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For the record, I’m not against unions. I’m against union tactics like strikes just to get more compensation - especially when it’s significantly higher than the rest of the market. It puts employers at a competitive disadvantage and it absolutely drives business to other states and countries. And it protects bad employees and stifles productivity. I’ve seen it first hand. I believe an employer has the right to determine employee pay. Period. If you don’t like the pay or benefits then go find another job.

Nearly a decade late to this one, but that striking gentleman is my Great Great Grandfather. Stumbling across this made my day, thanks!

Somebody do a welfare check on rperez817……

Exclusive drone shot of the prototype T3 testing over the Product Development Center in Dearborn, MI. It should be noted that the Tesla Cybertruck does not have a porch.

That's Ford Authority for you. They can turn into breaking news the fact that every new Ford design will have the windshield in front of the driver.

And us Mustang Mach-E owners are left out in the cold. Like it or not, I still call it my Mustang. Well, not mine since it's my wife's. She does let me drive it to church on the weekends though...

Paperwork. 😂. That’s a hell of a doc fee.

The law covers this already. It’s called negligence. Giving a minor 16 yr old new driver a powerful car could absolutely be considered negligence the same as giving them access to a gun without proper training and supervision. But a 21 yr old is an adult in every consideration and is 100% responsible for their decisions and actions not the people who legally sell them something. I believe people should be held personally accountable for their actions. Period. If you’re participating in an illegal activity then you’re also responsible for whatever happens whether it’s street racing or a robbery gone bad. If you’re negligent with a minor you’re responsible. But selling legal products to adults is where I draw the line. What someone does with a Lamborghini is their responsibility. And while I don’t want to turn this into a political discussion - I feel the same way about guns.

Don't be obtuse, I find the triangular design to be rather adorable, acute even.

well, given it’s Ford, they’ll probably give a minor refresh and leave it on the market for 6 more years, sales will dry up and Ford will sit there wondering why a 10+ year old product isn’t selling lol

Producing more hybrids, scaling back EVs to match demand that has somewhat plateaued and waiting for next gen cheaper batteries. If only somebody had suggested that 3 years ago……

Here you go….

Nah, I was raised by someone who worked for the UAW and I was on strike when I was 17 years old working at a local grocery store for a few weeks. My old man said the union was pretty much useless outside of him being able to retire a little early due to the Edison plant being shutdown. The issue is that the vast majority of the time, the union is a self serving entity with ties to ideologies I don't particularly care for. Demographically unions may have more influence due to a shortage of workers due to smaller cohorts and labor becomes harder to fill in certain positions. But to blindly put your faith into a union is downright stupid.

I really can’t wait for the day when ford isn’t the recall leader and quality really improves.

I'll stand by my opinion that removing features, especially while simultaneously raising prices, isn't a good look.

The Floorcare plant was built on an 86-acre site in Cottage Grove, MN, that was to eventually include a 400,000 sq ft Chest Freezer plant and a warehouse/rail/distribution facility. The FloorCare plant opened to great fanfare in 1977 and closed December 1984. We had no national seniority, and there was no other development of the land at that time. Today, the facility is owned by Up North Plastics, which has expanded twice, and there is a GM Distribution Center and rail yard adjacent, but I'm not sure if that is on the original Whirlpool property. I sold insurance for a short time before getting into car sales and later truck driving. I am now comfortably retired with my wife of 45 years (in a row) and my hobbies include hijacking threads.

Heck, I bought one last month, just because my wife has so enjoyed her '19. 0% for 66 months. HRG

In this case Texasota is 100% correct. All those articles are saying is that based on a sample of real world fuel economy (sample being the key word) owners are using more gasoline than predicted which means they aren’t driving as much on electric power alone. However - that could also be because the owner drives 150 miles a day not just because they aren’t recharging. And his point is still true - even if you don’t plug in a PHEV it’s still as good as a hybrid and still far better than a non hybrid.

