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Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego
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Comments
I'm amused at the bashing of the Five Hundred/Montego by GM fans. What does GM have that is comparable? The upcoming LaCrosse will be based on the old W-body platform, complete with the ancient 3.8 ohv V-6. GM gave the same sort of makeover to the 2003 Grand Prix to produce the new one, and the revamped model hasn't exactly set the world on fire. I drove a 2004 GTP - not bad, but nothing to get exciting about, at least not until I saw the $30,000 MSRP. Then I laughed...
Your turn (tee hee)
john cline ii, who wonders why people ask questions they know the answer to (also...wait til next year! And the CVT may well make the whole issue somewhat moot..we shall see)
So, what does Buick stand for? I have no idea, and I just came from the NAIAS, where Buick had, let's see, nothing.
The Five Hundred was MOST impressive. I can hardly wait til this fall...
Were you able to touch the interior of the 500, like the materials and such? They are very upscale in feel and texture, with many soft touch panels.
Let's talk about the cars and not each other, okay folks?
Overall, I am not overly impressed with the Five Hundred/Montego on paper, or in pictures. Its not that I dislike the design, its just that I'm skeptical it will live up to some of the expectations here. Ford does, however, deserve mass quantities of credit for the new Mustang. The more I see that vehicle, and the more I read about it, the more I develop an uncontrollable drooling issue. The vehicle is even appealing in base form. Kudos, Ford. Without driving it, it seems like a job well done.
~alpha
but oddly will have a better powertrain available.
~alpha
At the show, the Five Hundred was on a stationary platform. It was painted in a nice dark grey metallic paint job.
*From what I saw and remember, the paint had a nice Toyota and almost Lexus quality look to it. The paint looked full and deep.
*The car looks longer than the Taurus, but it doesn't look like a boat. It has that European presence about it that American cars have never been able to achieve. It looks solid and yet agile.
*I can't really say it looked exactly like an Audi or VW, but it had a little touch of those in it. My dad thought he saw more Crown Victoria design features in it than VW. I actually saw more Toyota Avalon in it, but more stretched. Overall, it still had a Ford look to it. It reminded me of a larger, far, far more refined Contour.
*The nice thing was the attention to detail. I did not see any real cost cutting in the body or wheels. It might have been the paint, but build quality looked great (probably a test mule for show).
*I thought the interior looked great from what I saw. I can't remember an American car having that nice of an interior. It looked like it came from an Audi. All the pictures on the net show the interior as light tan with light colored fake wood. I was not a huge fan of that combination, but the model I saw had dark grey leather interior and dark colored wood trim. It looked worlds different. It was impressive.
I was really impressed overall, and had I not spent so much time looking at the Ford GT and the 2005 Mustang, I would have gone back to confirm my feelings. For some reason, there seemed to be a big difference between the Five Hundred and the Freestyle sitting next to it. They come from the same plant, but I could tell the Five Hundred was the flagship model while the Freestyle was more of a regular model. The Five Hundred just ooozed class.
I don't know if being a rich looking car will hurt or help this FORD model, but I don't see it selling Taurus-like numbers. It isn't that kind of car. The Futura needs to do that. However, the Five Hundred demonstrates to me that out of the 3 Detroit automakers, Ford is the one closely watching the import competition the most. I believe they have watched and studied the most; and it shows in the Five Hundred. The F-150 set a new standard in interiors for trucks, and I think the Five Hundred will do it for American sedans.
Thank you for that great post.
Sounds like I should have gone with you instead of to the NAIAS!
I wonder how many Five Hundreds exist? I know there was one in Salt Lake City at the same time there was one in Detroit, and both of those had black exteriors with beige/tan leather interiors...
The specifics of the Buick LaCrosse (which the name will have to be changed since in Canada it's a slang for ejaculation) will be released at the Chicago show next week. But from what I see and have heard about it, it's a $30K+ vehicle, whereas the 500 starts much lower.
"*The car looks longer than the Taurus,"
It's half an inch shorter length-wise than a Taurus actually.
"It might have been the paint, but build quality looked great "
The painting facility in Chicago has been revamped and is one of Ford's best. The ATL plant that builds the Taurus/Sable as well, have received awards for THE best painting quality in the U.S.
My guess is Futura will be in the 188-190" length range, right about where Camry and Accord sit.
My 2000 Taurus was built in Chicago and I have no complaints at all with the paint quality out of that plant before revamping for 500/Freestar production. Both Chicago and Atlanta Taurus Sable plants, I believe have been among Ford's best for quality and productivity.
Well, maybe they will at least finally have a mid size sedan as good as the current Taurus!
