Leaderboard

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.

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.

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.

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/

You can’t make this stuff up.

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.

EU authorities are also reacting to the many billions of dollars in Chinese government subsidies that have gone into BYD and every other part of the Chinese EV industry. They only like that sort of thing when it is Airbus.

One of Ford's better CEO's. Responsible for the Taurus. He was 97. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2024/04/25/donald-petersen-ceo-who-turned-around-ford-with-the-taurus-dies-at-97/73459335007/

That torque tho 🤣

Wow - almost a 17% margin for Ford Pro. How do they break out vehicle sales between pro and blue? Is Pro fleet only?

It should only activate over 25-30 MPH I think.

I thought cruise only worked above a certain speed?

Utah Teen Receives 'Dream Car', Ford Racing Trip After Learning Rare Cancer Diagnosis Has Spread to His Lungs https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/utah-teen-receives-dream-car-ford-racing-trip-rare-cancer-diagnosis-spread-lungs A teenager who is fighting a valiant battle against cancer has received a few gifts that have put a big smile on his face. Joseph Tegerdine, 18, of Springville, Utah, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma bone cancer in May 2019. At just 13 years old, Tegerdine’s knee pain, originally thought to be simple growing pains, turned out to be cancer. After completing chemotherapy, he had a rotatinplasty to treat the knee bone tumors, as SWNS reported. But in January 2022, cancer was also found in his lungs and his hip. Kerry Tegerdine, Tegerdine’s mother, told Fox News Digital on Thursday that her son had surgery and chemotherapy to treat the disease. In Feb. 2024, cancer was again found in his lungs — causing the family to begin completing some bucket list items for their now-18-year-old son. "Joseph is gearing up for radiation to slow the growth, and we’re focusing on making memories and doing bucket list items for him," his mom said. One of those bucket list items included owning a Ford Mustang — something Kerry Tegerdine told Fox News Digital that her husband, Joe Tegerdine, recently made happen. "Joe knew that Joseph has always wanted a Mustang and wanted to work to buy it," she said. "But we know that he doesn’t have the time to earn enough to buy it himself — so Joe went out and bought it." The father wrote in a post on X, "For those wondering why I’d buy my 18yr old son a 330hp Mustang, well, he’s been given months to live and can’t work long enough to buy one himself. His comment on the way home: ‘Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this.’ #cancersucks" Kerry Tegerdine said her son’s reaction to the gift of the sports car was just amazing. "Joseph said, ‘The Mustang is my dream car, and I feel freaking fantastic!’" she recalled to Fox News Digital. She also told Fox News Digital that Ford Motors, specifically CEO Jim Farley, gifted Joseph Tegerdine a Mustang driving session at its performance racing school. Ford North America communications director Mike Levine told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Farley reached out to Joe Tegerdine after seeing the tweet of his excited son with his Ford Mustang. In a tweeted response, Farley shared his condolences for what the Tegerdines were going through — then offered Joe and Joseph Tegerdine the chance to drive a Ford Mustang Dark Horse on the track. That's something that's typically only offered to those who own the special-edition car. The pair, in April, will visit the performance racing school in Charlotte, North Carolina. As of 2023, the Mustang was named the bestselling car in the world for eight years straight, according to S&P Global Mobility. Over a million Mustang vehicles were shipped to customers from 2013 through 2022, with the all-time tally of 10 million crossed in 2018. While the vehicle is exported to over 100 countries, the vast majority of sales are in the U.S. The Tegerdine family recently traveled to Japan together. They continue to plan more bucket list experiences together for the near future. In a follow-up post on X, dad Joe Tegerdine wrote, "My son also values his quality of life. He’d rather live the heck out of a few months, than be confined to a bed or wheelchair suffering for years."

