"Ford should quit talking and start doing"
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From: In a van down by the river
"Ford should quit talking and start doing"
I'm growing tired of the "Bold Moves" and short attempts and turning around the corporation.
The problem lies in the product, so I created some brief items to fix and/or watch. What I wouldn't give for a 30 minute meeting with Mark Fields. Other corporations pay big money to have me come in and do consulting for them, Mark is getting this tid bit free.
If they were really thinking they'd do the following:
GT500 - due to pricing it competes with the Corvette. Thus it needs a nicer interior then it currently has and better handling. The GT500 interior is just like a GT, it just adds a little more chrome.
Expedition and SuperDuty - The new ones should have been out last year. Nuff said.
F150 - Where is the 5 speed automatic? Why can you only choke 300 HP out of a 5.4 when the comp is clearly going to beat that? If you're going to weight significantly more then the comp you definitely need more HP and torque over the comp.
Quit bumping up the towing capacity arbitraily just to stay ahead of the competition when we all know you didn't do anything to the transmission, engine or any powertrain component to justify it. To your customer base it looks like you're reacting to competitions stronger powertrains and not being proactive by leading them. Sure you have the interior nailed down (still need to work on some rattels though), but you're about to be sitting in a less then five year old 5.4 3V engine that is vastly outdone by your competition.
If the F150 losses it's title you can forget about trying to fix the rest of the stuff I listed below because you'll already be in really deep water.
Mustang - You're doing something right here, just don't muck it up.
Crow Vic - Has a horrid name that brings to mind old taxis and cop cars. Either 1. Kill the Vic completely 2. Kill the Vic to the public and only sell stripped down versions to the taxi companies and cops. To fill this luxury big car market void, come out with something that isn't driven by people fellow drivers of the road don't want to see. Nobody likes driving next to cops or taxis...much less in them.
Fusion - headed in the right direction, but once again, don't muck it up
I'm ignoring the other market segments right now because you at least need to spend the next year addressing the above.
Rant off, time to get back to my paying clients...
Duke
The problem lies in the product, so I created some brief items to fix and/or watch. What I wouldn't give for a 30 minute meeting with Mark Fields. Other corporations pay big money to have me come in and do consulting for them, Mark is getting this tid bit free.
If they were really thinking they'd do the following:
GT500 - due to pricing it competes with the Corvette. Thus it needs a nicer interior then it currently has and better handling. The GT500 interior is just like a GT, it just adds a little more chrome.
Expedition and SuperDuty - The new ones should have been out last year. Nuff said.
F150 - Where is the 5 speed automatic? Why can you only choke 300 HP out of a 5.4 when the comp is clearly going to beat that? If you're going to weight significantly more then the comp you definitely need more HP and torque over the comp.
Quit bumping up the towing capacity arbitraily just to stay ahead of the competition when we all know you didn't do anything to the transmission, engine or any powertrain component to justify it. To your customer base it looks like you're reacting to competitions stronger powertrains and not being proactive by leading them. Sure you have the interior nailed down (still need to work on some rattels though), but you're about to be sitting in a less then five year old 5.4 3V engine that is vastly outdone by your competition.
If the F150 losses it's title you can forget about trying to fix the rest of the stuff I listed below because you'll already be in really deep water.
Mustang - You're doing something right here, just don't muck it up.
Crow Vic - Has a horrid name that brings to mind old taxis and cop cars. Either 1. Kill the Vic completely 2. Kill the Vic to the public and only sell stripped down versions to the taxi companies and cops. To fill this luxury big car market void, come out with something that isn't driven by people fellow drivers of the road don't want to see. Nobody likes driving next to cops or taxis...much less in them.
Fusion - headed in the right direction, but once again, don't muck it up
I'm ignoring the other market segments right now because you at least need to spend the next year addressing the above.
Rant off, time to get back to my paying clients...
Duke
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Uh oh , put your flame suits on and hold on fellas, the diehard blueblooded "everything Ford puts out is perfect" ppl will start rolling in and this could get bumpy.
