of them and sell them for 40,000 they would make alot more money. i live in orange county california and i was looking at a 05 gt Conv. the sticker price 43,500 wtf.
#17
08-17-2005 | 11:41 PM
More Cowbell
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,003
From: North Carolina
They made a lot of 05 mustang v-6's. I see em everywhere. A lady at work just bought a black one. She wanted a GT but there was a 4 month wait and the price was non negotiable. No incentives and such. I would love an 05 or the upcoming 06 GT but I bought my 04 GT in Oct. 04 and I love my car. I did all the dressups myself so I am proud of her as well. Plus I like the body style better. The 99/04 body style is very easy on the eyes. They just plain look good. It will be a few years before you see more new style than 99/04. 
#18
08-18-2005 | 12:01 AM
More Cowbell
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,003
From: North Carolina
And another thing
It's kinda weird I guess that there aren't too many 05 stang owners on these forums. I mean the car has been out since late oct. 04. Just goes to show that the 99/04 style is strong in numbers. Are we here to stay? How about in 2 or 3 years. It will be interesting to see if a migration of new style stangs take over the forums. 
#19
08-18-2005 | 07:14 AM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Look at the Post numbers
You can look at the numbers of posts and threads (and views) - the 05 forums are in third place, just a bit behind us, and we're still considerably smaller than the 5.0 guys.
After 4 or 5 years the S197 forums will probably be a lot bigger than us - and the aftermarket will swing into full focus on their cars. Hopefully, if we keep modding like crazy, the aftermarket will give us our props (nice aftermarket heads would hit the spot for me)...
tripleblack
After 4 or 5 years the S197 forums will probably be a lot bigger than us - and the aftermarket will swing into full focus on their cars. Hopefully, if we keep modding like crazy, the aftermarket will give us our props (nice aftermarket heads would hit the spot for me)...
tripleblack
#20
08-24-2005 | 01:13 PM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Lincoln News
Article from autoforums: LINCOLN TOWN CAR/LS: The Ford 500/Mercury Montego platform will do double duty at Lincoln. A mid-size sedan based on the standard 500/Montego platform will replace the rear-drive LS, and be powered by Ford’s new 3.5-liter "Cyclone" V6. Stretch the wheelbase, increase the width slightly, and there’s the replacement for the aging Town Car. It will use a version of Volvo’s transverse V8 and all-wheel-drive. To amortize costs, Ford and Mercury may get their own versions to replace the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis.
The next LS will be a Ford 500 clone, and the new Town Car will be a rebodied version of the Ford 500 with the Volvo V-8 drivetrain. In a stunning case of reverse logic, they also seem to be about to replace the big Merc and Crown Vic with the slightly oversize Ford 500 as well. The idea seems to be that the change will be cheaper if they can use the same platform for Volvos, Fords, Lincolns and Mercuries (why not Jaguar, one wonders).
Lincoln needs rwd, loads of horsepower, and sophisticated luxury appointments. Not this. Lets see, you test the waters with the Ford 500, it flops, so having proved your point, you move to use the same mid-sized setup to replace your flagship full size cars; your only full size luxury car; a small luxury car created to infuse a little Jaguar luxury into a line rapidly losing its hold on the "luxury" title; and the cars you make that have an absolute lock on the profitable local, state and federal government sales for police and law enforcement cruisers...
Wow.
My position that Ford management is clueless has just been massively reinforced. My suggestion to all the members and non-members of this forum is sell any Ford stock you have and invest it in parts for your Mustangs that the aftermarket will never make, but you're going to be needing in the years ahead - and that "years ahead" part just got a bit shorter...
tripleblack
The next LS will be a Ford 500 clone, and the new Town Car will be a rebodied version of the Ford 500 with the Volvo V-8 drivetrain. In a stunning case of reverse logic, they also seem to be about to replace the big Merc and Crown Vic with the slightly oversize Ford 500 as well. The idea seems to be that the change will be cheaper if they can use the same platform for Volvos, Fords, Lincolns and Mercuries (why not Jaguar, one wonders).
Lincoln needs rwd, loads of horsepower, and sophisticated luxury appointments. Not this. Lets see, you test the waters with the Ford 500, it flops, so having proved your point, you move to use the same mid-sized setup to replace your flagship full size cars; your only full size luxury car; a small luxury car created to infuse a little Jaguar luxury into a line rapidly losing its hold on the "luxury" title; and the cars you make that have an absolute lock on the profitable local, state and federal government sales for police and law enforcement cruisers...
Wow.
