ANTAUS

Well if the LS appealed to a "very" small number of people, the Zephyr is appealing to an even smaller number since it's sales are half of that if not more....at an average rate of 2000 units sold per month

This is good overall. GM had a 26% decline in sales, DCX had 13% decline, Nissan had a 19% decline...

LINK-Autoline.com

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I agree. Take a Focus Hatchback 4 doors, raise it a bit, give it more cargo room, and Voila! And to begin with, at least the Focus stems from a good platform. When I think Caliber, it reminds me of the POS Neon....

13.6Cu.Ft. We are talking about Focus like...which for a Focus, it's generous trunk space, but a family sedan? I'm still having issues with that one... The 3.5L goes down to 235HP from 250HP. If this is, so the engine runs on regular, that might be somewhat acceptable, but nothing competitive. If it's to keep the R/T at 250HP and make it exclusive, then it was a stupid decision.\ Plus 3 engine choices? Not like they sell enough anyways...hmm probably it's to make the 2.7L the price leader. If it's Chrysler, the uplevel engines should have been kept, since they try to aim for a polished brand, while keeping the cheaper engine on the next Corporate twin...Avenger. I'm really not impressed. I was really expecting something serious from DCX considering the 300, but it's as if the car was designed by 2 committees... From the B-Pillar Forward, and the B-Pillar backwards...

Did anyone catch the 13.6 Cu.Ft. trunk? Is that a typo? That's a joke for a "family sedan", and 3500lbs for the fully loaded with the 3.5L? It's gonna need it. Mooooooo

Actually the 4.2L gets dropped, along with the 3.8L when the minivans are phased out. (about time). Your looking at 2008 for this change...

The rear end, specifically the trunk lid reminds me of the previous generation Avalon, the rear lights have an upswing into the fender that reminds me of the Saturn LS. The sides have a Saturn LS like beltline. The C-pillar window has a sunken look to it, like current Maxima. The front is typical Chrysler, although the shaped likes make it look mean which is a common philosophy lately. Almost MKZ like foglight arrangement. I'm not impressed, and not at all intimidated by that evil grille/light arrangement, in fact, I'm laughing lol

You mean to say that a little old lady driving her Crown Vic into a store front window is NOT a BOLD MOVE? LOL

Well I'll share my experience with my dealerships have been great to me, and why my Lincolns last longer... I drive-in, immediately have a technician attend me, they ask questions, I supply answers, and walk me to the lounge where I wait. With coffee, donuts, pastries. While looking at other vehicles coming in for service, I notice how well taken care of the cars are. I mean, what could 65 yr old granny do to her vehicle ya know? Luckily the maintenence for the first year on Lincolns is covered, although I think they are removing that, if not already, but I'm covered. Inside the lounge, I await with a few other people, quality conversation of an older nature, some CNN, UsaToday, Wall Street Journal laying around. Some magazines as well. Ask others what they are in for...One guy "Fred" was noticed while just getitng his oil change, that they heard the vehicle make a certain noise, which was attributed to worn brake pads, and said they would take care of it, no change (even if he was out of warranty). Janice next to me was in because her daughter noticed that one of the speakers was blown in her Navigator, which of course was immaculate...Told me she spent $20 a week on having it hand washed...And I'm sure she didnt notice because she was hard of hearing actually...Since I had to rebat myself a few time. And yes, 15 minutes later, the service staff came to remind me, my car was done already...asked me if I wanted my vehicle washed... I tell them yes, they ask "machine wash, or hand wash"... Being I have black, of course hand washed. Just excellent service all around. Of course, granted, the majority of those there are older, won't ever drive their vehicles as hard as I do, you know 90% of the Navigators there have never seen un-paved roads, and those THX systems will hardly be blasted to their full potential, and those Town Cars are not being tossed aimlessly around...so Yes... I believe there's a certain class and demographic out there, which shows they too take care of their vehicle (much more than I do) BTW, this is my 3rd LS-8. 2000 with 123K when I turned it in and all it had was the re-programming of the tranny then a 2003 which I had for 115K miles troublefree, and now the '05 with 18K (broken cupholder-my fault for getting head inside a vehicle).

