What is wrong with FORD USA..?

Fords That Could Save Ford Now

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Going up against Japan and Europe, Ford does very well overseas by building cars that people love and buy, with good looks, performance and reliability. So why not here in the US..? What is wrong with FORD USA..?

Reply to
VB Mercon
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I don't know what the hell is wrong with them. They are so bad I just bought another Ford a couple of weeks ago to keep the Mustang and Ranger I had company. Parked it next to the Pontiac and Chevy.

I agree with you that they need to introduce some new models. About the only thing exciting in the whole line is the Mustang.

Reply to
Scott

"Scott" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

There cars don't have to be all 'exciting'... but at least interesting. The excellent Fusion isn't an 'exciting' car, but it's a great value and very competent. It stands up well to the Camry and Accords of the world. The Freestyle is very good too, but it's dull arse boring and I think it's failing because people can get as good a people/cargo mover with someting more interesting from other makers. JP

Reply to
Jon Patrick

I really don't know who is out of touch Ford or me.

I have driven several Ford products in Europe. The last was a plain jane rental Ford Taurus in England ( I don't know what it was badged). It was a completely different car. Stick, plenty of torque, tight suspension, decent seats. There was no comparison to the American Taurus. I imagine the American equivalent would have been the SHO which Ford dropped and when they offered it wanted $6-10K dollars more the that model. All of the manufactures, except BMW, VW and Nissan, selling in the US use the same formula. Fords, GM, DC, Toyota and Honda all seem to "soften up" the ride, detune the handling, offer sticks on only underpowered or specialty models and add lots of gadgets. What do the marketers think we are? Do they think they wouldn't be able to sell a Euro handling car in the US. If I can't afford a well tuned suspension (BMW) then I will choose reliability (Toyota or Honda). I say that owning two Fords at the current time. I would purchase another Ford if they offered a 4 door sedan with stick and European type suspension as a basic model (which they are able to do overseas). The Australian models are interesting but I really don't need 300+ horsepower and a car that stands out.

Howard

Reply to
Howard Nelson

When was that... & what made you think it was a Taurus?

Rob

There was no comparison to the American Taurus. I imagine the

Reply to
trainfan1

You, of course, are correct. The car I rented was a 1999 Mondeo

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In the US it was called theContour. I have rented US Contours of that era and IMO they seemed "tamer"in power and suspension than typical Euro cars.Looking at wiki Ford Contour
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I see that Manual transmisionwas available probably just not in the rental fleet. I have not owned aTaurus or Contour.

The Mondeo seemed like a Taurus to me probably because of the Jelly Bean shape and the narrow UK roads made everything look bigger :).

My Bad Howard

Reply to
Howard Nelson

They did...

They were called Contour & Mystique

(based on the Mondeo)

Reply to
El Bandito

Even the cars that are offered for sale in the US by the Japanese and Europeans are not the same as those they offer in their own countries. The fast majority of Japanese and European cars sold in the US have automatic trannys and more standard equipment. Americans simply do not want standard shift cars. The only Americas that buy standard shift cars are those that buy small cars and can not afford the extra cost of an automatic. Even then only around 15% of buyers buy one with a standard tranny. Ford offered manuals in the Lincoln Marks and the LS and they languished in dealer showrooms. Several times Ford offered some of its European and Austrian cars to American buyers over the years and they too sat in the show rooms. America is not like Europe or Japan and the American drivers are not like the European or Japanese drivers, in their wants and needs.

Reply to
Mike Hunter

I don't need a SUV I don't need a truck I don't need an econobox The reincarnated T-Bird is/was too small for my 6' 2" frame The Mustang is too small for me. The 500 is too corporate blah looking. The family won't ride in anything that looks like a cop car or attracts senior citizens. Lincoln dealers have their heads up their asses, at least the ones I've stopped in to check out. I won't knowingly buy a new car that requires $800+ of labor and the purge / recharge of the A/C system to replace a $25 heater core. Compared to other vehicles Fords always seem underpowered. Factory base sound systems suck. Factory premium sound systems break too often. I bought too many Fords where the sheet metal seemed barely thicker than a Coke can.

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Reply to
Steve Stone

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Gee, they have enough brands (Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Astin-Martin, Range-Rover) that they should be able to market cars to just about everyone.