My position that Ford management is clueless has just been massively reinforced. My suggestion to all the members and non-members of this forum is sell any Ford stock you have and invest it in parts for your Mustangs that the aftermarket will never make, but you're going to be needing in the years ahead - and that "years ahead" part just got a bit shorter...
tripleblack
Originally Posted by tripleblack
They Need To Save Ford
Ford Motor Company has fallen on hard times. The fresh new designs aren’t selling - the dependable old SUV’s and F150’s are sitting on the lots, endangered species threatened by looming $4 per gallon gasoline prices - and the competition is offering better looking, better running, more dependable vehicles at lower prices. Insular, “hide your head in the sand and maybe they’ll go away” management has failed to fill the pipeline with the cars and trucks needed to match the new market realities. The massive problems with quality that plagued them in the 70’s and 80’s are thankfully gone, but that just means that buyers are now shopping for style, performance and utility rather than simply how many tiny flaws can be spotted on a new car by J.D. Powers and Associates.
Speaking of the paramount importance of styling, Mays, self-anointed “chief design executive“, has fled the s-storm in Detroit and set up shop in his preferred digs in London, his fresh, newly recognized “center of the creative universe”. While the white collar faithful back in the USA have their morale hammered by yet another decimation of their ranks, he and his cronies lounge in the salons of Soho dreaming up new Ford 500’s, Freestyles and Escapes to plague their long-suffering dealers with. Bill Ford, a Mays admirer, doubtless has given them their marching orders: Design gorgeous bodies for the hybrid vehicles to make them more saleable (which would mean they were selling at all, of course) - design the successor to the Think electric cars (have they shipped all those ill-fated mistakes back to Euroland yet?) - oh, and be sure to pen some quickie layouts for the glue-on decals for the exciting new SVT Ford 500, SVT Escape (er, Adrenaline), and the SVT Freestyle (no, that‘s been canceled, but a new image for the Edsel-clone and utterly failed vehicle when its reintroduced in 2008 or whenever).
If Ford wants to save Ford (and how many entendre’s can one find in that simple phrase ?), he might give some thought to the following:
1. Quit blaming the lack of sales and profits on the unions and retirees. His competition has all the same problems, so a level playing field has already been achieved. Sure, some of the guys build components in countries where the labor is cheap and the UAW doesn’t exist - so does Ford. Just because folks have believed the old bromide that “they can’t make any profits because of the evil unions” in the past doesn’t mean that the same lame excuse will play today. He might even discover that the unions would talk sanely if management ceases to blame them for all the ills of the world…
2. Fix some recent mistakes. Axing middle management engineers creating things like the GT just before you bring it to market was unwise (yes, I’m talking about Colleti here). What should have been a shining corporate icon in a dark product universe has been dulled by bonehead problems with castings that break and $275,000, 200mph sports cars gathering dust in dealer’s maintenance bays waiting on parts. (Of course, why the $140,000 GT’s are being gouged at twice the price by desperate dealers is just another indication of systemic failure).
Depriving the Ford SVT fans of their cherished Lightnings, SVT Foci and Cobras just so you could win some low level corporate coup was misplaced schoolyard ego at best.
3. Regain control over the design process. The picture of an American corporate icon like Ford lacking a design center and being totally dependent on the whims of a flake squatting in a flat in London is not a pretty one. Disconnecting from the American buying public and plugging into the artsy set in England is no way to fix the problem with new designs that don’t appeal and don’t sell. You’ve got a serious mismatch between your designers and your market. You need the American shopper - and he and she don’t live in Soho. Fix it or die.
4. Finances. If you want to stop whimpering about money, and really want to make a change that can help everybody, pick up Neal Boortz’s new book about a national retail sales tax to replace the income tax. Want to streamline white collar labor costs and free up capital to invest in your company? Imagine the savings when you don’t need tax lawyers, accountants and the IT and clerical support staff that goes with them! Between the direct costs of complying with federal corporate income tax rules, and accounting for all your employee’s income tax withholding needs, the savings would be huge. Add the sudden lack of that overhead to price competition with foreign auto manufacturers, and suddenly it will be THEM squealing about unfair price advantage!
5. Dust off all those market segment studies and plan cars that match the segments.
5.1. Toyota’s Scion line is an excellent example. Do that, and do 2 versions - one for Mercury, too.
5.2. Give poor old Mercury some help - you simply can’t afford (unlike GM, who seems to think nothing of killing off entire car marques) to let Mercury die. Bring back the Cougar - use the power of the new Mustang (your sole success story this year, lack of GT supply notwithstanding) to build up Mercury dealers. Get a young, meat-eating American designer to pen the simple changes (keep her close to the Mustang, keep the design changes simple but potent). Maybe make the lines just a touch more European…
5.3. Add back the Mustang niche models you axed - the new Shelby is great, but add a Mach 1 (the new body lines were meant for this) and an IRS option for the Shelby, if not a complete new Cobra (use the 4.6 with a blower and IRS - suspension tuned like the racers).
