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Figured I'd throw in some (bad) real world photos I took of the first few Aviators the local dealer has received: It looks great in person.

I wasn't aware GM Truck Month stopped since it started 5 years ago....

This new F-150 plus continued aggressive incentives from Ram is going tor make things much, much worse for the boys at the RenCen.

#richpeopleproblems

Uh....I am going to just hazard a guess here and say they were hoping for more efficiency? Maybe the Green Car Report isn't the best site to look at reviews if you want a performance luxury PHEV.

And that, my friends, is how you spend $1B in 100 seconds.

The interesting thing is that Ford can completely gut a plant and having it up and running in less time then it took Tesla to even put out its model 3.

Because you're reading personal opinions. That's the reason I stopped reading reviews. When it comes to buying a vehicle, the only personal opinion I care about is mine, not what some internet writer thinks.

So I heard through the grapevine that the 2021 Escape will be getting an emergency facelift to correct the front end that has been disliked by many. Just 1 year into its lifecycle. I have to wonder who they showed this to in a focus group and said they liked it. Wondering if anyone else heard about this?

Here is my 5th cent or Nickles worth of why, oh why we engineers build something the way we build it. 1. Engineers can design and create pretty much anything! So why don't they? a. Government rules EPA, CAFE, FMVSS and NHSTB (49 CFR has many) b. Bean Counters c. Production Variation d. Time e. Market Survey Any one of the above can really muck up a great project. Lets take the Aviator GT for instance. Lincoln is joining the big boy table of E Luxury 3 row SUVs, it's like going to a black tie affair in Jeans and Sweaty T-shirt, you don't do it, Lincoln needed to dress up and boy did they. You can't be at the table without good manners, it appears the finishing charm school worked. To join the conversation of the elite, they had to speak of conservation, environment and class. The after dinner cordials are always filled with performance tales from the livery. Nothing perks up ears like saying "Hot Rod Lincoln". Lincoln needed to be on point to achieve blending in this exclusive club, without alienating the Blue Collar Ford fan. I think they did an outstanding job, now to explain. They may have looked at bigger everything's, but bigger especially batteries and motors are heavy mass, heavy mass does not help your crash test ratings unless it is all on the front bumper. Then the bean counters said, hey you can't be within 15% of the price of our flagship. Now, as the Engineers get frustrated, the production line guy says, you can't vary any larger than 15% of the explorer line, or we will need another manufacturing center. #$%^&* say the engineers, then the memo from the glass house, "hey we need this prototype on the road in 18 months. And Oh by the way, our Marketing team says this is what our customer wants and this is what it will take to get a conquest sale. Most times, things are over built and throttled back, some to meet regulation, some for cost purposes, some are just a gut feeling something will be a problem. Dave Pericak while lead designer of the 6th generation of Mustang kept an eight ball on his desk to help him decide what stayed and what went to meet costs. This Sir, is why the Aviator is what it is and is not.

Most people can't understand the concept of buying a Lincoln over a European or Japanese luxury brand, most people (including me) haven't driven a Lincoln... but I ordered my Aviator sight unseen. Since the GTs aren't in production yet I've had plenty of time to second guess my decision but the thought never crosses my mind. I can't wait to drive it off the lot and have no doubt that I'll be saying I've driven a Lincoln and it's the best car I ever owned.

Hi, I'm almost nobody. I have an Audi Q5 and BMW X3 They are our daily drivers, the wife has the Q5 and I the X3. Our first Lincoln is on order. I know of two others doing the same thing. The Aviator will be our travel car. Tonight, a new Nautilus was across the intersection, my wife said what is that? I told her, she said I like that. I said that is the MKx in new clothes. She said, it looks much better. hmmm, two years ago the MKx was an old folks car, now it is good looking. Guess a face lift can do wonders.

Related to Ford as a company, the biggest impact and potentially biggest profit center for BEV's would be to produce a 150 mi to 200 mi range (whatever covers 95% of commercial operators) Transit vans and light duty pickups for the fleet operators. These are the companies that run local service vans and probably put on 100 miles a day on service calls then park them back at the main office. Ford could greatly reduce those operators running costs by providing a BEV solution where each vehicle is charged overnight at their main depot. FedEX, UPS, USPS could all benefit. I think F-250's and such are going to remain ICE for a while but there is a use case for a BEV F-250, but I think market acceptance will be limited right now. Getting more mass market penetration will take some time. Rural parts of the country will still depend on ICE vehicles until the infrastructure improves. PHEV's are not holding back adoption of BEVs, range, charging time, and infrastructure is. If I want to make a 500 mile trip in 8 hours, a BEV is out. If you want to tow on a long vacation, BEV is out. There are not enough charge points available and the charge time is still too long. It takes 5 minutes or less to pump 20 gallons of gas and there are gas stations every 50 miles or so in most rural areas, chargers not so many of those though.

You didn’t answer the question - if you removed the ICE and added more batteries the Fusion energi is EXACTLY like a BEV. It has a charger and can run on battery power alone. Therefore Ford has the technology for BEVs and has had it for at least a decade. In fact it’s harder to do a PHEV because of the ICE integration. that other crap you posted is nothing but green propaganda, For most buyers range isn’t long enough (especially in the cold) and recharging isn’t fast enough and the cost is still prohibitive (if you look at the true cost that would yield profits to the mfr and not Tesla’s ponzi scheme). Until those get fixed, which will take at least another generation of batteries and significant investments in on road charging, hevs and phevs are a damn good interim step. But they don’t fit the agenda.

Somebody tell Tesla........

Plain & simple, there's too damn many dealerships, especially in an urban area. I don't need 17 Ford dealerships within a 20 mile radius to buy a new vehicle at. If they want to create smaller service centers, great. Heck, my last 4 new vehicle purchases have all been at dealers at least 50 miles away. They need to adapt and change, having one on every corner is unnecessary. HRG

Only statistic that matters. Ford produced about 135,000 1973 Mustangs (last of the old body style) and about 385,000 1974 Mustang II's. Absolutely, the car was a smash hit, and the right Mustang for the time. (Interesting tidbit: I worked at the Rouge Plant during the summer of 1974 and my job was to drive cars from one end of the plant parking lot, to another. I have literally driven hundreds of 1974 Mustang II's.).

The Mustang II allowed the Mustang to survive the oil crisis. Maligned as they are...they allowed the nameplate to survive.

Are you on the Volvo sites complaining about their 18 mile all electric hybrid too, or just here?

Yep, we lose money on each sale, but make it up in volume!

Tow ratings - MDX (0), Highlander 3500. Explorer 5000. RWD and a standard drivetrain makes a big difference.

They’ve been trying to get standalone dealerships for almost a decade if not longer. It takes a big financial commitment from the dealer and up until recently the products were a little thin to support a standalone dealer.

try this: HRG

Here's my guess at the profile: I tried to retain the "dive" of the 2018+ Mustang's hood to the headlights