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With Ford's history of up and down and not being able to keep things on the right track over the past, what, 40+ (or longer) years, I'm OK with not having an engineer at the top, as well as folks who aren't lifers at Ford who have learned to work the way it's always been done. I think it's time for a change that they can hopefully make stick. Engineers are good at engineering things, but they aren't necessarily the best at getting teams to work together for the best of the company. You don't have to have an engineering degree to do that. Signed, An Engineer

And again, who exactly is going to buy all these EVs? Obviously you can't ignore the segment, but EV sales history to date does not give me confidence that I should bet the company's future on EVs. They've been "the future that's going to take over next year" for the last 10 years. Yes invest in them enough that you're not caught flat footed if they do eventually take off, but by all means keep pumping resources and talent into ICE programs because that's what's going to pay the bills and dividends for the next several CEO cycles.

Jim Hackett's plans are now a dumpster fire, the only way he can get 10% return is to kill a lot of Ford's production, he is sweating on Mexico being Ford's salvation and maybe it will be but I have a feeling that the three pillars of Jim Hackett's plans for Ford's future may be "dry wells" that require ongoing funding. Mobility is a giant loss maker, Autonomous Vehicles have referred to commercial applications, BEVs are being marketed as a lifestyle choice with a high premium attached, that is both self limiting and a defensive play. So once all the money is spent on electrification, the only BEVs are MME, Mid-sized crossovers, BEV F150, and Rivkah based SUV, all way more expensive than MME. Sorry, I just see Ford as it's always been relying on F Series and full sized SUVs to bring in the cash and everything else barely covering development and manufacturing costs. The BEVs will be there but don't expect them to add much to the bottom line. It is my understanding that Hackett's plans originated as a wish list that Bill Ford want Fields to execute so that's why Hackett will not be moved on by the board, Bill Ford wants this but it makes no business sense today........

Damn man, why did you have to say you're an engineer? I can't like you out of principle now! ?

The XLT interior update is not the XLT Sport Appearance Package which will be added for 2021MY. The XLT interior upgrade will be made and be in production within the next 2 months.

Maybe someone less enamoured with mobility and connectivity, the equivalent of betamax in engineering terms. There is no doubt about Ford's financial commitment to new technologies, it's their inability to match competitors that weighs heavily on my mind, I have no problems with all products that have or will arrive up to year's end as they were started under Fields, but Hackett will claim them as his own (changing C-Max to MME was right move). The biggest concern is that Ford is quite happy to continue pushing the conversation to the right with more and more expensive Ford vehicles with even higher priced Lincoln's above them. The critical mistake here is testing the patience of Ford's buyers, some will pay any price but equally, many buyers will reach a price threshold which they will not pass and sadly, Jim Hackett, Bill Ford and all the rest don't see it coming, there is no contingency with "Commit to and Win", there's no coming back financially if you're wrong

https://www.automotivetouchup.com/touch-up-paint/ford/2021/all-models/ Sort by model... enjoy! Note: Many of the example color swatches are WAY off, so just use as a reference for the 2021 color names and codes.

You can read it that way. You could also read it that Subordinates were not giving him the truth about launch readiness Superiors over-rode his warnings about launch readiness and then forced scheduled launches anyway Hinrich was well respected in the industry press, unlike Farley. The group of middle level management retirees that I exchange mail with have already given Farley a "vote of no confidence" based on his total lack of experience in vehicle launches.

I just think it’s funny that most of the doubters think Ford’s solution was to keep making sedans. When was the last time Ford generated a significant amount of profit from a sedan?

I’ll buy any option that gets rid of all the chrome.

Sorry to be such a Downard here but I think ordinary buyers are being lost in Jim Hackett's plans The EV C-Max for one could have just as easily morphed into several C2 based products that arguably reach more Ford and Lincoln buyers today than in three or four years time. Imagine having BEV Escape/ Corsair and Edge/ Nautilus by year's end instead of just MME. These guys have such a narrow focus on high end buyers that they're missing everyday opportunity Either that or their BEVs are just too damned expensive to mass produce.