I agree with everything you wrote, well said. Remember guys, thats the cold hard truth, I dont want to see Ford go down in flames so I wont be ignorant to their down falls. I hope they can regain their stability in the market, but it wont happen without some serious changes. The few of us on here cannot keep Ford in business, remember that.
I agree with everything you wrote, well said. Remember guys, thats the cold hard truth, I dont want to see Ford go down in flames so I wont be ignorant to their down falls. I hope they can regain their stability in the market, but it wont happen without some serious changes. The few of us on here cannot keep Ford in business, remember that.
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From: Mount Airy,MD
I agree with everything except the Crown Vic. If all you make it for is police and taxis, all you are going to do is lose money. You need volume to recover the costs of development and tooling. Either that or the price would be so high no one would buy it. Also governments change who they buy from every so often. In Maryland, 10+ years ago, all you saw police and state workers in was Chevys. For quite a while, all the bought was Ford's. Now I am seeing some Dodge's.
As far as police and regular drivers have Crown Vics, keeps you on your toes as to who is who.
The Crown Vic name has been around with Ford, at least since the lat 50's. Just like the F series, I would hate to see that name go away. I would also like to see some of the old names come back, like Fairlane or Galaxie.
Edit to add. I would like to see a 6 speed auto on the F150, especially if we get a diesel.
As far as police and regular drivers have Crown Vics, keeps you on your toes as to who is who.
The Crown Vic name has been around with Ford, at least since the lat 50's. Just like the F series, I would hate to see that name go away. I would also like to see some of the old names come back, like Fairlane or Galaxie.
Edit to add. I would like to see a 6 speed auto on the F150, especially if we get a diesel.
Last edited by kingfish51; Sep 7, 2006 at 06:45 PM.
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From: Burleson, Texas
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From: In a van down by the river
Originally Posted by kingfish51
I agree with everything except the Crown Vic. If all you make it for is police and taxis, all you are going to do is lose money. You need volume to recover the costs of development and tooling. Either that or the price would be so high no one would buy it. Also governments change who they buy from every so often. In Maryland, 10+ years ago, all you saw police and state workers in was Chevys. For quite a while, all the bought was Ford's. Now I am seeing some Dodge's.
As far as police and regular drivers have Crown Vics, keeps you on your toes as to who is who.
The Crown Vic name has been around with Ford, at least since the lat 50's. Just like the F series, I would hate to see that name go away. I would also like to see some of the old names come back, like Fairlane or Galaxie.
Edit to add. I would like to see a 6 speed auto on the F150, especially if we get a diesel.
As far as police and regular drivers have Crown Vics, keeps you on your toes as to who is who.
The Crown Vic name has been around with Ford, at least since the lat 50's. Just like the F series, I would hate to see that name go away. I would also like to see some of the old names come back, like Fairlane or Galaxie.
Edit to add. I would like to see a 6 speed auto on the F150, especially if we get a diesel.
I also agree on the 6 speed auto transmission. At this stage in the game we should scrap the push for the 5 and take the jump to the 6.
Duke
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From: North of Dallas, South of Frisco
Agree...
To that I'll add:
Be more competitive with pricing on the Super Duties. (F250, F-350) I saw a crew cab 4 x 4 yesterday (Lariat) $44,000. Dude, it's pretty- but at the end of the day, it's still a truck. $44,000 will net you:
GS300 Lexus
M35 Infiniti
525 & 530i BMW
Acura MDX
Acura RL
Toyota Sequoia
And much more more...
Find a comfortable average price point that most consumers pay for the F-150 (Bread & Butter), and don't seel it below that average. (Maintain decent profits)
New Focus (Why did Europe get the hot new Focus 2-3 model years before America? Bad move)
Fusion: Best looking family sedan Ford has produced since the Fairlane. Nuff said.
Five Hundred: Took it a while to grow on me, but, it's looks are still pedestrian. Sweeten it up a little on the redesign. As far as content and packaging is concerned.
