What about the future of Ford Inc??

mopowah

C'mon, they are only unsafe if you get into an accident. :P

mschmal

Check out the crash test results for the Honda Civic.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=603

Its a GOLD MEDAL WINNER. No SUVs were gold medal winners.

The crash test simulates SUV on car carnage.

ONLY POORLY DESIGNED cars are unsafe.

Mark

dieselone

While I agree that a small car is not automatically unsafe, still, physics dictate that in a head on collision between a Civic and a Suburban, I'll take my chances in the Suburban.

That said, I choose the opposite if I was going to be hitting a stationary object, such as a tree.

nitromax

The crash test simulates SUV on car carnage.

From the article:

Important: Frontal crash test ratings can be compared only among vehicles of similar weight.

Where did you read that it simulaed SUV on car carnage?

turboshadow

While your idea sounds good, but did you know Chuck that 30% of the domestic drilled oil, which doesn't sound like alot goes on the open market for sale ?

I actually thought it was more than 30%.

The oil companies would be foolish to sell it domestically if they can get more on the open market. If you were selling widgets, would you sell them in the US if someone from, say, Japan was willing to pay more? I wouldn't.

Turboshadow

jmiller1984

Of course the sheer bulk of a Suburban ensures it will win any duel against a subcompact, but where does it end? A dump truck will always take out a Suburban, and on it goes. So should we all be driving tanks!?!

We all know the long list of problems associated with our nation's obsession with everything huge and our addiction to fossil fuels, but it seems inevitable to me that we follow a consumer-driven vehicle downsizing coincidental with real improvements in fuel efficiency. As far as I can tell, that's happening right now. People aren't going to abandon their unnecessarily large vehicles overnight, but many are making the switch and many more will do so soon. Until then, those of us who got the message earlier will must keep any eye out for lumbering SUVs and monster trucks. We'll all be much safer when their numbers are really cut... and maybe, just maybe we can start forming a new obsession based on style, performance, and efficiency. It's a dream.

pnewby

Unfortunately the gas prices aren't doing much about the "most" dangerous commercial vehicles. It's not really possible to be safe in a small car while sharing the road with a monster semi. While I will readily agree, some of the safest drivers on the road are truckers, some of the biggest nuts and safety hazards are also truckers. I quit using CBs a few years ago because it was a little too scary to hear some of the chatter from the truckers. Ever hear 2 truckers conspire to force a "four wheeler" off the highway because they didn't like his or her looks, or bumper stickers on the car? Any ideas on this?

chuck1

I live in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Gas prices now re at $3.00/gal except at Costco Member Warehouse. They are at $2.87

mariner7

I don't disagree with that, chuck, however, if the greenies would let us drill here in the USA, we wouldn't have to buy crude from the Arabs.

Absolutely ridiculous statement! All the oil in Alaska, if Congress gives the OK to get it out of the ground, satisfies a miniscule % of our oil needs. Why do you think there's no offshore drilling off the coasts of FL and CA? Because there's a price for everything, and the tourism industries and the oceanfront real estate industries in those two states are worth much more than any conceivable oil that might be discovered there!

I have no problem with 30%, or any %, of domestic oil going into the open market. Open markets make for an efficient system, that's the idea behind capitalism. Ideally under that system, we have access to oil, or any other commodity, from anywhere in the world. If we want access to foreign commodities, then of course, they should have access to ours!

nippononly

My prices here shot up another dime since Monday, and now I'm at $3/gallon too. :-(

There are lots of ways to get higher gas mileage, little cars like the Fiesta are just one, but that car is supposed to be pretty fun from what the European reviewers say, so why not bring it here, Ford? What kind of investment would that take? Fairly little, and doing it now would be getting in on the cusp, rather than being a soggy second-run when you finally bring it over three years from now (at which point the current model will be four years old already).

marsha7

truckers were, almost to a man (or woman), the best and safest drivers on the road, and it was the passenger 4-wheelers that were the idiots...

In the last few years, I have noticed a lot, and I mean a lot, of truckers who tailgate at 60-70 mph, almost always right behind a Miata or something else tiny...if the car ever slams on its brakes, the truck will squash it like a bug, and the folks inside will be lucky to have pieces remaining larger than a quart of milk...

euphonium

In addition when a full size sedan hits a compact headon. The sedan usually penetrates the cabin of the compact, and decapitates passengers in the front seats. What price Safety? Driving a small car is like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

chuck1959

My prices here shot up another dime since Monday, and now I'm at $3/gallon too.

Here in Houston, the current price...2:00pm CST for unleaded I get at my grocery store (before the 3 cents discount I get for having the "card") is 2.87. This morning 8:00 am CST it was 2.81! Yesterday afternoon it was 2.71. I have a 12 gallon tank, now I fill up at a half a tank. At this point the amount for a half a tank is as much as I used to pay to completely fill it up from empty!

nippononly

"Driving a small car is like bringing a knife to a gun fight."