Why does anyone think this will persuade people to support and join their movement? I don't care what your beliefs are, what you do or don't support, but the second you turn to vandalism and childish outbursts, I lose respect for you and your cause. Put together a compelling argument, and I'll listen even if my beliefs are completely the opposite. I respect people who think differently than me, that's how you get the best conversations, but if you're throwing shit and screaming, you're just a child who isn't worth our time.

2024 Ford Mustang Cars & Coffee Edition Officially Debuts https://fordauthority.com/2024/04/2024-ford-mustang-cars-coffee-edition-officially-debuts/ The 2024 Ford Mustang is the modern interpretation of a long running formula that adds substantial horsepower to a reasonably priced vehicle. This built-in Mustang feature has caused a lot of agita over the decades, including a fair number of crashes and overall misuse of public roads. With the advent of social media and smart phones, documentation of vehicular stupidity (and lack of driving skills) can reach millions of eyeballs in record fast time, which is why notable collisions outside car shows and events involving Mustangs appear online regularly. Unfortunately, the Mustang has earned a reputation for being a vehicle show attendees probably want to steer clear of at their local Cars & Coffee-type events, with the pony car recently being banned from Cars & Coffee events. Fortunately, the 2024 Ford Mustang Cars & Coffee Edition is here to fix that – and to give these owners an outlet to drive wild without any real life consequences. Key to this special Mustang is the inclusion of cutting-edge projection technology and a special Sync 4 infotainment system with updated graphics. Together, the tech utilizes the windshield as a screen and is capable of producing astonishing scenes indistinguishable from real life. While this revolutionary tech could be used for many things, in this application, it will allow owners of the 2024 Ford Mustang Cars & Coffee Edition to recklessly leave the car show of their choice without consequences. Drivers can use the steering wheel, pedals, and gear selectors just as they would on an actual drive, and the Mustang will use its engine to mimic real-world conditions as well, so long as the vehicle is in Park and the park brake is activated. Additionally, the complimentary FordPass Connect modem and subscription service allows owners to share their mishaps in real time. “This will be the greatest vehicle vs. pedestrian virtual experience to exist until Grand Theft Auto 6 arrives next year,” said Ford CEO Tim Barley. “With this tech, people will continue to think that Mustang drivers are leaving their local car meets with impunity, when they’re really doing the right thing and keeping it stationary.” 2024 Ford Mustang Cars & Coffee Edition owners will also get rewarded for using the tech at an actual car meet. If the event lines up with information in Ford’s databases, owners will receive 100 FordPass Rewards for using the feature at a car show, which can be used toward a meal at a Ford Garage restaurant. And to make sure the coffee aspect of the special edition isn’t ignored, every example will offer Ford Pro Power Onboard with 1,000 kWh capability embedded into each trunk via 120-volt and 240-volt power outlets. “You’ll be able to whip up a latte or cappuccino in record time before virtually power sliding into a crowd full of onlookers” said Ford spokesperson, Spike Ravine. So far, the Ford Mustang Edition Cars & Coffee Edition will be available only for the 2024 model year, but Ford says it will consider extending production into 2025 based on demand. Happy 2024 April Fools’ Day dear readers!

And you hate businesses. Got it. Let’s all move on.

You are incorrect to believe most drivers in the U.S. can install home chargers. Older homes require service upgrades and a lot of areas don’t have the infrastructure to support it. It’s one thing for an apartment to install a few chargers and something entirely different to install dozens that would most likely be in use concurrently (and require rigorous scheduling if they can’t provide enough chargers for each tenant.). Readily available public chargers are a requirement for widespread adoption. It’s not physically or economically viable for everyone to charge at home.

And to think they almost killed it for North America…..

Placing all retail orders at the default priority code 19 means that all the orders are treated the same. As such, it means that the Dealer is doing nothing to manage and prioritize the order in which retail orders are scheduled. Forget that the order date will supposedly do the job. It's nonsense as the reality is that the scheduling system will schedule the order that's the easiest to schedule and with the fewest commodity or supply chain issues, etc. An F-450 Limited with priority code 19 since September 2023 will most likely never get scheduled. You're doing business with the wrong Dealer. It's their responsibility to manage their USOB (Unscheduled Order Bank) but they have done nothing! The Dealer should have assigned a much lower priority code and/or contacted the Ford Zone Manager or Regional Scheduler long ago to have the order reprioritized at 01 or 02 to expedite scheduling. The Dealer has wasted your time.