I mean, Ford doesn't need to do much with 900K+ sales a year, they can stay sadated as the competition improves itself and passes by them...ya know, like the Taurus, Ranger, Focus, etc. If Ford IS serious, they it'll bring a larger engine, diesel option, Navigation available, improve interior, offer AdvancTrac, etc. Thats IF they really wanted to show thier "BOLD MOVES". If it doesn't come to plate with that, forget it, the media will continue to chime in on Ford's medicoredy.

I keep seeing a bit of Fusion to it, but it's typical for GM to copy Ford styling ideas, so not expected. But Ford needs to worry more about what's happening under the hood, which is where Ford is weakest.

LINK-TCC.com

As current vehicles go, I don't see how a vehicle could be an investment unless it's something thats extremely rare or exotic one way or another. Consider $43K...plus whatever financing needed, IF they can't pay cash for it. Then the insurance for it, and the routine maintenence (even if you store it). After all that is added, rise in cost of living, amortization all those years, etc.etc.etc. Are you REALLY going to get $300K for it in 40 years (provided a midsize Fusion Generation 14 goes for around $60K). I'm just putting that out there...

Oh my, that is ssooo hilariously cute. I think it's a great idea, and where better than Myspace, and Free ! Cults are started this way, probably no other manufacturer has thought of this...

This isn't news, it's just, Toyota does such a good job in marketing,the media helps to blur and spin things, and so many different improvements are introduced, it deters people from asking the obvious. Yes, it's a carry-over essentially. In fact, the platform is about several car generations old, stemming to the early 90's. It's basically all nip-tuck through all these generations. The Accord is also guilty of the same, no matter how much Honda has tried to say otherwise. Also, ever notice in some generations of the Camry/Es300 twinnery, that the ES300 receives frameless side windows, while the Camry receives framed windows? This is another area they alter, to further differntiate. Domestic manufacturer's always concentrated on differentiating one generation of a vehicle from another, that it just complicated manufacturing, logistics, while quality suffered from changing suppliers frquently. And they have learned this from asian manufacturer's, which carry over the majority of their proven parts, but tweak them...improved them, give them better reliability. Actually there was an article about this about a year ago, where Ford admitted it would follow that method. A platform can age gracefully if it's designed properly, to allow for future growth with minimal tweaks. Whereas previously, Ford threw out the mold and introduced something totally different in every sense. Ford's biggest mistake has been styling actually. They improved certain vehicles, yet...they look almost similar to the vehicle they replaced. Jag XJ, LS, Expy, Escape, CV/GM/TC. For consumers to take notice, it requires radical sheetmetal change. And this is done at the 4-5th year product cycle. While keeping the front/rear fascia, lighting tweaking at the mid-cycle point. Yearly improvements are welcomed, or in the case of the 500, it receives substantial upgrades mid-cycle. This isn't to say that it's correct to introduce a totally new vehicle, with previous generation engines either which Ford is very guilty of. In the case of the 500, it was all about timing. And Ford know this...Look how quickly the F-150 is getting redesigned...only because they refuse to lose in that market. SO Ford can do this with sedans, it's all a matter about wanting to.

LINK-Edmunds.com

LINK-Autoweek.com

LINK_Wards.com The vehicle is basically a stripper of a model...when Toyota releases such a product, it's labeled as a "starter package for enthusiasts" ..."for tuners who want to start with a clean pallete". If Ford would have done similar, it would have been laughed off. Ford marketing should take an example of how effective spin can be...

Not sure why FL is an area where they need to focus sales, there's so many SUV's around here..and I specially recall GM's, because they usually have one Daylight Running Lamps burned out...Seems like it's a common issue...along with the Vortec piston-slap...

If it debuts in January 2007, it can carry a 2008 MY designation. I see it pointless when Ford releasesa vehicle in December...just wait a few weeks, and get that "extra year" designation...

Magellan ok then ?

DCX Pulls the ad out... LINK-Tcc.com

"I agree with that! The Freestyle-based Merc fits with where Mercury is heading." Well...do we know where Mercury is headed? Does FORD even know where Mercury is headed? Hmmm....