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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/15/2020 in all areas

  1. I am skeptical on how fast the BEV transition will take place, but the "if 50% starting now and continuing on" criteria is misleading. That is sort of like saying that if you were walking to the door to leave your house and that if with each step you got half way there, you would never leave the house. When BEVs are fully competitive with ICE in both capability and price their sales will quickly rise to 50%, and then keep rising. They won't stay at 50% for 35 years.
    2 points
  2. That's the most stupid post I've read in a forum for a long time. It takes not even 2 second to google this. Ford competed in Japan just fine for some 20 odd years when it was the top selling non-luxury foreign brand. The reason things ended the way it did has something to do with a guy named Mark Fields (yea whatever happened to that guy eh?) From the time Ford rescued Mazda the first time in 1979 until Ford sold it in 2010, Ford models were sold in a Mazda dealer network called Autorama. The rebadged Mazda and imported Ford together was regularly the best selling foreign brand. In 1995, Ford increased its investment in Mazda to 33.4% enough to gain control of the board. From that point on until 2010 when Ford sold the company, Mazda was basically a Ford division with Ford appointed senior management. Ford was essentially the 5th largest car company in Japan after Toyota, Suzuki, Honda, and Nissan from 1995 to 2010. Mazda ran into financial trouble in early 1990s when it had grand vision of competing with Toyota by launching a whole bunch of quasi luxury brands (some never got off the ground like Amati in the US). By 1995, Mazda needed another rescue so Ford stepped in with cash, increased its investment to 33.4% and took management control. Henry Wallace was the first Ford appointed CEO of Mazda. Mazda was floundering in Japan after the economic bubble melted in Japan and it had too many domestic brands: Mazda, Ford, efini, Eunos, and Autozam. Wallace decided to streamline the operation and focus on the Mazda and Ford brands and cut efini, Eunos, and Autozam. Mark Fields took over as Mazda CEO in 1999 and he made a couple more changes. He got rid of the commercial truck and pickup business and decided it made more sense to focus on singular Mazda brand in Japan so he ended the rebadged Ford models. At the time, that made sense because Mazda was basically a Ford division and no one envisioned Ford selling Mazda. It was the crown jewel of Ford's international portfolio. Until that point, Ford had a full line up of both domestically produced and imported cars for sale in Japan. Import: Mondeo, Taurus, Mustang, Explorer Domestic: Festiva (Aspire), Laser, Telstar, Econovan, Freda (Escape was in final development and would come later in 2001 but the decision to gut the Ford brand was already made) After Fields decision to gut the domestic Ford line up, Fiesta and Focus were brought in but they were never as popular. And so overtime, the Ford brand withered and became somewhat irrelevant in Japan. And unlike the Germans, Ford was and still is a mainstream brand in Japan. So unlike VW, which can subsidize selling Golf from profit generated by Porsche and Audi, Ford was sink or swim on selling Fiesta and Focus. It was more or less achieve similar level of success as PSA which was in the same boat.
    2 points
  3. I can vouch for that. My daily driver is a 26 year old F-150.
    2 points
  4. bbf2530, you have been of tremendous help. Thank You. Went with the SanDisk Portable drive that I referenced above. I take it that I have to format it in Fat32? I will use the Mac software I have to copy it all over. I will get back to you next week and let you know if it works and if I have any questions. Thak you again
    1 point
  5. I think investors are understanding of the current situation. I know I am. I just listened to yesterday's annual meeting and noticed the yearly proposal to do away with Class B shares (which favors the Ford family) was defeated 65% vs. 35%.
    1 point
  6. Maybe Ford will have a 4th of July Independance Day reveal for the 2021 F-150. What's more patriotic than a new F-Series!
    1 point
  7. Ditto! well said.
    1 point
  8. It is that very "family intangible" that draws me to the company as an enthusiast, admirer, and share holder. Sure, I could "enhance my portfolio" by getting a better performing stock, I could be enjoying a Camaro, a Cadillac and a Chevy 1500 as my current vehicles, but their is no admiration to be had at GM, FCA et al.... I'll stick with Ford. Great story!