Teen Mustang Owner Fighting Cancer, Gets Bad News https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2024/04/23/teen-mustang-owner-cancer-jim-farley-ford-charlotte-motor-speedway/73411364007/ Joseph Tegerdine had never been on a professional racetrack, let alone behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang Dark Horse actually rocketing 112 mph. He remained fearless even as his life continued to be dominated by sharp turns and tight corners. "It was kind of terrifying at first. Then I was like, 'oh, this is actually pretty chill.' It's just really, really fun," Tegerdine, 18, of Springville, Utah, told the Free Press. "There’s so much to be thinking about in this car that your brain is 100% occupied — a little more gas, hit the brake hard, turn, turn. It’s just surreal." He mentioned the Oscar-winning film "Ford v Ferrari" and asked, "You know that famous line?" — referring to the part where legendary racing driver Carroll Shelby says, "There's a point at 7,000 rpm ... where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless." Tegerdine said, "It was 100% that feeling. Everything fades and you're floating." Why a racetrack in Charlotte The young man traveled earlier this month from Utah to North Carolina with his father, Joe Tegerdine. (Father and son have the same name. For clarity, we'll refer to the father as Joe and his son as Joseph). Ford CEO Jim Farley offered the two a trip to the Ford Performance Racing School at the famed Charlotte Motor Speedway. The auto executive, himself a competitive race car driver whose first car was a Mustang, wanted Joseph to experience the untethered thrill of a Mustang on the track. Farley had read on social media that Joe Tegerdine bought his son a 2020 Mustang because the teen's bone cancer was moving too quickly to not grant all wishes immediately. "For those wondering why I’d buy my 18yr old son a 330hp Mustang, well, he’s been given months to live and can’t work long enough to buy one himself," Tegerdine tweeted on X. "His comment on the way home, 'Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this.' ” More than 13.8 million people read the post, and nearly 200,000 have commented, shared, liked or bookmarked it. Dad, the general manager of North America for Reencle home composting systems, has heard from people who survived cancer, who lost children, who urge the family to remain strong. "There's so much social upheaval and so many people are hurting right now ... to be able to have literally thousands of people reach out, you just realize most of us are just good people doing our best to try and live a fulfilling life," Joe said. "We get caught in this doom cycle," he said. "I attribute a lot to politics and politicians trying to divide us and focus on negative and dark things to maintain power and generate wealth for themselves. The rest of us get caught in these cycles. To be able to step out and see the goodness of humanity and people is super inspiring to me. It reminds me that, for most of us, that’s our reality." Feel yourself airborne When Farley offered the trip in a private message to Joe, the father-son duo accepted immediately. Other Mustang owners were at the track that day, too. Ford put the father and son, with custom helmets, in their cars to create unique drive experiences they would share later. "We had a drifting course," that taught how to make controlled skids sideways through turns, and smoked the tires, Joe said. "After driving, we did a timed skills course with cones and instruction with professional drivers. That was really cool. In the afternoon, we headed to the main track, where we had a pace driver, and three cars would follow. It was Joseph and I and another car. We hauled butt behind the professional driver. I think I got up to 115 miles per hour on the side wall." But that wasn't all. "In the end, we got to ride with a professional driver and it was like, I mean, G-forces after G-forces. You could feel yourself airborne in the seat. You come through a turn and you feel all the pressure in the turn and as soon as they hit the throttle out of the turn, you're pinned to the sat," Joe said. "Joseph was so excited. I had not seen him have that much energy for months." They attended a dinner hosted by the racing school on April 11, the night before heading to the track. Joseph ran into Laurie Transou, chief engineer of the Mustang program, and talked design and engineering. (Last year, Transou encouraged young adults to take their moms to the racetrack for Mother's Day instead of brunch.) Proximity to Transou was coincidence, Ford said. She had scheduled months in advance attending the program. Joseph once wanted to be an engineer — before his classes were replaced with medical