Leaderboard

I don't. Ford doesn't owe it to any of us to build vehicles that it determines aren't sufficiently profitable. I wish Ford still built Panthers and Focus station wagons, but not enough people share my peculiar tastes for these vehicles to be profitable for Ford to manufacture. Please purchase the Murano, Blazer, etc. before those vehicles are discontinued also. I hear Nissan is also pruning its lineup, and there won't be a next generation Altima or Versa.

Eh, I think Edge has a unique customer base - something bigger than Escape, but don't need the full size of Explorer. Bronco is too rugged/unrefined vs. Edge. It's also a perfect example of a product that should ride on a global platform (C2) for commodities of scale. Ford has also basically owned this segment since Edge debuted, yet here they are handing it away after letting it rot on the vine. I'm 100% opposite on this - I don't think it makes sense at all - why would I bother getting a vehicle the same exact larger size without the third row? At that point, just get the 3rd row and leave it down, that way it's there if I need it.

The Escape, while acceptable, does not equal the Edge or Murano in comfort and ride quality. There is no Lincoln dealer close to us. My wife and I are in our early 70's and love road trips so comfort is essential. Our Murano has been perfect in over 90,000 miles so I'm not afraid to stray from Ford vehicles. I realize I am in the minority demographic and in the type of vehicle I'm looking for. Fortunately for us, several manufacturers still make a quality 2-row mid-size CUV. I sometimes question Ford's decision-making process.

But the business case for a C2 hybrid edge is much better in terms of simplification and platform amortization which probably would have led to better sales and definitely better profit. But the cd4 decision was probably made in 2011-ish and they thought they needed a v6 for both fusion and edge. Better sales and profits may have forced Ford to put the 3 row EVs in Mexico or Flat Rock instead of Oakville.

Ford has a history of decontenting in an effort to help save a few bucks. One of the best examples I can think of is the 1996 Taurus/Sable vs the 1999. Only 4 model years apart but the differences are night and day. 1996 had courtesy lights on the doors, PRND21 on the dash for floor shift models, under the dash lighting when the dome light came on, illuminated glove box, a lock on the glove box, a latch to open the rear seats from the trunk, carpeting on the lower part of the doors and around the lower part of the center console, illuminated Mercury Badge on the Sable, dual sun visors, map pockets on the back of the front seats, rear disc brakes on the sedan. ALL of that stuff was eliminated by 99. I am sure there are more recent examples but these are things I remember when I had my 99 Sable and I would try to add as much as I could back in from junk yard finds. I pretty much got all of it minus the illuminated front logo since the grill changed in 98.

It's crazy how time flies man.....and only seems to get faster. I miss Nick's contributions. RIP Nick.

Sure, but it's also another example of Ford decontenting things.....they continually remove features, yet charge ever higher prices, while competitors keep the features. Escape was already on thin ice (the refresh helped) in reviews, these moves don't help things.

Not sure how true this is but, I remember reading on another forum years ago that apparently Ford was working on a new or significantly updated Panther platform for the 98 Town Car and they really wanted to put the new 5 Speed Automatic in it that went in the LS and a few other models from that era as well. When they saw the cost to modify the panther to allow for the larger transmission, they canned it and kept the 4 speed. Now hindsight is 2020 and I think it's safe to say the 4R70W is far more reliable than the 5R55N but it does make me wonder if they spent that money to update the Panther if it would have paid dividends and help the Town Car name live a bit longer and encourage Ford to keep improving on or even develop a new full size RWD platform. I know Ford printed money with the Panther, but I guess that's something we will never know. Just to add I don't think it would have kept the Town Car alive today but I think it could have changed how Ford handled it's full size lineup. I do think Ford underestimated though how much brand recognition the Town Car had and how well respected it was.

Execution execution execution. I looked a few months ago in my area and all of them were 45k plus. I could never justify spending that kind of money on a small Dodge. Of course, the excuse I got on another forum was "It's really a bargain Alfa".... that doesn't make it better

The local dealer had two Hornets at the Harrisburg Auto Show earlier this year. Both were priced in the high $40s, which is far too much for that segment.

It also shows you how hard it is to go into a crowded segment with a overpriced product that doesn't even match up with what your brand is about. Its like Alfa said hey lets change the grill on this and sell it as a Dodge without much else done to it and are shocked when its not successful. It it was in the $30-35K range it would sell better but most of them seem to be well north of that.

Our small city PD runs Silverados, Tahoes and Expeditions

Almost all of the "cop cars" I see these days are Explorer/PIUs, especially at the bigger PDs. There are a few departments running sedans, but the vast majority that I see are CUVs or SUVs. I don't recall seeing very many Taurus/PI cop cars at all over their run--I'm pretty sure I'm seeing more 20 year old CVPIs still in service.

I wish they made a Mach E with a ICE. I love the size and the interior but battery doesnt make much sense for me either.....

Exactly. Look at the 2024 Cup Series schedule, 2 of the races have Toyota in the race name. NONE have Ford. HRG

It’s called sponsorship…..

The Hornet is a big swing and miss, IMO. It’s boring, doesn’t really stand out in any way, and pricey if you add any options to it. Pretty much a recipe for poor sales.

In big business, words have meaning. I don’t think they would say things like that unless they were instructed to do so.

One thing I miss is that on my MKZ the light bar lights up with the brake lights and it looks weird on the first gen MKC where only the side lights light up. One thing I wish they kept was the whole light bar lighting up when braking.

I’ve had them on multiple vehicles since 1999 and they’ve all worked flawlessly 99.9% of the time. The nice part isn’t just turning on the wipers - it’s continually adjusting the speed and turning them off and on intermittently as needed.

We're not willing to give up the ride and comfort that vehicles like the Edge or Murano offer. Nissan is coming out with an updated 25 Murano so they obviously value the 2-row mid-sized segment. I realize sales are diminishing in this segment but there is still some demand.

My wife's Escape is a 2020....NOT a 2000. I had a Biden moment. Oops....probably shouldn't have said that. 🤣

To be fair there is no sedan police segment anymore. Charger/300 are dead, CV is dead, and the Caprice is dead. It's all SUV now.

Nice…

As akirby mentioned, the Nautilus Hybrid transmission is a power-split eCVT. Its design is a refinement of the Aisin unit that Ford used in the original first gen Escape Hybrid. Here is an excellent video demonstration of the operating principle for this type of transmission.