    1 point
  9. I've had this new Escape hybrid for a month now and just topped up the tank. We drove 270 miles on exactly 5.5 gallons of fuel that comes out to 49.1mpg. Driving was mostly urban with a little highway. No interstate or toll roads. Pretty impressive. Ford has winner here. Escape hybrids are in short supply here in Central FL and sell briskly. With the new RAV 4 facing a class action suit over fuel tank issues, I sure hope Ford can produce more hybrids and plugins this time around. A lot more. So no issues so far. My only grumblings are no one touch up on driver window, no auto dimming mirror, no fog lights, and no side mirror turn signals on a $33,000 vehicle. IMO, the $3,500 premium package should have included at least 2 of the 4 deductions. Other than that, this vehicle offers real value and Ford hit a home run. Well thought out vehicle. Good job Ford.
    1 point
  10. Interior Auto dim mirror was included on the Escape with the safe and security package on 2018/2019 it was removed from the 2020 when the equipment became standard. Originally the standard copilot 360 was going to include Rain sensing wipers and interior autodim mirror. They were pulled for cost reduction. Just like they pulled the auto up window, Ford loves to decontent features previous models had. If you wanted to add the mirror the plug for it might be in the harness already, (Sometimes harness are common sometimes they are specific) would need to pull down the cover and see if it is in there. If it is then just get one from a totaled titanium plug it in, it’s a 5 min install. If it’s not it’s going to be running wires etc, ford offers one as an OEM accessory with install kit as well. Autodim mirrors are great, the exterior driver side makes it even better to cut the glare.
    1 point
  11. Actually I think that was Ford...Ok they looked into it, but didn't purse it https://jalopnik.com/how-volvo-once-used-a-catalyst-coated-radiator-to-remov-1831438959
    1 point
  12. Correct. They cut their third shift in the last months of 2019 Escape production.
    1 point
  13. Only operating on two shifts since new Escape launch
    1 point
  14. Louisville is making close to 300K vehicles annually including Escape and Corsair. I thought it was close to capacity.
    1 point
  15. The tailgate on our Flex (SE) is the only rust through so far. I’ve been tempted to replace it with a higher trim with the aluminum panel.
    1 point
  16. Be careful what you wish for! 20 years ago I lived in a such a great place. Small government, low taxes, a deep RED state that was very much libertarian. The state bragged about all the Californians moving here because we were such a great place and they were going to spend all their money on our businesses. There was one year when nearly 80,000 moves were reported from California. Now our state is the bluest of blue, high tax, vast amounts of government overreach. They nearly regulated the oil and gas industry to death. Housing has become un-affordable, traffic is a nightmare, insurance rates are skyrocketing, people are anti-liberty and pro-big government. Hey Texas -be careful what you wish for, those Californians will turn you blue in just a few years. They move to get away from the invasive government and high taxes, but they suddenly forget why they moved when it comes time to vote. I'm right, you'll see. Texas will be un-recognizable in 5-10 years.
    1 point
  17. The bigger news is that the Ranger now has the same market share as the Chevy Colorado. That is something comparable.
    1 point
  18. Per Friday's FDNB (Fleet Distribution News Bulletin) here's the latest production timetable for the 2020/2021MY Ford F-150. 05/29/2020 - 2020MY Fleet Final Order Due Date 06/18/2020 - 2020MY Last Day to Spec Change (Dearborn Truck Plant) 07/16/2020 - 2020MY Last Day to Spec Change (Kansas City) 09/06/2020 - 2020MY Balance Out Date (Dearborn Truck Plant) 10/11/2019 - 2020MY Balance Out Date (Kansas City) 07/15/2020 - 2021MY Order Bank Open Date 08/13/2020 - 2021MY Scheduling Begins (Dearborn Truck Plant) 08/27/2020 - 2021MY Scheduling Begins (Kansas City) 10/12/2020 - 2021MY Job #1 Date (Dearborn Truck Plant) 11/09/2020 - 2021MY Job #1 Date (Kansas City) The 2021 F-150 Order Guide will be available on or about the date that the USOB (Unscheduled Order Bank) opens and will be uploaded to the Documents/Guides Section as soon as it becomes available.
    1 point
  19. This I agree with. I think Ford, as a policy, should buy back these kinds of vehicles no questions asked. Take them back and research them, fix them if possible and sell them or let the dealer buy them as loaners. In the end they'd probably break even on it or only lose a few thousand but customer satisfaction would be through the roof.
    1 point
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