5.4. Revive the Lightning. Put the same 5.4 in as the new Shelby.
5.5. Bring out the Adrenaline, too, but don’t plan on selling as many of these as you do of the Lightning. Its still a butt-ugly overall design.
5.6. Revive the SVT Focus. Get some AWD action in this lineup to compete with the Subarus. Add a turbo.
5.7. Kill the Freestyle ASAP. Money pit, and that’s it. No need to resurrect the corpse - let it die.
5.8. Put some effort into a new Ranger pickup - grab your scattered design staff and get them moving right away on this. Use some imagination.
5.9. Revamp the brand new, but not working, design for the Ford 500. Rethink the CVT - it can work, but not the way it does now. DO NOT wait the “normal” grace period for new designs to take hold. That’s 90’s think - and defunct.
5.10. Lincoln needs to be competing with Cadillac, Lexus, and Infiniti - not Saab and, er, Ford. Rethink dropping the Aviator SUV - gas prices may change that market a lot. Moving a small Jag design in was a good idea at the time, but it has rotted on the vine. More promising would be a BIG Jag design as a new Continental - leave the large-format Town Car as is - totally refresh the small Jag Lincoln - and add a new sports car Mark IX based on the Jag XK. Once set up, the same production line (moved to Atlanta?) might even be expanded to include some Jags, with little effort…
5.11. Mercury would benefit from the ideas I’ve espoused above, with the following new moves: Dump the euro-cougar and add the new Mustang-clone cougar… Advertise the Marauder more, and put some giant tires on her… Give Mercury a pickup truck, with front end styling similar to the Mountaineer - don’t worry that it will compete with the Lincoln LT, the price differential should be substantial…
Ford Motor Company has fallen on hard times. The fresh new designs aren’t selling - the dependable old SUV’s and F150’s are sitting on the lots, endangered species threatened by looming $4 per gallon gasoline prices - and the competition is offering better looking, better running, more dependable vehicles at lower prices. Insular, “hide your head in the sand and maybe they’ll go away” management has failed to fill the pipeline with the cars and trucks needed to match the new market realities. The massive problems with quality that plagued them in the 70’s and 80’s are thankfully gone, but that just means that buyers are now shopping for style, performance and utility rather than simply how many tiny flaws can be spotted on a new car by J.D. Powers and Associates.
Speaking of the paramount importance of styling, Mays, self-anointed “chief design executive“, has fled the s-storm in Detroit and set up shop in his preferred digs in London, his fresh, newly recognized “center of the creative universe”. While the white collar faithful back in the USA have their morale hammered by yet another decimation of their ranks, he and his cronies lounge in the salons of Soho dreaming up new Ford 500’s, Freestyles and Escapes to plague their long-suffering dealers with. Bill Ford, a Mays admirer, doubtless has given them their marching orders: Design gorgeous bodies for the hybrid vehicles to make them more saleable (which would mean they were selling at all, of course) - design the successor to the Think electric cars (have they shipped all those ill-fated mistakes back to Euroland yet?) - oh, and be sure to pen some quickie layouts for the glue-on decals for the exciting new SVT Ford 500, SVT Escape (er, Adrenaline), and the SVT Freestyle (no, that‘s been canceled, but a new image for the Edsel-clone and utterly failed vehicle when its reintroduced in 2008 or whenever).
If Ford wants to save Ford (and how many entendre’s can one find in that simple phrase ?), he might give some thought to the following:
1. Quit blaming the lack of sales and profits on the unions and retirees. His competition has all the same problems, so a level playing field has already been achieved. Sure, some of the guys build components in countries where the labor is cheap and the UAW doesn’t exist - so does Ford. Just because folks have believed the old bromide that “they can’t make any profits because of the evil unions” in the past doesn’t mean that the same lame excuse will play today. He might even discover that the unions would talk sanely if management ceases to blame them for all the ills of the world…
2. Fix some recent mistakes. Axing middle management engineers creating things like the GT just before you bring it to market was unwise (yes, I’m talking about Colleti here). What should have been a shining corporate icon in a dark product universe has been dulled by bonehead problems with castings that break and $275,000, 200mph sports cars gathering dust in dealer’s maintenance bays waiting on parts. (Of course, why the $140,000 GT’s are being gouged at twice the price by desperate dealers is just another indication of systemic failure).