~alpha
You know, it might not be a bad thing for Buick... Most of the customer's have one foot in the grave and probably can't see well anyways, so I say styling isn't something they will be too concerned about, even if it looks like a cross-eyed fish
While the Focus (Euro), Mazda3, and Volvo S40 is another synergy, almost similar stradegy. IN that one, the same principal as stated above, BUT in a more diverse fashion by taking a standard brand platform and injecting it with enough sophistication and engineering to be sold even as a premium offering such as the S40.
The objective that most of the media will concentrate on with the 500 release will be if Ford can produce a sedan, and launch it without any glitches. If Ford still has the recipe of making a good sedan, as they once did with the original Taurus.
So with combined synergies mentionined in the first 2 paragraphs.. you make investors happy, in turn caushing stock values to rise.
With media perception, you gain respect and attract attention to the vehicle whereas some consumer's wouldn't have thought of shopping such a vehicle. Also a boost for investors.
Final one, consumer appeal. Is this a car they believe deliver's solid value for their money. That classy interior will surely convey that, as the soft touch materials and careful attention to detail.
All these factors help each other quite a bit. But the profit margins of these vehicles aren't quite as big as those of an F-150 or Navigator for example, therefore this isn't going to break the company.
Granted, all vehicles debuting currently are helping Ford's image, and all are important in one way or another. The Mustang will be released towards the end of the year. And that itself convey's a message. A few Mercury vehicles will debut, and they will convey a message as well.
The next "incredibly important" product that Ford will release will be the Futura. That importance will be high up there, as that of the new F-150. I say, if the F-150 can pull it off and the media, investors, and consumer have welcomed it well, then I don't see why the Futura can't.
hate to bring it up again, but the 500 only coming out of the chute with the 3.0 is bad here....both of the LaCrosse's engines will have more hp (even if the 3800 is junk) they can take out full page ads and show comparisons on how the buick engines out-hp the duratec.
Now, GM WILL be able to post much higher HP and Torque statistics. Still, where is GM's AWD in the Buick? Where is its CVT? Does the vehicle have the huge rear seat and trunk that the Five Hundred/Montego does? Does either vehicle cruise as effortlessly, quietly and cushily as does the Panther platform of the LeSabre? These are far more relevant questions to the target market.
In terms of powertrains, as long as the smoothness AND efficien combination of acceleration & fuel economy are present, most consumers won't care.
ANT, from what I've read, it seems like the LaCrosse will indeed compete with the Five-Hundred on price.
~alpha
2. In the family sedan segment, features and quality are more important than futuristic, trendy styling. Examples: The PT Cruiser and VW Bug drew raves at early Auto Shows, now look at their sales.
The complaint "It looks like a 5 year old Audi"? Well, those 5 year old Audis look like the 2004s and 15-20 year old Audis, with timeless looks.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/fivehundred/article.asp?name=INTERIOR- &bhcp=1
And really, I can't say I dislike any of Ford's new interiors - except for maybe the Freestar. I just hope Ford can push the bar even more when it comes to Mercury and Lincoln. Those 2 should be at an even higher level than what the Five Hundred is showing us, and I would say the Five Hundred is at a pretty high level already.
The front resembles the Focus to me.
And regarding "5 year old Passat" knocks, I bet the next generation Passat will be evolutionary like the new Golf that is out in Europe now. And "auto critics" will call it the "best ever", even if it looks similar. I also don't see too many complaints of the VW Pheaton for "looking bland".
there ya go, at least one!
2005 Passat is stylish, you can find spy shots on the net. I'm betting the price goes way up too.
I think the 500 is a nice product but will be sorely missing the 3.5 at launch.
I agree with you. I really wish Ford had a more powerful engine also available at launch, and I suspect many others will have the same desire as well.
They have taken a couple of vacays in europe and like the european ford models. He thinks the world car concept is the way to go. To a small extent the 500 is a world car.
If sales don't do well out of the gate, watch the 3.5L magically appear sooner.
Not really possible considering it'll debut on a totally new vehicle first, so that's it's first emphansize. Plus Ford doesn't have an available line to assemble the engine any sooner.
Still, as I have said before, the CVT or six speed should make the 500 faster than what you might otherwise think.
~alpha
The five hundred interrior is great, but it needs 3 things to get me exited,
1.) manumatic tranny, with the shift it yourself gears, ala ANY nissan and Lincoln LS (so you know ford has it).
2.) in a car that is supposed to be the new flagship, were is the Navigation system? the Japanese have offered nav systems for years, and now even the low end models in toyota and honda have them. Were is Ford?
3.) 270 hp top of the line engine would be nice. Since the Maxima has 265 hp, it would be nice for Ford to tell 'em to go to hell.