No "wish list." From what I can piece together, Bill's main directive to Hackett was to "commit to and win" segments. It's true that Bill and Hackett both have been pushing for an aggressive rethinking of the way that processes play out, but the *astounding* product cadence we're coming in to will be what history remembers of Jim's work. "Commit to and win." I'm beyond happy with what we have coming. The Fields debacle could have been disastrous, and it was Jim's leadership that brought that back from the brink. It hasn't been perfect, but I can't imagine who could have done it better.

Ford's showroom is going to look pretty different this time next year, it's about time that buyers got something different and desirable vehicles that sales staff can actually sell to buyers....a little less vanilla

getting carried away with packages again...too many IMO, we cant stock too much as we had to have examples of all 172 2019 Transit configurations on the ground to appese everyone as we have to have one of each...and this year they added All wheel drive.....not sure we have room for 100 or so Explorer configurations as well...

Same play, different day. If management new they had problems with the Explorer launch why did they let it happen. All this does is piss of the customer, bring more bad press to the company and they are all right with this? Haste makes waste, and this is just another example of it.

**cue Peter de Lorenzo's doom and gloom Ford article rehashing his absolute hatred for Jim Farley in 3-2-1.........

Per yesterday's FDNB (Fleet Distribution News Bulletin), the following scheduling and production timetable has been released for the 2021MY Lincoln Aviator. 04/03/2020 - 2020MY Fleet Final Order Due Date 04/23/2020 - 2020MY Last Day to Spec Change 07/19/2020 - 2020MY Balance Out Date 04/13/2020 - 2021MY Order Bank Open Date 05/14/2020 - 2021MY Scheduling Begins 07/27/2020 - 2021MY Job #1 Date The 2021 Lincoln Aviator Order Guide will be available on or about 04/13/2020 when the 2021MY Order Bank opens and will be uploaded to the Order Guides Section as soon as it is available.

Or put fresh ones on when they got to the trail

Ha ha...you should have gone to school with them! Like the time I came back to the apartment to find my room mate making toast in the oven. He didn't think of using the toaster. ? The dude is probably the smartest person I've even met, but wow. Don't get me started on the room mate before him... I credit the common sense to growing up in the sticks. It seems more common to us country folk.

I can't hate you. You’re one of the few I know that has any common sense.

LOL! Well, technically, I'm an engineer by degree, but software developer by trade. Wait, my title is Software Engineer, so I guess that does make me an engineer. Dammit! Please don't hate me!

And the 1 that hasn't been shown is coming from the plant with the best launch team in the company as far as I'm concerned.

You realize of course, Farley has a boss. He goes through periodic performance reviews. His work is being monitored, closely, by the Board of Directors. He would have been fired years ago if he was as bad as DeLorenzo says. And as pointed out elsewhere, DeLorenzo had a consulting contract with Ford that Farley terminated. Kind of explains things, doesn't it.

Simply put, DeLorenzo breadline got cut off by Ford and he's pissed at him. Guess who did it? https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2019/06/19/ford-executive-jim-farley-toyota/1299871001/

As a Ford loyalist it is painful to watch this play out and much of this blame should be directed at Bill Ford. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to see the similarities between Ford Motor Company and the Lions-both run by people that by all accounts are in over their head and going in the opposite direction of where they need to be. How the hell do the Lions go 9-7-fire their coach because it was not good enough and then two short years later win 3 games and the coach/GM keeps their jobs. Same story here with Hackett-and while I agree now might not be the time to make changes at the top, if this continues it needs to happen. And the sad part is, Ford's senior management team seems willfully un-prepared and over-matched. I would feel differently if Mark Reuss was on the bench instead of Farley. Hate having the top 2 spots being run by sales/marketing guys instead of someone with a manufacturing/engineering background.

The reality is that Ford identified the issues with the Explorer as a major issue. That's not an "echo chamber": The Explorer arguable cost Joe Hinrichs his job. Enough of the excuse making and excusing of the reality of the failure committed by Ford on the Explorer. As far as I'm concerned, Hackett's tail should have been on the line. It's on his watch that Ford has failed to deliver what he himself promised: Ford damn well didn't "turn the corner toward a really bright future" and I don't see Hackett paying any measurable price for his failure.

