Dear Mr. Ford (a modest proposal)

I intended this to be in my letter to Ford should the person who was telling me to put up or shut up in the Mustang NG live up to her end and get me a meaningful contact name and address.

If this car were made in a 2 door, I'd buy one right away... as a four door I might have to think about it bit. I would certainly love to drop the drive train into my maverick :)

While I dont agree that Ford hasnt produced anything most people might want, I think Mr Stern has hit the nail on the head.

Ford is trumpeting the relationship with Volvo engineering as a door opener to the Left Coast crowd. And that's fine and a little overdue.

But looking at the Fairlane Line styling against the current mid-size Fusion offering shows where some tastes might split.

- If I were buying it would be the Milan, for impression of Front-End styling, alone.

- and I like Volvo styling, but I dont like the Fusion. I'll take the 'strayan offering!

I understand Ford's dilemma .. just look at those who think Chrysler's styling is good looking. I dont!

Surely, though, there's a middle ground.

By the way... "Fordvehicles.com" should have a selection intro.... one path would be "Twentysomething Viewer", the other "Adult Viewer"

As it is, what an overglitzed, empty of meaningful content, PIECE OF SHIT!

"Daniel J. Stern" wrote:

Ooops! Falcon, not Fairlane!

Better qualify your statements; they may bring it over with a $60K price tag :/

I would seriously consider a GTO if it weren't so expensive...

nate

Dang... i should do my research before I jump on the bandwagon!

Daniel.... look at those MSRP's on there.

The Fairlane runs about 40,000 USD to start.

Sure br> Dear Mr. Ford:

The styling was decent...but wow! I don't know what the SVT guys have been doing in the US, but this was awesome! I doubt I'd ever buy one, purely on price, but I've dreamed of a Nissan Skyline coming to the US for years. Same for this car, very nice. And what impresses me the most are the (seemingly) small details in the interior that look fabulous. niiiicccce.

Decades ago, Ford used to have the occasional display car in the lobby of the NAAO building and Ford World Headquarters. The ones from Australia were stunning then too and I pondered why the hell they were never seen in America. They did not get it then and they won't now so we won't either.

"Daniel J. Stern" wrote in part:

: Dear Mr. Ford: : : I see you're having tough times lately. It sounds as if you realise : this is mostly because people don't want to buy the cars you've got on : offer. That new Ford Five Hundred sedan, and its Lincoln and Mercury : rebadged versions, are total sales flops for you, which has got to be : tough to stomach.

Uh, there is NO Lincoln version of the Five Hundred on the market at this time.

No wonder it's a flop.

Sigh.

john cline ii, who notes in passing the Zephyr (is that what you were thinking?) JUST came out, and is based on the Mazda6 platform, as is the Fusion/Milan...

I guess its too much trouble for them to state whether its a front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, or all wheel drive, which would make all the difference to me. I just bought a Subaru WRX about 6 months ago because not only does it have power, it can put it to the ground, even in the wet. I might even be able to drive it in the snow, too...

But no matter - the car would not be a moneymaker here in the US. The vast majority of people don't give a hang about a sports car any more. They buy SUVs. If they don't buy SUVs, then they're buying something really fuel efficient and cheap so that they can drive it most of the time, and be able to hang onto their SUVs for the things that they _need_ SUVs for, including the "status" function.

Dave Head

You've just nailed a big part of Ford's problem: They've painted themselves into the corner with decades of mediocre-to-crappy products, to such a degree that they could offer a brilliantly-engineered, flawlessly-built car, a true delight to drive that would run perfectly for over a decade, and the instant reaction from North Americans would still be "That much?! For a FORD?!!".

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. They all look pretty much alike to me.

the sad part is, back in the mid 80's they were truly leading the american manufacturers. 5 of the top 10 best sellers were fords, quality was rising rapidly, and products such as the Tarus and then Explorer were ground-breaking and class-leading.

Mr. Ford had a LONG way to go when he took over from Ghosn, and I'm both encouraged and excited by what they're doing. Personally, I like the Five Hundred, and I'm just about in lust with the Fusion. I drive a Focus, but if TODAY I had to replace it, it wouldn't be with another Focus... I'd want something a bit more refined. Honestly, the Cobalt is a heck of a car, but I'd probably go for a Mazda 3.

That being said, Ford still HAS a long way to go. In a word - unfocused. Right now, they're in the 'fix the product' stage, and that means replacing products into existing niches. You can see from their concepts they're getting ready to expand into new niches or overhaul what they have (the Edge), but there's only so much work a staff can go, and I get the distinct feeling that the SVT staff are idleing right now.

Maybe more later on my thoughts for product placement

(and, yes, Ford, I would move to detroit for a product planning job and a high 6-figure salary! :)) jp

You are certainly entitled to you own opinion, but unless you are buying GM products, Ford sells more to vehicles to more buyers of its vehicles then the number of buyers buy the brand you buy. Apparently not as many buyers agree with your assessment. LOL

mike hunt

The very first Mercury Milan was sold to the owner of a 2002 Camry. His tranny went out with 62K on the clock. He and he and his car were taken off the interstate to the local Toyota dealership. I was a dual store, Toyota and Lincoln Mercury. The salesman tried to sell him another Camry but after he saw, drove and priced the top of the line Milan, he drove home in the Milan. ;)

mike hunt

Ford did bring over an Aussi car, a two seat convertible and sold it as a Mercury Capri, it was a piece of crap.

mike hunt

That reads like a GWB quote. :o

My guess is that Ford probably sells 100% of the vehicles it sells to buyers of its vehicles, don't you think?

Don't know what kind of cars Dan buys but my guess is the math is pretty much the same. (Or were you trying to say something different)

LOL

Yup, LOL

Falcons are RWD.

That did come out a bit convoluted didn't it. ;)

The fact is Ford sells more vehicles to more buyers then there are buyers of any other brand, including the one he buys, unless he buys from GM. He is entitled to his opinion but obviously it is that of a minority since there are many buyers who disagree with his assessment of Ford vehicles."

mike hunt