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What about the future of Ford Inc??
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For months and months the market has been telling a story: trucks are on the decline (especially big SUVs), cars are resurgent. At least Ford is in a better position to exploit this trend than GM. But geez, could they ever use an all-new Focus as well right now.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Yeah, Toyota and Honda gained more. DCX gained about the same.. but for example Nissan lost...
Igor
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
"Sales of Ford's new mid-size cars increased 25 percent in January compared with December. Sales of Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln Zephyr totaled 14,714.
* Total car sales were 82,710, up 18 percent compared with a year ago."
And that was with the brand new Explorer only a few months on the market, that they went to so much trouble to update last year, and with zippy new Expeditions, short and long wheelbase, currently plugging up the R&D budget instead of development of an all-new Focus.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
They also kept American designers and engineers off the project, so you take the good with the bad. :P
DrFill
About the R&D money.. that is only partially true.. the new Focus has been developed. .the fact that it is not out yet, doesn't mean there was no money put into it.. Actually some "Forum Insiders" claim that it is finished and being tested; much more advanced and upscale; and while still C170, completely different from anything we have right now.
About the growth numbers, well, here are more numbers:
DIVISION...............2006.....2005....CHANGE
------------------------------------------------
Total Ford Cars......61,078...47,823....+27.7%
Total Ford Trucks...108,334..115,879.....-6.5%
Total Ford Brand....169,412..163,702.....+3.5%
------------------------------------------------
The 2% growth is FoMoCo overall in the USA... so there are makes like Volvo, Jaguar etc that are not doing so well...
Percentage diferences are tricky, because they are affected by many factors... selling 1,000 extra vehicles is 33% growth for Land Rover, while for Ford Cars, selling extra 14,000 cars is only 27% growth.
Igor
Sonata sales are down 4k units from last January, about 35%! So the Fusion is burning up the 2nd tier of family sedans!
DrFill
Accord is up 9% over a year ago.
Fusion is doing OK, but burning up the segment might be over-characterizing a bit. If it holds that pace all year, it will only be 120K sales. Mostly retail sales I would imagine, so that's something. I am still holding my breath to see which model Ford starts selling in bulk to fleets after April (to replace the then-to-be-defunct Taurus): will it be Five Hundred or Fusion?
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
It's not a world where two cars that are just as good sell in equal quantities, and one car that's twice as good sells twice as much. Brand name is everything.
Fusion will do fine, in my view. 200k is not a major reach, considering Ford's reach.
DrFill
You are completely correct.. that is why the article mentions one needs to look at the historic variation between months of the year to predict annual sales form January numbers.
Moreover, Fusion sales are UP 25% from DECEMBER... that means, the Fusion trio is specific, as it is still gaining momentum... the final annual sales of the trio might be well of ver the predicted 220k.
Nippon
How about ford will NOT do bulk sles to fleets..
The new car modesl do not need it.. the Fivehundred trio is selling at a pace 170k a year and the Fusion Trio is selling at this point at the pace of 220k a year and very probably growing considerably.
Focus will continue to be sold to Fleets at bulk, but I do not think there is any justification, other than your personal bias, to think that Ford needs to continue with the dumping a la Taurus with models that are selling well.
Igor
It's by far the best company car she's had thus far, when comparing it to the 2 Taurus's and one Impala she had previously. It's the first company car she's had that she actually likes. There are some things I don't like, such as poor on center steering feel and brakes that lack a bit of feel, and lack of power (particularly off the line), but all in all it seems to be a good car in search of more style and a better engine.
And I think dieselone is right - I think the Five Hundred will be the fleet fave, although I expect what will actually happen is they will sell both models to fleets in more moderate percentages than the almost-totally-fleet Taurus.
Maybe they could keep the 3.0 Duratec in the fleet models, a "Five Hundred Classic" so to speak, for fleet sales after the 3.5 arrives in the fall.
Doc: I think Fusion will do fine also. I just don't think it is a front-runner as domestic buyers continue switching back to cars (as they seem to be). I think a lot will jump ship to CamCord, whose sales far exceeded 10K in January. And then again, there is a brand new Altima on the horizon, and the Sonata is here now, with the same price and a better warranty.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Yes, but I’d much rather wrap around a tree in car has a Ford badge on it than a Hyundai one. And I think a lot of customers have this misconception about Hyundai.
"...the underlying trends showed that Detroit's automakers are still struggling to hold their ground with consumers. Most of the 7.6 percent rise in January sales reflected a surge in deliveries to car rental companies and other fleet buyers, compared with year-earlier levels."
But good find... good read article
Igor
If you have a car with the CVT FLOOR THE CAR.
There is a button under the gas pedal and if you want the tranny to drop instantly to a low ratio that button has to get pushed in.
If you have a 6 speed, FLOOR IT. There is no direct connection between the pedal and the engine its all electronic.
Mark
:P
It gets around that slushy start that everyone whines about when talking about the Ford CVT.
I think it a great addition to the lineup though..
Igor
You can be cruising at 70mph only turning 1800rpm and easily accelerate if needed since the trans is very good at picking up the required rpm to accelerate. I don't know if CVTs will ever really catch on since 6speed+ autos are on the market, but you can't beat how smooth and responsive they are.
If you haven't noticed a difference, then you are not doing it correctly.
faster, faster...chop chop!