I think if they import some of these cars, they will sell them. Look what happened when they started to sell the Mondeo in the US as the Contour/Mystique. It was one of the top 10 cars for 2 or 3 years and a Car and Driver 10Best for several years. All with very little advertising.

Look what Ford is doing to the Taurus: It is selling very well to the public at dealers. Unfortuantely for Ford, it is at used Car dealers and at Hertz, because Ford no longer sells the Taurus to the general public (only through Fleet sales).

Ford has to figure out what people will buy and then build it.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

One can still buy a 2006 Taurus. The only manufacture that sells more vehicles annually than Ford is GM Apparently Ford is doing a much better job of building vehicles buyer want to buy than all twenty some of the other brands being sold in the US

mike hunt

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Reply to
Mike Hunter

Considering all manufactures use the same gauge steel, that must the secrete as to how all of Fords vehicles are made to meet a frontal crash standard that is five miles and hour HIGHER than ALL other manufactures vehicles. All other manufactures build to meet the federal standard of 35 MPH front, and 30 rear Ford builds all of its vehicles to a 40 MPH standard for frontal crashes and 35 for rear crashes, with exception of the CV and GM, they are built to a 50 MPH standard, front and rear. ;)

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

AND you may be able to order/buy a 2007 Taurus, almost certainly if you are Canadian.

Rob

Reply to
trainfan1

I don't know about that. Ford is closing the Atlanta plant, the only plant assembling the Taurus. Based on reports I've read Ford will build 2006s until the end of the calendar year when that plant shuts down. I doubt Ford would spend the big bucks needed to certify the car as a 2007 just to build a few thousand copies

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

70,000 to 80,000 2007 models will be built. Final order date for 2006 models was 2/7/06, last production 3/31/06. 2007 production was slated to start 4/3/06. Some other 2007 models started production in May: the Five Hundred, Montego, Escape, Mariner, Freestar, and Focus.

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By JERRY GARRETT - The New York Times - Published: May 7, 2006

FORD has been trying to bury the Taurus, but like the Undead in a zombie movie the car keeps keeps rising from the grave.

The euthanasia process has been made more difficult by the fact that the Taurus, which was expected to be comatose by now, is still showing up for work. Is it possible that this old warhorse remains Ford's best-selling passenger car?

"I guess it is," said George Pipas, a company spokesman, when asked if the Taurus's estimated 71,000 sales in the first four months of 2006 meant that it was still the most popular Ford car.

What's more, the Taurus has been available only to fleet customers, including rental agencies, since Jan. 1. "Taurus has been particularly popular with our business travelers," said Richard Broome, vice president for corporate affairs at Hertz. "It's been a reliable workhorse for us."

Taurus sales totaled 180,000 last year, but only 15 percent went to retail customers. With a sticker price of $21,830 nicely equipped, most appear to have been sold.

"They don't stay on our lots very long either," said Mr. Broome of Hertz, whose company sells used models after they are retired from the rental fleet. Hertz Car Sales now offers 2006 models in the $14,000 to $15,000 range and 2005's for $11,000 to $13,000. Since Hertz had bought the cars at a sizable fleet discount, Mr. Broome said they held their value well.

Ford announced last year that it was discontinuing the Taurus and pulling the plug on the life-support machine: the cars would get no more styling changes, no more advertising or promotional support, no more sales incentives, no more retail customers. But while the Sable died last year, the Taurus soldiers on as a favorite of corporate fleets.

Through the end of April, the car was still being produced at a rate of more than 18,000 a month at an Atlanta-area plant that is on a list of factories to be closed. "We will be on that pace, more or less, at least through the second quarter and into the third quarter," Mr. Pipas said. "After that, it is T.B.D."

This withering away seems an inglorious end for a midsize sedan that was the nation's best-selling car in 1992-96 (the last American-brand model to earn that distinction). The Taurus has now been Ford's sales leader longer than the celebrated Model T.

Through April, total production of the Taurus, which made its debut in

1985 as an '86 model, neared 7.5 million cars, with the Sable adding another 2.1 million. As of April 3, all new Tauruses are called 2007 models.

There are no plans for an '08.

Rob

Reply to
trainfan1

ALSO:

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Rob

Reply to
trainfan1

My assumption that they would sell just a few thousands was apparently wrong. I have been out of the fleet business for two years and had no idea Taurus sales were still that strong. I knew the fleets have always considered the Taurus a very reliable vehicle, with especially low overall operating costs. We serviced Taurus' by the thousands

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

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