treatments and surgeries. "Normally, you'd have conversations about, 'when you’re an engineer,' or 'you could come back and do the two- or three-day course,'" Joe said. "But then you realize this is probably it. So you’re very much in the now. And embracing that moment together because there’s a recognition of the finality of it. You know there’s not going to be probably a next time. So we just try to enjoy those moments together." Farley told the Free Press in a statement, “I’m just pleased we were able to help Joe and Joseph enjoy a very special day. It was an honor for our team to host them in Charlotte.” It was a great time for a kid who has always loved speed, Joe said. Joseph used to ride like lightning on a motorbike at their old Texas cattle ranch. In eighth grade, a sore knee led to the cancer diagnosis for Joseph, who played football and ran track. When driving the Mustang, he drives with a prosthetic right leg now. Cancer required amputation. Still, never feeling like an invincible teenager This past weekend, Joseph took his girlfriend, Lily Flake, to her prom at Mapleton High School. "It's fun to be a little teenager for a bit," he said. "I’m technically a teenager, but I’m not really a teenager. Teenagers think they’re invincible. They have the ability to go do stupid things and they don’t think of the consequences. 'Yes, we’re going to load 10 people onto a golf cart and go zooming around town, no problem.' But at age 13, I had to come to the reality that I’m very much vincible and I'm going to die. I never really got that whole 'invincible teenager who can do whatever and it’ll be fine' feeling." Joseph said, "But it’s nice sometimes to remember, it sounds dumb because I'm only 18, but it's nice to remember to stay young sometimes. My girlfriend helps with that. She loves fun things." Asked how he's doing this week, he said, "I don’t really know. It's kind of just confusing, I guess. There’s just a lot of a lot. So I don’t know exactly how I’m doing. You just kind of go through every day and take it day by day." Life can be a blur, like an Eras Tour experience After nearly two weeks, the trip going to Charlotte feels like a blur, Joseph said. He compared it to what he called "a Taylor Swift phenomenon." He explained that people go to her concert and don't remember details. "I don't know if you've ever heard this. You're just on this adrenaline high for, like, four straight hours. When you walk out, everything kind of settles and like, whoa, that just happened. But you can't really remember what actually happened. Everything is kind of hazy. You remember the feelings associated but you couldn't put, like, words to what you were feeling at the moment." In August 2023, he attended an Eras Tour concert with his girlfriend at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. These adventures are intentional. For Joseph, everything in life has to be about right now, his father said. "You just have to make a choice. You can either get depressed and life is over and 'poor me' or whatever or just accept the fact that this is what life is, and we're all going to die at some point and we all have to reconcile that," Joe said. "You never want your children go before you, but millions of people before me had to deal with it and millions will after me. ... I have a strong faith in the afterlife. I don’t look at death — I don’t see it as the finality that sometimes I think we’re prone to. To me, it's like a transition. It’s the next adventure. But it's going to be hard to say goodbye." Finding a glimmer of comfort in shocking loss Doctors delivered really bad news last week, Joe said. Scans came back, and Joseph has tumors going up through his hip and down into his leg. His osteosarcoma has become worse than doctors feared. A life measured in years is now measured in months. For a few minutes, Joe stopped talking. And he just cried. "His favorite uncle passed away" Sunday, Joe said. Joseph saw his Uncle Jerry just a few weeks ago, and nothing seemed wrong, Joe said. Then the man went to the hospital a few days ago with pain and the doctors discovered necrosis of the small intestine after having his colon removed awhile ago, Joe said. Doctors went in to try to fix the issue and couldn't. He died. That was the family member who called and texted and sent pick-me-up gifts and provided a constant presence to Joseph through the child's cancer journey over the past five years. "Joseph’s only fear of death is being alone on the other side," Joe said. "We want to be greeted by our parents and brothers and sisters. So, to me, knowing that his uncle will be on the other side waiting for him, to me, is, um, just a tender mercy. Because I’m not going to be there to be on the other side with him."