Depriving the Ford SVT fans of their cherished Lightnings, SVT Foci and Cobras just so you could win some low level corporate coup was misplaced schoolyard ego at best.
3. Regain control over the design process. The picture of an American corporate icon like Ford lacking a design center and being totally dependent on the whims of a flake squatting in a flat in London is not a pretty one. Disconnecting from the American buying public and plugging into the artsy set in England is no way to fix the problem with new designs that don’t appeal and don’t sell. You’ve got a serious mismatch between your designers and your market. You need the American shopper - and he and she don’t live in Soho. Fix it or die.
4. Finances. If you want to stop whimpering about money, and really want to make a change that can help everybody, pick up Neal Boortz’s new book about a national retail sales tax to replace the income tax. Want to streamline white collar labor costs and free up capital to invest in your company? Imagine the savings when you don’t need tax lawyers, accountants and the IT and clerical support staff that goes with them! Between the direct costs of complying with federal corporate income tax rules, and accounting for all your employee’s income tax withholding needs, the savings would be huge. Add the sudden lack of that overhead to price competition with foreign auto manufacturers, and suddenly it will be THEM squealing about unfair price advantage!
5. Dust off all those market segment studies and plan cars that match the segments.
5.1. Toyota’s Scion line is an excellent example. Do that, and do 2 versions - one for Mercury, too.
5.2. Give poor old Mercury some help - you simply can’t afford (unlike GM, who seems to think nothing of killing off entire car marques) to let Mercury die. Bring back the Cougar - use the power of the new Mustang (your sole success story this year, lack of GT supply notwithstanding) to build up Mercury dealers. Get a young, meat-eating American designer to pen the simple changes (keep her close to the Mustang, keep the design changes simple but potent). Maybe make the lines just a touch more European…
5.3. Add back the Mustang niche models you axed - the new Shelby is great, but add a Mach 1 (the new body lines were meant for this) and an IRS option for the Shelby, if not a complete new Cobra (use the 4.6 with a blower and IRS - suspension tuned like the racers).
5.4. Revive the Lightning. Put the same 5.4 in as the new Shelby.
5.5. Bring out the Adrenaline, too, but don’t plan on selling as many of these as you do of the Lightning. Its still a butt-ugly overall design.
5.6. Revive the SVT Focus. Get some AWD action in this lineup to compete with the Subarus. Add a turbo.
5.7. Kill the Freestyle ASAP. Money pit, and that’s it. No need to resurrect the corpse - let it die.
5.8. Put some effort into a new Ranger pickup - grab your scattered design staff and get them moving right away on this. Use some imagination.
5.9. Revamp the brand new, but not working, design for the Ford 500. Rethink the CVT - it can work, but not the way it does now. DO NOT wait the “normal” grace period for new designs to take hold. That’s 90’s think - and defunct.
5.10. Lincoln needs to be competing with Cadillac, Lexus, and Infiniti - not Saab and, er, Ford. Rethink dropping the Aviator SUV - gas prices may change that market a lot. Moving a small Jag design in was a good idea at the time, but it has rotted on the vine. More promising would be a BIG Jag design as a new Continental - leave the large-format Town Car as is - totally refresh the small Jag Lincoln - and add a new sports car Mark IX based on the Jag XK. Once set up, the same production line (moved to Atlanta?) might even be expanded to include some Jags, with little effort…
5.11. Mercury would benefit from the ideas I’ve espoused above, with the following new moves: Dump the euro-cougar and add the new Mustang-clone cougar… Advertise the Marauder more, and put some giant tires on her… Give Mercury a pickup truck, with front end styling similar to the Mountaineer - don’t worry that it will compete with the Lincoln LT, the price differential should be substantial…
#22
08-24-2005 | 01:46 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 230
From: St. Petersburg, Florida
All Ford needs to do is remake the 56 Ford pickup with today’s technology. I’m not talking a retro vehicle, I’m talking a true 56 Ford, just with updated electronics, engine compartment and suspension...they wouldnt be able to make them quick enough.
#23
08-24-2005 | 03:16 PM
Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 93
From: Tualatin, OR.
Originally Posted by 1FastGT
blah, this will prolly be the last ford i own. My next car will be most likely a nissan 350z, Lexus IS350, or Acura TL. Like even though I love my stang, You gotto admit man, you cant compare the luxury of an Acura to a stang. A stang is all plastic inside, an acura is awesome leather everything with marble trim and aluminum pannels with tiptronic transmission.