I think CVTs will replace automatics in the future just for the efficiency of them. I even saw a Nisson Murano advertising the CVT smoothness on TV.
I tend to agree with other posters that the CVT is the "automatic" of the future. The thing that is so funny to me about all this is that it is not a new product at all, even though many people see it that way. I've heard my dad talk about Buicks with a "straight 8" that had a transmission that sounds exactly like a CVT to me.
Very weird.
Mark.
Among other things, it quoted George Pipas, Ford's sales analysis manager, as saying February fleet sales were 41% of all sales!! Whew, can you say overcapacity?
Car sales across F-L-M were up 11% because the Fusion triplets are selling well, but truck sales continue to fall, down 7% for all trucks with Explorer and Expedition falling badly, dragging SUV sales down 20% or more.
By contrast, GM has its fleet sales down to 25% overall (still bad, but better than Ford and Chrysler by far), with incentive spending down $1000 per vehicle vs this time last year.
Overall fleet sales rose 6% last year at Ford.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
AS a sales rep I drive a company provided Taurus. All Taurus are being replaced with the 500 at the end of the lease.
If you haven't noticed a difference, then you are not doing it correctly."
I don't want to "relearn" how to push down the gas pedal. Just make the thing behave like any other car.....
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
One would think that if 30,000 people were worried about keeping their jobs, they would try to build them right. I also blame management though for stupid content decisions.
There use to be only 2 headlight switches, one that just turned on the headlights and one for the fog lights and autolamp.
Every truck that had fog lights ALSO had autolamp. For 06, Ford decides that Autolamp is optional on the XLT (this is how they were able to "lower the MSRP" so now there are 3 possible headlamps switches to choose from.
It reminds me of the first Focus when cars could have either painted or unpainted side trim moldings. Every now and then there would be one with a painted molding on one side and and unpainted on the other.
Mark.
Agreed
Maybe a "sport" button that would change the ratio selection for all of us hot footers.
:-)
Maybe the long awaited (I got tired of waiting and decided not to buy Ford again) 3.5L will help?
Ford is so stupid for not putting the right engine in the 500 from the get go.
Hyundai Azera here I come.
500 would benefit from adding the 4.6 V8 as an option (maybe requiring getting the AWD package). Would have the added bonus of nicely position it for eventually taking over the Crown Vic's business with cops and taxi drivers.
All the Fusion needs is a manual transmission option with the V6 engine. Would attract a lot more enthusiast attention that way...
On the other hand, imagine how low the sales would have been if they hadn't redone it.
Some will say gas prices have affected sales, and that is probably true. However, it's pretty bad when you look at a vehicle that was "redesigned" and it doesn't stand out from the previous year. Ford didn't do enough in terms of a redesign to get this vehicle on people's radar. Some do not like the look of the new Tahoe, but one can honestly say that IT IS DIFFERENT from the previous year. I believe that one of the GM products, either the Trailblazer (like it did last year), or even the full-size Tahoe could very well outsell the "new Explorer".
The small car market has picked up noticeable of late, no doubt thanks to gas prices, but also due to arrival of some attractive new models. Honda Civic sales are way up this year. Chevy is selling way more Cobalts than it used to sell Cavaliers (why anyone other than rental companies ever bought a Cavalier is beyond me). And Ford, which could have given us the new Euro Focus built on the same great underpinnings as my Mazda, is still peddling the old Focus, lightly facelifted, here. As a result they're eating their competitors' dust.
Sad.
Ford is suffering not only because it has built vehicles that have been substandard but also becasue it is burdened with retirement costs that other manufacuterers don't have. This makes it ever more important to build and sell cars that the market demands.
Although the Explorer sales have waned, they are still of significant importance to Ford's bottom line and the remodel was neccessary and money well spent. Ford adressed the issues that needed to be addressed like the cheap plastic interior.
Ford has a tendancy to drag their feet compared to Honda who seem to pull farther and farther ahead. Ford should have introduced the 3.5L with the otherwise competent 500 and should not be suprised at the negative press concerning its power. Such decisions are assinine. Also, in the ever important small car market (now that fuel prices are at the center of attention) why is the Focus still on the old platform)? Half-hearted efforts reap half-hearted results (I could easily suppliment other words).
Ford is in a zero-error position and can not afford another mistake. I believe that they have good platform and good engines and that management needs to make good decisions. If so, Ford can be saved.
Ford would do much better I think knocking $2,000 of the MSRP and only offering a $500 rebate.
Mark
Very well stated!
There is no excuse for not bringing over the "new" Focus sooner.
There is an Ford Employee board on the web. They report Ford Explorer sales down 4% taking into consideration the Sport trac issues.....
Due to Edmunds rules of use...I can't give you the board address.
Sales down 22%---
Ahh, but the margin in the fully depreciated Taurus platform is much higher than in the newly acquired 500 (S-80) platform, so I'm not sure that sales converted over to 500's will make Bill as much money.
Secondly, the redesign of the Explorer was begun over 5 years ago, back when you couldn't miss with that truck. Who knew gas prices would send the whole segment into a tailspin. GM didn't know, obviously. Sadly, this is like the best Explorer yet, and considerably better than the one it replaces, and nobody cares.
It may be mechanically, but they blew it on the redesign. Not distinctive enough! IMHO!!