Freestyle:
Could've been better. With a little more due diligence. For now, this is the answer to the question no one asked. Restyle or retire.
Crown Victoria: While I'll admit, the name is as old as time, this car sells well. Fleet sales = money. You'd be stupid to stop building this car, or one like it. (Big, roomy, V8, economical sedan)
Mustang: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. (Although a sporty V-6 'Stang, with the looks of the V-8 may not be a bad thing for those with Chivas Regal taste, but Boone's Farm money).
Freestar (Minivan): Do they still build this? been a LONG time since I saw one on the road... There's a reason for that. Step up to the competition, or kill it.
E-150, 250, 350: Can you say, make-over? I know hardly anyone is buying them; but a van, when it comes to family hauling, will kick an SUV's *** 5-days a week, and twice on the weekend. Improve, or cut your loses.
Ranger: What are you guys waiting for?
Sport-Trac: Not nearly as sexy as the old one. Fire design team leader.
Explorer: Well done. Looks good, but losing sales to the Trailblazer at an alarming rate.
Expedition: Expy EL due in 2007. Three words, "About Damn Time". Although gas put a cramp in full size SUV sales, people are still buying them. This is what the "Excursion" should have been, instead of that big monstrosity based upon the Super Duty. If the Excursion was to be, then it shoudl have been a specialty vehicle, not mainstream.
What Ford needs:
1. Sleek, sexy, yet affordable, RWD full size car.
2. A sports car that competes with the Corvette, but doesn't look like a Mustang, yet doesn't cost like a GT.
3. Bring back SVT.
4. Restyle Five Hundred, pronto. (Offer a V8 AWD version in the SEL)
5. Refine Fusion to the point that Accord buyers pay it some attention.
6. F-150 (Good job, but must find a way to lead in ways other than sales...)
When your car company becomes a 1-trick pony, that trick better be damn good. (New Tundra coming, redesigned Titan can't be far off, new Silverado's coming...)
7. Lincoln: (See number 1, apply to Town Car)
8. MKX, step in the right direction.
9. Mark LT: Come on guys, if you're going to do a truck to compete with the Caddy, at least meet it. Fiberglass Tonneau, Navigation, and all of that should be standard.
10. Zephyr (I forget the new name). Nothing as risky as a name change after one year. Should've left it Zephyr, or named it right the first time... Time will tell. otherwise, very nice vehicle.
11. LS- Was due a refresh 2 years ago. Nice vehicle, but long in the tooth.
12. Mariner, Grand Marquis & Mountaineer: Still a reheated Escape , Crown Victoria, & Explorer. Kill the entire Mercury Brand, or take them considerably upscale from Ford (See Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura).
That might work, it might not. FoMoCo, and all the domestics have lost market share due to sad-*** dealerships, poor performing cars, uninspired styling, and no focus on the cars. Americans are not all truck buyers. Now that truck sales are slipping, pucker factors are rising.
Drastic times call for drastic measures. Ford has to make a move, now.
A few years ago, Daimler-Chrysler was on the ropes, today- they have some of the hottest selling cars on the road, in the Charger (True to its heritage or not, they're leaving the showroom floors), the 300C, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Commander's doign OK, the Liberty- they have some hits on their hands, not to mention the Ram. I guess stuffing a Hemi in everything wasn't a stupid move afterall.
I for one, would love to get the keys to a Chrysler 300C SRT-8, or a Cherokee SRT-8.
DC has the truck (SRT-10), but it's damn-near $50K. If they dropped the Hemi in it, and called it the SRT-8 @ 35K, they would sell too.
To that I'll add:
Be more competitive with pricing on the Super Duties. (F250, F-350) I saw a crew cab 4 x 4 yesterday (Lariat) $44,000. Dude, it's pretty- but at the end of the day, it's still a truck. $44,000 will net you:
GS300 Lexus
M35 Infiniti
525 & 530i BMW
Acura MDX
Acura RL
Toyota Sequoia
And much more more...