Bash me if you will, but America made me who I am and I believe in American values and American business. I will never buy Foreign cars and I will support any business in America that supports the American economy. When you buy Foreign products, 85 percent of that money goes to someone else's economy. Nobody else is going to take care of us, so we had better!! (and let the bashings begin!!)
#24
08-24-2005 | 04:00 PM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Absolutely...
That's right, and let me throw the first stone!
You're, er, you're...
Absolutely right. Anyone who thinks the world's largest economy can REMAIN healthy with nothing but service industries doesn't comprehend the fact that we can't all be bankers and insurance salesmen. A balance of agriculture, manufacturing and service industry is needed - else you get in big trouble one day.
I'm pulling for all I'm worth for Ford (and God help me, even GM) to snap out of it and start making American cars for the American market. The day they decided to be some sort of low-rent version of a eurojap hybridized auto maker, they lost their way.
My ideas (and a lot of other good ideas coming from the members of this forum and others where I post) are just that - ideas.
Ford and GM need ideas. They seem to possess mostly bad ones.
tripleblack
You're, er, you're...
Absolutely right. Anyone who thinks the world's largest economy can REMAIN healthy with nothing but service industries doesn't comprehend the fact that we can't all be bankers and insurance salesmen. A balance of agriculture, manufacturing and service industry is needed - else you get in big trouble one day.
I'm pulling for all I'm worth for Ford (and God help me, even GM) to snap out of it and start making American cars for the American market. The day they decided to be some sort of low-rent version of a eurojap hybridized auto maker, they lost their way.
My ideas (and a lot of other good ideas coming from the members of this forum and others where I post) are just that - ideas.
Ford and GM need ideas. They seem to possess mostly bad ones.
tripleblack
Originally Posted by ShakerScoops
Yeah, but you also don't see many Acura drivers standing on the podium taking home the trophy either. You know, racing ricers is alot like being in the special olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded!!
Bash me if you will, but America made me who I am and I believe in American values and American business. I will never buy Foreign cars and I will support any business in America that supports the American economy. When you buy Foreign products, 85 percent of that money goes to someone else's economy. Nobody else is going to take care of us, so we had better!! (and let the bashings begin!!)
Bash me if you will, but America made me who I am and I believe in American values and American business. I will never buy Foreign cars and I will support any business in America that supports the American economy. When you buy Foreign products, 85 percent of that money goes to someone else's economy. Nobody else is going to take care of us, so we had better!! (and let the bashings begin!!)
#25
08-24-2005 | 04:03 PM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Good idea
On allfordmustangs.com I was discussing this idea with some guys, and we were looking for a way for Ford to introduce a mid-size pickup that wouldn't be just another vehicle - this idea from tim is a really good one. My tentative suggestion as to the name of the new midsize truck was "F100", admittedly a good historic monicer but not too sexy.
tripleblack
tripleblack
Originally Posted by timstpetefl
All Ford needs to do is remake the 56 Ford pickup with today’s technology. I’m not talking a retro vehicle, I’m talking a true 56 Ford, just with updated electronics, engine compartment and suspension...they wouldnt be able to make them quick enough.
#26
08-25-2005 | 09:11 AM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Focus Tuner
Just watched a 2 Guys Garage episode where they blew thousands of dollars and jazzed up a Focus Z model. Not a bad show, except I noticed they had painted the sad little rear brake DRUMS red. Anything but disc brakes on a late model tuner car thats suppossed to bad *** is lame - and painting them bright red is about as smart as some of the ricers spray painting the duct tape holding their front ends together to match their body color!
Sometimes, it just makes you want to cry.
tripleblack
Sometimes, it just makes you want to cry.
tripleblack
#27
08-25-2005 | 10:01 AM
Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 93
From: Tualatin, OR.
I feel your pain, I watched the same show. If you put that much money into it, you would think that they would convert to rear disk!
Originally Posted by tripleblack
Just watched a 2 Guys Garage episode where they blew thousands of dollars and jazzed up a Focus Z model. Not a bad show, except I noticed they had painted the sad little rear brake DRUMS red. Anything but disc brakes on a late model tuner car thats suppossed to bad *** is lame - and painting them bright red is about as smart as some of the ricers spray painting the duct tape holding their front ends together to match their body color!
Sometimes, it just makes you want to cry.
tripleblack
Sometimes, it just makes you want to cry.
tripleblack
#28
08-25-2005 | 01:43 PM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 337
Should know better
These guys really are experts - they should be leading by example. Do the brakes and suspension first, followed by the motor, followed by the bling.
They're encouraging unsafe build plans by young guys who watch their show.
They should know better.
tripleblack
They're encouraging unsafe build plans by young guys who watch their show.
They should know better.
tripleblack
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
