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The most important aspect of the Ranger styling is that it has round wheel wells!

I saw it in person a few months ago, and do think it looks better in person than pictures. But I still think the 2015 redesign was a home run and hard to beat.

As many BOF members are aware, I worked for a Ford dealership for 35+ years in a management role with much of that time including inventory management and ordering all Stock, Demo, Retail and Fleet orders. Over the years my company cars included every Thunderbird model (Standard, LX, Elan, Turbo Coupe, Super Coupe) as we were one of the largest Thunderbird dealers and many Mustangs, almost exclusively Mustang GT's and California Special models. Perhaps I'll be convinced otherwise when we can all see the S650/2024 Mustang in person, but my initial impression is anything but favorable compared to the current edition. For a vehicle line that Ford always gave a lot of attention to, the next generation looks like an afterthought with little consideration or attention to design details. In particular, the new instrument cluster and center stack digital display are just horrible and look like something taken from the parts bin of other Ford vehicles. Unfortunately, Ford is looking to compensate for reduced Mustang production and sales by increasing prices for the 2024 models by $3,000 on average. I'm sure part of this is based on reduced competition as well as the anticipated increased demand for the all-new 2024 Mustang. All this amounts to is Ford charging as much as the market will bear considering the iconic Mustang status and reduced competition.

After the original flathead Ford V8, the small-block Chevy is probably the most important American V8 ever made. Millions upon millions made. The basic architecture is 70 years old and counting. Pretty damn impressive.

Are there other colors? ??

Not Ford related, but figured I'd share it here since it deals with the industry going to BEVs and the challenges with it. https://www.autoweek.com/news/a43143672/stellantis-ceo-carlos-tavares-on-electrification-and-evs/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_aut&utm_medium=email&date=030223&utm_campaign=nl30708526&user_email=7b389c2f374fcffffe4f64d9c0f0bafaca6dc835c57d84a273199feaedea3782&GID=7b389c2f374fcffffe4f64d9c0f0bafaca6dc835c57d84a273199feaedea3782&utm_term=AAA -- High Minus Dormant and 90 Day Non Openers

Welcome back! ?

Thanks!

I saw a YouTube video yesterday say possibility end of April beginning of May.. hard to tell though.. the guy also said there is only certain percentage of trucks they are able to build with product availability

Look at F150. They changed the styling for 2015 and I did not like the grille at all. In 2018 they changed the grille and I think it’s the best looking F150 front end ever. But the buying public did t seem to care either way. To me the new Ranger styling (and Maverick) falls right into line with what’s made F series successful. Not everybody will personally like every model and every iteration. F series. US sales. Canada 2014 753,851[77] 126,277[78] 2015 780,354[79] 118,837 2016 820,799[80] 145,409[81] 2017 896,764 155,290 2018 909,330 145,694 15,096 2019 896,526 145,064 14,459

It’s also likely that China and European markets will be full in on BEVs more quickly than North America, that may actually ease the transition to a point where a faster adoption rate happens - better batteries, more range lower costs and generally, better designs than these first Gen mass production examples…

The new Tacoma has that “edgy” look you seem to prefer. It’s not that I prefer form I just like a more traditional truck style. Ranger has the same styling as the F150 - you know, the best selling pickup for the last 40 something years. Current one is too rounded but the new one looks good to me. Styling is a personal preference but I think more people will like the new styling than not.

Apparently GM doesn’t think it’s “stupid” to spend money on ICE. https://www.autoweek.com/news/industry-news/a42746723/why-gm-is-launching-a-new-small-block-v8/ When ICE sells many multiples compared to BEV and makes all your profits (and will for years) it is smart not to let your products wither on the vine.

And it's silver! ?

There is far more demand for BEVs than can be produced right now. There is a plateau based on price and charging limitations and geography but we’re nowhere near that yet. My guess is that plateau is around 2M vehicles a year and won’t go up significantly until we get next Gen batteries and low to mid $20k prices and a lot more public chargers. Whether you believe the catastrophic predictions of climate change or not switching away from ICE and gasoline, oil and air pollution to electricity which should become more and more renewable is a great goal. The only thing I disagree is how fast we can or should try to get there.

1 in 5 vehicles sold in California last year was EV (in the 4th quarter, EV+PHEV was 1 in 4 sales) so we are already passed the early adopter stage. in 2017, EV sales was about 3% of total sales in California so basically California is 5 years ahead of the rest of the country. So I can see Ford comfortably selling 1/3 BEV and 2/3 ICE/hybrids by 2030. Perhaps even 1/2... but to say 2030 Ford will reach 100% EV sales in the US is bit aggressive. A lot will depend on how good the Explorer and next gen Lightning are... I hope that 24 months delay on Explorer is worth it. https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/zero-emission-vehicle-and-infrastructure-statistics/new-zev-sales https://insideevs.com/news/651899/california-plugin-car-sales-2022q4/

Yeah, it took a bit to notice that difference - honestly, if I hadn't built the charts and tried adding lightning to it and the final truck tally (which Ford no longer shows in their new presentation format) wasn't matching up, I probably wouldn't have noticed. I don't think I've seen a single Brightdrop yet.....I really don't understand why that was made its own brand and not just an "E-Xpress". I've only seen 1 E-Transit that I can recall. I actually see Transit Connect being a better EV market in the short term.....obviously Ford's TC plans seem up in the air, though. Regarding Mach E, I'm seeing a lot of them around, but I struggle to see it getting to the volumes they want and are projecting......maybe once Edge goes away, and Mach E becomes the "only" midsize 2 row (Bronco is a different animal)? I'll point back to ride height being an appealing part of Edge, though.

Very true. This is from a Forbes 2014 article on patents, "Of today’s 2.1 million active patents, 95 percent fail to be licensed or commercialized." https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2014/06/18/13633/?sh=746070586f1c

Harsh cutovers are expensive and leave a lot of people stranded- A new BEV is a multi billion dollar investment and for many people charging isn't readily available if they can even afford a new vehicle. Forcing a hard cutover also creates a backlash that will kill electrification entirely- Forcing people into BEVs will actually slow adoption.

The Stelantis CEO makes a good point- Most trips are under 50 miles thus requiring only 20% of the 250 or more mile battery capacity common in BEVs. Given the shortage of battery materials PHEVs could allow 5 times as many electric cars to be built producing nearly 5 times as much reduction in GHG as full BEVs. Besides a more rapid reduction in GHG pollution, BEVs will be adopted much more quickly as buyers will be reassured that the IC engine in a PHEV will get them there when a BEV wouldn't.