Either way, Bill need to start looking for a new CEO. You could say that Farley's new job is a test to see if he is "up to the challenge" ! Hinrichs retirement could be self-imposed. Maybe he did not like what he saw coming and decide to bail before the "sh!t hits the fan" ! Related to that statement, a father of a friend of a friend is high up in Ford management (one step below VP ?). He can't wait until he finishes his current "contract" (about 1 year) and can retire. He has already told his bosses not to bother with offering a promotion (likely to VP), he wants to retire.

I can see how that would suck from a dealers perspective, but for ford and customers it’s nice to have packages like these, especially on the appearance packages. They probably barely cost ford anything yet they can charge several thousand for them. The customer gets more choices and that’s always good too. I’ve added the sport appearance package on probably 90% of new fords that I’ve bought. The other 10% didn’t offer it as an option.

Troll troll troll your boat......

Battery supply is the new oil, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if OPEC started investing heavily in battery production to cover any future losses from reduced sales of oil products. Fords roll out of BEVs is deliberate and governed by battery supply butbunlike Tesla it also has strong profits from ICE sales to carry it through.

I presume size wise its most likely similar to the Wrangler 2 door...

Won't disappoint.?

I've seen the 2 and 4 door bodies side by side and the 2 door is tiny. Not that the 4 door is gigantic (somewhere between Escape and Edge if I had to guess) but I think the 2 door Bronco may end up being the smallest SUV in the lineup

This is nothing new.

VERY CURIOUS

Nothing in there adresses the problem with current product...

I think the 2 door looks better. Glad Ford will offer both.

Had my daughters done today, in & out in 45 minutes. Nice of them to run it through the car wash too. HRG

Now with 2 doors! https://www.bronco6g.com/2-door-2021-bronco-prototype-makes-grand-first-appearance-bombing-through-snow-and-catching-air/?fbclid=IwAR1XsY-JZeSIS_GOXFShro2mOGZR32b9P3HD72Ds4cjaLSDWlClpy_Zkmv8

I love this guy's videos

Different plants. Even though the whole plant was retooled and the body changed to aluminum, the basic platform wasn't changed much. But probably the biggest difference is they had two plants so production continued at one plant while the other one was retooled and vice versa. So they could take a little extra time if needed. By contrast once they started the conversion Explorer production was 0 so there was far more pressure to get it up and running quickly.

Well wasn't that nice of Hackett to bring the entire "team" in for the blame. I hope he included himself in that. How did the F-15O conversion go when they went to aluminum? Seems like that went fairly well and that was as difficult I would think as the Explorer launch. What was different? Well Hackett wasn't at the top then. And just maybe the focus wasn't on..."just get it done" but rather .."Let's get this right". How about it you Ford inside guys? Any validity to that? I have to say I wasn't at all surprised at this move, but to me it raises a lot of questions. Who set up the structure giving Hinrichs such a broad span of control? I know that flat organization charts are the norm today but was that part of the problem? And Farley? If I recall Bill Ford couldn't wait to hire him from Toyota as he was the best marketing guy in the world when it came to cars. Well we know how successful Ford has been selling cars. And now, Farley is the best thing since canned beer. So we have a non engineer at the top, and a non engineer in the next slot responsible for such things as building vehicles. Could get interesting.

Just read that Hackett says the rocky Explorer launch was not why Joe "retired." Hackett says the entire management team is responsible for the problematic Explorer launch. Still, you don't "retire" somebody if they're doing their job. Something else is likely going on.

My comments to friends was that, although I'm not convinced he is entirely the issue, this is a start & better than not doing anything.

I agree. They definitely need to keep it fresh. Though nice as-is, they can't let Navi (and Expy) languish like they did for a decade.

I cannot get past the front wheel drive platform and subsequent torque steer.

Based on multi-year results like this, why even bother selling outside of NA? Just to increase wheel count? https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2020/02/04/ford-profit-sharing-2020-checks-bonus/4644019002/ HRG

If you take out the 1 time charges for restructuring and pensions in 3rd and 4th qtr it doesn't look all that bad to me. Revenue was only down 5% with the Explorer/Aviator launch issues and Escape/Corsair ramp up and no Focus, Cmax or Fiesta and Fusion on life support. I agree they need to take a bigger interest in quality. I think they've been trying to skate by hoping quality would be ok while diverting funds to new projects. Hopefully that gets fixed now.