Some would say that characterizing driving as a gun fight is perhaps the biggest thing wrong with peoples' driving habits in America. ;-)

lweiss

I was thinking that to be really safe, I would try to buy one of the Stryker vehicles used by the US Army. Sure maybe a gas hog (diesel hog?), a little hard to park in tight spaces, but plenty of room inside, very safe in a crash (probably wouldn't even notice if I hit something, I would just drive over it!) and most importantly, I would get R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

rockylee

LOL....I don't want the Trophy Wife in her H2 on her Cell phone to run me over like a speed bump and keep going.

Rocky

rockylee

I agree from a buisness perspective. Many americans are complaining that we don't have enough oil, and all I'm doing is making it clear the oil company's are selling 30% (which might be more if you have another source, my source said 30%) on the open market.

So yeah I agree with you, but if they wanna blame someone, then let em' blame the free market that they love so much.

Rocky

akenaten

Ummm...what about Ford?

rockylee

exactly what about Ford ? They should be atleasted mentioned. They have plants closing and a rumor of a new one being built in the U.S.

Rocky

euphonium

What you might get is F E A R, never Respect.

Now, would you rather be feared or respected?

euphonium

"Trophy wife"? There is nothing wrong with a younger wife.

I married the best over 51 years ago and she's worth all the Trophies in the universe.

So, the old man marries a lady half his age because he's yearning for "youth" and she's appreciating "security". IMO that's better than having a mistress on a mattress.

nippononly

what's this? You have heard a rumor that Ford is building a plant in the U.S.? They are closing plants that produce Windstars and Explorers - good riddance. I heard one of those plants is super-old too - built in like 1925. Good idea to cut the chaff once in a while...

rockylee

Agree I respect your morales and honesty

Rocky

rockylee

They are and I'll post it again, hold on

Rocky

rockylee

nippononly,

Here ya go pal...

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/AUTO01/604160341/- - 1148/AUTO01

Rocky :shades:

nippononly

Ohhh, I thought you meant in the U.S. I am quite sure that plant will be in Mexico. The UAW has been such a pain in the patootie recently, why would Ford get itself into more of that with a new factory on "American" soil? They will have enough trouble future trouble with the plants that remain open here, I am sure.

rockylee

Well if they go to the work in teams concept it might just prove to be worth it.

The UAW will want to remain flexible to keep unionized labor here in the states. They also know they are going to have to become more competitive and flexible.

Rocky

nvbanker

I wouldn't worry, the
Governator would make some kind of emergency measure available to you BUT, we get 100% of our Las Vegas gasoline from you, so........?

imidazol97

but the car looks so bad! It's hood looks, welllll, odd. It looks like they put the headlight son the wrong end of the car; turn it around and it looks better.

chuck1

"but the car looks so bad! It's hood"

Look at the new Civic. That windshield is HUGE. Yet, in Southern California I see many, many new ones......

pnewby

:shades: But, but but, you can't judge "normal" by what you see in Southern California. (even if San Diego looks like paradise)

chuck1

Maybe,
But the fact of the matter is that most car companies have design offices here in So Cal.

And in San Diego it's 72 degrees all the time!

nvbanker

All true - but it's not NORMAL there, it's way too nice.

chuck1

"it's way too nice."

I dunno--lived here all my life. Now home to 37 million people. Lots of congestion. I guess in between mud slides, earthquakes,wild fires, bad jury verdicts,torrential rains, and riots not a bad place to live!

I'll just sit here in my house that has tripled in value..... :confuse:

john_324

Anyone read the edmunds.com "family car shoot-out" review?

While the Ford Fusion came in last, reading the review, it's clear one of the big reasons is that it doesn't seem to aspire to be a true mid-market family car. The editors all thought it was the most fun to drive, and felt the most European. In fact, a criticism was that the car needed a manual transmission to really match the car's character.

To me, this is exactly the way the Fusion should be. In the near future, Ford is not likely to be able to out-Camry the Camry (the winner of the comparo), so why waste time trying?