Yes. Since a rotary dial can't be relocated in a different product. There's no need to panic. lol Now, if Navigator debuts and it's this same Expy interior with a Lincoln badge and different leather, I'll be right there with you in saying that's a disappointment. But let's see how well they're differentiated before eviscerating the thing...

I previously provided examples of the different presentations of the coast to coast screens in the Chinese Explorer and Aviator where they had notable differentiation. How do we know the CtoC screen won’t only be available in the highest trim levels of the Expedition? I have no issue with that since the price of a Platinum is in Navigator territory. Although I would prefer the Navigator have a completely unique interior, at the same time I would also like the Expedition to have a superb interior as well.

Why do people still believe everything Musk says?

I think when I looked at the dealers in my area they had a few north of 50k too. Gross. If I am spending 50k on a SUV I can tell you 100% it won't be a Dodge Hornet.

This is a reach for an explanation, but perhaps the anticipated sales figures for the Navi do not allow Ford to hit a volume figure for the screen that is satisfactory for the supplier - maybe Ford need the added volume of the Expy to hit the supplier's required volume?

have a muffler shop weld it

They also made quality the biggest kpi for bonuses for all mgt employees,

They opened plants here because it’s cheaper than importing. If they’re not careful these plants will just close and they’ll go back to importing or move the factory to Mexico.

The US Government has already warned Mexico not to offer Chinese Auto makers any incentives to build plants in its country also, since both the EU and NA are pushing back on the Chinese dumping product in both markets because of weak demand in China.

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...

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

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

I haven't been in an electric Lightning, but I have simultaneously hit the gas and brake a few times in my Flex. If you have your foot on both, then slide it off the brake not realizing that it's also on the loud pedal...

Read the article.

Even if the driver hit the resume button, it shouldn’t have done anything. The Lightning has adaptive cruise and there was a vehicle in front of it.

For me, it’s Lightning Blue, Everest looks great in it too…

2024 Toyota Tacoma vs. Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado: Midsize Trucks Throw Down! (motortrend.com) Chevrolet’s updated Colorado is an impressive truck—impressive enough to have won our coveted Truck of the Year award for 2024. It’s worth noting the Colorado and its classy near-twin, the GMC Canyon, were the only midsizers in this year’s TOTY competition; the 2024 Toyota Tacoma wasn’t yet available, and the 2024 Ford Ranger was held up by strike-related shortages. Now, however, we’ve gotten our hands on both promising rivals. We know they’re greatly improved over their predecessors, but can they topple the Chevy?

There's a Secret Fleet of New Ford Excursions Hiding in a Dubai Warehouse Nothing like finding zero-mile American trucks halfway across the globe. At this point, it's hardly a surprise to hear about rare cars surfacing in the Middle East thanks to mega-rich collectors that often hoard their prized possessions in the unlikeliest of places. But while most of these car stashes involve limited-edition European sheet metal, sometimes—albeit rarely—they feature some serious American muscle. Interestingly enough, a warehouse in Dubai was recently found to be the home of a different kind of American muscle: nearly a dozen zero-mile Ford Excursions still wrapped in plastic and in pristine condition. The story behind these Blue Oval rigs is murky to say the least, and we're working on uncovering more background info. Photos of the plastic-covered SUVs were first posted to a public Ford Excursion Facebook group late last week where they've since been shared thousands of times—you can view them here. Story Excursions.jfif

It reminds me of that poll I did way back on FIN when that site was a thing asking if Lincoln should get Ford's latest and greatest tech first and most people voted No it should debut on Ford first and trickle up to Lincoln. To me it makes no sense with every other car company that has a luxury brand debuts new tech on their luxury brand first before the mainstream models get it. Example: Lexus first then Toyota, Cadillac first then Chevy, etc. For some reason I really think Ford has this NEED to have the Ford name get stuff first because it's the family name and Lincoln comes secondary to them. Well Nautilus got coast to coast screen and there's no Ford counterpart yet. It's not complaining for the sake of complaining it's about setting a president and giving Lincoln a bone which they desperately need. Materials and aesthetic isn't enough to justify the huge jump in price from an Expedition to a Navigator. You need to give them a reason to consider one.

Still a huge gap and quoting that statistic is misleading. They should have at the very least quoted # chargers vs number of gas pumps.

Quite a turnaround from the last UAW vote at VW.