Find a comfortable average price point that most consumers pay for the F-150 (Bread & Butter), and don't seel it below that average. (Maintain decent profits)
New Focus (Why did Europe get the hot new Focus 2-3 model years before America? Bad move)
Fusion: Best looking family sedan Ford has produced since the Fairlane. Nuff said.
Five Hundred: Took it a while to grow on me, but, it's looks are still pedestrian. Sweeten it up a little on the redesign. As far as content and packaging is concerned.
Freestyle:
Could've been better. With a little more due diligence. For now, this is the answer to the question no one asked. Restyle or retire.Crown Victoria: While I'll admit, the name is as old as time, this car sells well. Fleet sales = money. You'd be stupid to stop building this car, or one like it. (Big, roomy, V8, economical sedan)
Mustang: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. (Although a sporty V-6 'Stang, with the looks of the V-8 may not be a bad thing for those with Chivas Regal taste, but Boone's Farm money).
Freestar (Minivan): Do they still build this? been a LONG time since I saw one on the road... There's a reason for that. Step up to the competition, or kill it.
E-150, 250, 350: Can you say, make-over? I know hardly anyone is buying them; but a van, when it comes to family hauling, will kick an SUV's *** 5-days a week, and twice on the weekend. Improve, or cut your loses.
Ranger: What are you guys waiting for?
Sport-Trac: Not nearly as sexy as the old one. Fire design team leader.
Explorer: Well done. Looks good, but losing sales to the Trailblazer at an alarming rate.
Expedition: Expy EL due in 2007. Three words, "About Damn Time". Although gas put a cramp in full size SUV sales, people are still buying them. This is what the "Excursion" should have been, instead of that big monstrosity based upon the Super Duty. If the Excursion was to be, then it shoudl have been a specialty vehicle, not mainstream.
What Ford needs:
1. Sleek, sexy, yet affordable, RWD full size car.
2. A sports car that competes with the Corvette, but doesn't look like a Mustang, yet doesn't cost like a GT.
3. Bring back SVT.
4. Restyle Five Hundred, pronto. (Offer a V8 AWD version in the SEL)
5. Refine Fusion to the point that Accord buyers pay it some attention.
6. F-150 (Good job, but must find a way to lead in ways other than sales...)
When your car company becomes a 1-trick pony, that trick better be damn good. (New Tundra coming, redesigned Titan can't be far off, new Silverado's coming...)
7. Lincoln: (See number 1, apply to Town Car)
8. MKX, step in the right direction.
9. Mark LT: Come on guys, if you're going to do a truck to compete with the Caddy, at least meet it. Fiberglass Tonneau, Navigation, and all of that should be standard.
10. Zephyr (I forget the new name). Nothing as risky as a name change after one year. Should've left it Zephyr, or named it right the first time... Time will tell. otherwise, very nice vehicle.
11. LS- Was due a refresh 2 years ago. Nice vehicle, but long in the tooth.
12. Mariner, Grand Marquis & Mountaineer: Still a reheated Escape , Crown Victoria, & Explorer. Kill the entire Mercury Brand, or take them considerably upscale from Ford (See Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura).
That might work, it might not. FoMoCo, and all the domestics have lost market share due to sad-*** dealerships, poor performing cars, uninspired styling, and no focus on the cars. Americans are not all truck buyers. Now that truck sales are slipping, pucker factors are rising.
Drastic times call for drastic measures. Ford has to make a move, now.
A few years ago, Daimler-Chrysler was on the ropes, today- they have some of the hottest selling cars on the road, in the Charger (True to its heritage or not, they're leaving the showroom floors), the 300C, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Commander's doign OK, the Liberty- they have some hits on their hands, not to mention the Ram. I guess stuffing a Hemi in everything wasn't a stupid move afterall.
I for one, would love to get the keys to a Chrysler 300C SRT-8, or a Cherokee SRT-8.
DC has the truck (SRT-10), but it's damn-near $50K. If they dropped the Hemi in it, and called it the SRT-8 @ 35K, they would sell too.
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From: In a van down by the river
Something tells me it'll be a tight game for the Mustang and serious time to think of a new edge for it since the new camaro and challenger are coming out soon.