Seems just a little massaging could make the Fusion into the "BMW for the masses." Following up on the Mustang, it would be a pretty cool way for Ford to show it's serious about cars again...

bumpy

The main problem the Fusion (and its clones) have is that it can't move very far toward the sporty end of the spectrum without banging into the Mazda6. About the only thing the Fusion has going for it right now is the larger cabin, but the next-gen 6 will address that. Probably the best thing to do with it is to throw CVTs and hybrid drivetrains at it as soon as possible, position it as a "funner" alternative to the Prius and Camry hybrid, and let the hardcore gear rowers go to their Mazda dealer like they're going to do anyway.

john_324

I dunno...while the 6 is a great car, I don't care for the dull, dated styling. Fusion looks much crisper and Euro to my eyes (with the exception of the taillights). Ford could easily give the Fusion bigger engine options to distinguish it from the 6...

chuck1

While the Fusion is an OK styled car, the new '07 Camry just leaped over everyone in this segment. Ford had a chance to do this with the new Explorer, and chose instead to do a redesigned that is hard to tell apart from the model it replaces.

mopowah

I think that is a highly subjective opinion. While, I would say that the new Camry is definitely more polarizing than previous designs, I still think it's ugly. And it seems to be too big for a mid-sized car. To each their own.

chuck1

"I still think it's ugly."

They are going to sell train loads of these "ugly things"....

carguy58

At least it looks halfway pleasing now. The 02-06 Camry's were bland, bland, and bland. The 02-04 the styling was so whitebread forget about it. The 05 refresh did improve its styling but still too whitebread for my tastes. The 95-96 Camry is still pretty good looking. The 97-01 Camry is pretty inoffensive. Toyota did refresh the 97-01 for the 2000 model year. The 2000-2001 have a slighly sportier appeaence than the 97-99 Camry's but its still conservative. To me Toyota could have took the styling more futher with the 07 model. The 02 Camry's I still don't get why they styled that car the way they did. The 02 Camry lacked Japanese styling DNA in my opinion. Toyota went from the 92 Camry that looked totally Japanese to a generic 02 Camry design.

About the size of the Camry it increases each time Toyota releases a new Camry. I think Toyota also improved the interior in the new Camry from the 06 model in terms of quality of interior materials used. The interior was seen as a weakness in the 02-06 model. Toyota also improved the handling of the 07 Camry from the 06 model from what I read on Detroitnews.com. In my opinion the current Camry even though its still bland for my tastes its the best styled Camry since generation 3(92-96.)

savetheland

Yes, new Camry is better looking than Honda Accord. But still it looks like "asian" car.

carguy58

"Yes, new Camry is better looking than Honda Accord. But still it looks like "asian" car."

It supposed to look like a Japanese Car because Toyota is a Japanese Company. Look what happened when Honda "americanized" the 03 Accord with the Buick back end. Sales of the Accord have backslid every year since because of the styling of the 03 Accord. Even a whole new back end for the 06 Accord aren't saving falling Accord sales.

imidazol97

>Honda "americanized" the 03 Accord with the Buick back end.

That wasn't (isn't) a Buick rear end. They had style to them. Accord's just looked like it backed into a loading dock or some other good descriptions.

lweiss

Whatever you think of the Camry (and I have only owned one, a 1989 model), it is a brilliant product for Toyota. You can get the "stripped down" model (not that stripped down really) for under $20K with good mileage for a car of this size (important in today's market), and you can go all the way to the XLE with 268hp and every conceivable option that make people consider it instead of $30k+ cars. Add to this the legendary Toyota reliability, good dealer experiences, and low depreciation rates and you have a model that Ford, GM, and every other company would kill for. Sales figures do not lie. Ford should only be so lucky.

nvbanker

"Ford should only be so lucky."

Or, so smart! Ford had the finest sedan on the market in 86 with the world - changing Taurus. That name had enormous brand equity - Ford let it erode to a level where the name was a joke. The Taurus should have never been allowed to become what it is today. Not that it's a horrible car, it isn't. I owned an 05 briefly, and it's quite decent, in a GM sort of way. But the little things have been cheapened and decontented so much that instead of being class leading, it has no class at all. Drum brakes in the rear, unsupportive squishy seats, ho hum materials used in the interior. The Taurus could have been the American Camry, but Ford let it get old..... Sad story.

fintail

The Taurus' evolution is representive of the abilities and insight of domestic automotive leadership.

euphonium

And who is responsible for the latest Mustang line, Saturn, & F150's?

fintail

A drop of new blood must have got in the system. I sincerely doubt the same people that spearhead competent projects also support incompetents. Or maybe it's those evil unions causing the bad cars, and non-union pseudo-capitalist forces behind the good ones. There's the rub!

Saturn certainly is nothing to brag about at the moment. A fine idea that withered.

Oh yeah, I'm sorry, I criticized people who for whatever reasons have been put in a position of power and authority - my bad.

chuck1

"Not that it's a horrible car,"

I have an '05 Taurus company car. It now has 45,000 miles on it. It's not a great car. The Vulcan V6 is underpowered, gas mpg in the city isn't great at all, the suspension is not up to todays refinement, the seats are some of the worse I have experienced. I can only wait until I get the 500 towards the end of the year. A much better, although boring looking car.....