This is neat All 7th-Gen Ford Mustangs Get 1965-Style Digital Gauges in Free OTA Update

There was a time years ago, late 1980's I believe, that I was able to attend a Ford Performance training course that was held at the Meadowlands complex in New Jersey. It was a half-day, hands-on course conducted by Bob Bondurant and his team with most of the training being one on one with a Bondurant instructor. The cars used were Mustang GT's and Thunderbird Turbo Coupes as part of the course involved anti-lock braking. The Mustang's didn't offer ABS at the time but was standard on the Thunderbird Turbo Coupes. All cars were automatics, tuned identically and driven in 1st gear to simulate a higher driving speed. For the ABS portion, the cars were driven at speed onto a simulated skid pad which was a long, large heavy duty vinyl tarp bolted to the pavement and flooded with soapy water to simulate a slippery surface. You'd drive the Turbo Coupe onto the skid pad, hit the brakes hard and stop the car before reaching the end of the skid pad. You'd do the same with the Mustang GT, without ABS, and learn how to control the car and also stop before reaching the end of the skid pad. Other parts of the course included throttle steering, slalom course and other related driving techniques. I was in an Aerostar with Bob Bondurant driving a slalom course where he started off slow and kept increasing speed until he got to the point at maximum speed, getting a wheel off the pavement, and never hitting a cone. It was a fun day and very educational.

Farley never had any intention of continuing the commodity product Edge. He would rather have an assembly plant site idle til 2027 which is insane! I don’t believe this study bullshit.

Well, the Ford GT and Mustang GTD were skunkworks programs and both turned out pretty damn good.

And let’s reiterate the flaw in simply measuring PHEV fuel consumption to conclude that they aren’t being plugged in. Let’s say my escape PHEV can go 30 miles on battery and gets 35 mpg afterwards and let’s say I charge fully every night. If I only drive 40 miles per day I use about 1/3 of a gallon. Thats 120 mpg. If I drive 210 miles per day I use about 5 gallons or 42 mpg. Just looking at fuel economy one might conclude that one is being plugged in and the other isn’t and that’s completely untrue. Another example of lies, damn lies and statistics.

Since when does the govt do anything logical?

I love how the PR people at Ford used the word "retiming" instead of "delaying". That's such a PR move.

Geez...2027??!?!? That is a damn shame to idle one of Fords best performing and high quality plants for 3 years....

Here we go again. BEVs are not viable for the majority of buyers and won’t be for many years and probably decades. So the choice TODAY for most buyers is ICE or HEV. HEVs provide tangible benefits with almost no drawbacks or compromises until EVs are ready.

I was very fortunate to have, because of my position as Advertising Manager and managing the new vehicle inventory for nearly 35 years, the ability to drive whatever vehicle I chose as a company "Demo" with few exceptions. I drove Thunderbirds for years, since we were one of the top 10 Thunderbird dealerships known as "Birdland". I then drove a Probe GT and then a few Taurus models until going back to a Mustang for about 20 years until I left the dealership. During that time, I drove mostly Mustang GT's but also drove every Mustang model available based on what was available in stock. At our dealership, Demo's were driven until they were sold. Since I managed the new vehicle inventory, it wasn't difficult to make sure that there was a potential "back up" Demo in stock. Even so, there were times when we'd sell my Demo and other Mustangs in stock in a short period of time and my choices for a new Demo were limited. As such, over the years I drove every Mustang model including coupe/fastback, convertibles, automatics, manuals, all powertrains, base and premium, etc. No doubt, driving a Mustang GT was very enjoyable, but there was a point that my GT Demo was sold, and I had no choice but to drive a Mustang EcoBoost which was equipped with the #101A Equipment Group, 10-Speed Automatic, Enhanced Security Package, Safe & Smart Package and Navigation System. I ended up going back and forth between EcoBoost and GT models for a few years but just couldn't help but be impressed with the Mustang EcoBoost models overall. The EcoBoost performance was better than that of GT's from years ago and the GT pricing by comparison made it harder to justify driving a GT. Simply put, the Mustang EcoBoost models are a great value at a much more reasonable price compared to a GT. The Mustang GT pricing keeps rising a lot, and will go a lot higher, limiting its potential customer base in the North American market. And going forward, Ford will price the Mustang GT's as high as they can... for all the market will bear.