Till they wind up on the unemployment line...guess we will see how VW reacts to this-they already closed one plant in the US in the past 40 years.

His bonus declined in 2023. From the Detroit News: “Bill’s (Ford) and Jim’s salaries were flat with 2022 and their bonuses were down — and well below target levels — based on the overall performance of our business," spokesperson T.R. Reid said. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2024/03/29/ford-ceo-jim-farley-bill-ford-2023-compensation/73142609007/

An AWD 5.0 with the front being powered by an electric motor would be cool and solve two problems. It would compensate for the low end torque that the 5.0 lacks and also provide the traction needed for hard launches while helping eliminate wheelhop.

Ford getting all cryptic and sneaky with their teasers. Just tell us what you have planned 😆. I've never understood vague teasers that confirm nothing. Like you're trying to get fans excited, but you won't even show us anything to get excited over. It's like that teaser they showed at the 60th anniversary. Talking about expanding the mustang brand, but not saying anything else about it. If you want to excite us, give us more substance.

Actually, it's a very common Dutch name, especially here in Michigan. Hence why we have a Holland, MI. If you drive through there you can count numerous "Dykstra _____" businesses. No relation though, most of our family stayed in Michigan or close to it.

Aside from the motors, it's the size of the conductors and the number of parallel connections to the battery. Without getting into the physics, if you can get power from the battery to the motors faster, the car can accelerate a lot faster (and charge a lot faster). Battery size doesn't matter, strictly speaking, but a larger battery offers more parallel connections, so it matters practically. Fast launches aren't a detriment like ICE, other than the heating of the conductors. Current heats the conductors, which increases resistance, which heats things more, thus the 5 second limitation on Mach E GT. Importantly, you're not wasting electrons in the same way that you're wasting gasoline by dumping it into the cylinders. Efficiency, other than conductor losses, is the same. It's a shame that EV's have become politicized. If you want to have fun, an EV is the best way to do it. I can't wait until my Rally arrives and I can turn in my Premium.

The 3.5 regular and 3.5 EcoBoost and 3.7 in FWD form only have internal water pumps if they fail and you don't catch it in time you need a new engine. If you do catch it in time its a partial engine disassembly to get it done. It's not a cheap fix at all. The 2.0T had coolant intrusion issues I am not sure if that has been fixed yet or not but apparently in 2015 or 2016 they changed the design and if you get coolant intrusion you need a new engine no ifs ands or buts. Ask my friend who had a 2018 MKZ. 69k miles and his car needs a new engine, Ford/Lincoln were not willing to help out at all he was 1 month past warranty but still under the miles. All of this stuff has shaken my faith in Ford. They are still my preferred brand but I have to really think carefully if I do buy another car. Thankfully that won't be anytime soon, I am very happy with my current fleet.

If it's like the MKZ it's really tucked up there pretty far back. Might have to look deeper.

I"m sure Toyota is a business too. Having a full range of vehicles allows Toyota to be strong globally (the development cost of a model is spread across all units sold sround the world). Ford's streamlined lineup also means it has less vehicles it can market outside North America.

Looks like a skinny kid wearing a fake muscle suit.

With Ford building new plants for BEV vehicle production such as Blue Oval City, at some point Ford is going to find itself with excess production capacity. With BEV production plans being delayed, it'll be years probably before Ford can identify and commit to future production commitments at existing plants. Why Ford includes plant production commitments as part of its UAW contract is beyond me. The Flat Rock Assembly Plant has been the subject of speculation for years including the plant limitations regarding vehicle height. It's been the home for Mustang production for years, and for Fusion and Continental for limited years, but its history is focused on Mustang production. Potential plans to remodel Flat Rock will have to consider Mustang production interruptions unless Mustang production is moved to another facility which is doubtful.

I’m not crying, you’re crying……

Yeah a radical departure although I have to say I don’t think it is a good idea to give. Ford product the same interior design as the new Lincoln. the first time in a long time we don’t see Ford mentioned in a Lincoln vehicle review and the plan is to take away the differentiation?