Those things will fly off the shelves with their retro styling and power. (There is talk of a de-tuned Vette engine going in the higher end camaro)
Duke
Those things will fly off the shelves with their retro styling and power. (There is talk of a de-tuned Vette engine going in the higher end camaro)
Duke
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 2,823
Likes: 15
From: Houston, TX
Ford always seems to take the "enough to get by" approach to engine output. The 5.4 in the current F-150 is fairly weak, as most of us know.
I drove a 500 last week as a rental car -- it was a nice ride but I felt like I should stick my foot out the door to try to push us along at a faster clip! You're not going to convert many folks back to an American automobile with a "pimple" as obvious as this in the middle of its face!
The lack of a redesigned Ranger shows you how completely deluded the folks at Ford's corporate headquarters were in believing that the days of $1.00 per gallon gas would go on forever. With the current gas market we have right now Rangers should be flying out the door. But they're not because they allowed the model to languish for years without a redo.
Right now Ford is caught with a business model that was designed for an economic environment that doesn't exist anymore and probably won't come back in our lifetimes. For what they pay the "suits" in Dearborn, you'd expect to be in a better position than completely flat-footed.....
I drove a 500 last week as a rental car -- it was a nice ride but I felt like I should stick my foot out the door to try to push us along at a faster clip! You're not going to convert many folks back to an American automobile with a "pimple" as obvious as this in the middle of its face!
The lack of a redesigned Ranger shows you how completely deluded the folks at Ford's corporate headquarters were in believing that the days of $1.00 per gallon gas would go on forever. With the current gas market we have right now Rangers should be flying out the door. But they're not because they allowed the model to languish for years without a redo.
Right now Ford is caught with a business model that was designed for an economic environment that doesn't exist anymore and probably won't come back in our lifetimes. For what they pay the "suits" in Dearborn, you'd expect to be in a better position than completely flat-footed.....
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Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Mount Airy,MD
Originally Posted by F150 Duke
Hmm, I see your points and they are very valid. I actually read online at a .gov site and I'm trying to find it again...that some state governments are looking at the charger as a replacement cop car against the Vic and the cops are not neccessarily supportive of that idea.
Duke
Duke
As far as bringing in cars from around the world, I do like the looks of some of the Australian cars.
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From: Ky/Va Mountains
Originally Posted by Bighersh
Be more competitive with pricing on the Super Duties. (F250, F-350) I saw a crew cab 4 x 4 yesterday (Lariat) $44,000. Dude, it's pretty- but at the end of the day, it's still a truck.
Compare it to a gmc or dodge 2500 diesel and you may find the ford is actually cheaper and a hell of alot nicer. I know the king ranch is.
I used build and price for a gmc 2500 lt loaded out and a dodge 2500 loaded out and both were around 2000.00 more than a king ranch f250.
I just wish ford would lay down some power from the car line to match the dodge/chrysler hemi line.
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From: cleveland ohio
[QUOTE]
Nothing is "Just a truck" Trucks are in these days, seems like more people want a truck then a car. Trucks and SUV's now out number cars on the road here in the U.S. 44K is not bad at all for a brand new 250 or 350. Trucks are very expensive vehicles no matter how you look at it.
Originally Posted by Bighersh
A
Be more competitive with pricing on the Super Duties. (F250, F-350) I saw a crew cab 4 x 4 yesterday (Lariat) $44,000. Dude, it's pretty- but at the end of the day, it's still a truck. $44,000 will net you:
Be more competitive with pricing on the Super Duties. (F250, F-350) I saw a crew cab 4 x 4 yesterday (Lariat) $44,000. Dude, it's pretty- but at the end of the day, it's still a truck. $44,000 will net you:
Nothing is "Just a truck" Trucks are in these days, seems like more people want a truck then a car. Trucks and SUV's now out number cars on the road here in the U.S. 44K is not bad at all for a brand new 250 or 350. Trucks are very expensive vehicles no matter how you look at it.