He is right most of the time. Just wait until he’s wrong and watch the toddler throw a hissy fit.

Further thought on Nikola, given a tractor weight of 29,000 lbs and given subsidies that I am paying for to lower the price, I guess I have to view this as another "green initiative" being shoved down our throats. My broken record speech...in due time when the free market says it makes sense. Or how about...let's solve the "climate crisis" by starting with China, India, etc who continue to crank out new coal fired power plants that generate far more pollutants than I believe we do with our entire ICE "fleet". May well be a better alternative to electrics-a loser for sure-, but still seems like a loser when all factors are considered-or so it seems to me. But forgive me, what am I thinking, why would we consider ALL factors?🤔 PS..After working my butt off for 44 years, and thinking my grandkids will benefit from my hard work, I now have to shell out a big number every year to satisfy such subsidies like this. I'd feel much better if my money was buying a few more 155 shells to help out the Ukrainians.

Well, come on down. We gots roads (some of 'em are even paved) and gas stations and a city with two airports named after guys who died in a plane crash. We're even getting the Intarwebz next week.

Thanks! Definitely...life is so much less stressful (so far), and I am really enjoying what I'm doing. It helps to have a contract and be 110% billable for the next 12-15 months. Thank you! Shameless plug...if you need any software development in the future, hit me up!

I have no bias here except facts. Fact is almost everyone projected a huge increase in EV sales. Ford had Lightning reservations and sales to back up that forecast. If they were still selling them for the original prices with the original tax credits they’d be selling a lot more. Even your last quote says it’s about costs. Look at what happened to Mach-E sales when they lost the tax credit vs when they dropped prices. People still want large less efficient vehicles regardless of propulsion and a large number don’t mind paying for it. The only place I think Ford miscalculated is that EV truck buyers are not necessarily the same as ICE truck buyers. The only issue here is sales volume. And obviously to get high volume you need smaller cheaper vehicles. But that’s not the entire market.

From the Detroit News: "Meanwhile, Ford Pro, the commercial vehicle business, was the shining star of the report. It posted more than $3 billion in operating income, up 120% from last year, and a 16.7% operating margin. Super Duty sales drove the increase, according to the automaker. Software services also represented 13% of the earnings, nearing the goal of 20%." https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2024/04/24/ford-first-quarter-earnings-profits-fall-ford-blue-f-150-ramp-up-model-e-ford-pro/73418005007/

Not a fair comparison since one EV charger can service 1 vehicle every hour, maybe 2 while a regular gas station can serve anywhere from 24 vehicles per hour up to 120 at a place like Buc-Ees.

I’ve just about reached the point where my a-plan will never be used for myself again.

how about banning of Plastic straws...now you get a cardboard straw...WRAPPED in plastic.....??????????????

Well said. I'm just waiting to see what comes out of this skunkworks program and hoping it doesn't get bogged down with layers of management interfering.

The Final Jeopardy answer... What is CAP?

The sad part is there are buyers who won’t pay MSRP but would gladly pay double MSRP with a 20% discount.

agree, would be nice to see some consistency. The Navi must have air suspension, all the competitors have it so there is no excuse o reason to not have it

The ergonomics and controls inconsistency between the full sized trucks/SUVs and other vehicles drives me nuts. With F series being the cash (and volume) cow they pretty much get to do whatever they want and the so do the other teams. Simple things like having the audio steering controls on the same side would help. My F150 is on the right while the Nautilus is on the left.