630land

The spin on this is "Look Toyota is making fewing trucks, saving gas!"

300 sales went way down in the past few months. the hype is over, and the Charger is not going to sell as well. Whats Mopar-wagen got coming? Sebring based on a Mitsu? Durango with chrome? The LY cars [next gen 300, etc] are years away. the final years of the current LX 300 will be 'buy a car get a check' again.

Jac 'the knife' killed the MN-12s. But that market was fading anyway. GM is down to the Monte Carlo [ready to die], where are all the so called 'big coupe buyers'? But Mercury was revived in the 60's by the Cougar, and the cat was the symbol for years. Some local dealers still use cougars [the animal] in ads. Have to find some way to bring it back. as they did with Stang and the new Camaro.

"If it doesnt have sliding or suicide doors I dont see the point in building it at all. Just restyle the freestyle and call it a day....it would have been cheaper." I think that is what they are doing, the "Fairlane" will make the Freestyle redundant. [Will quietly fade out] And since there is no Merc Meta 1, I think Merc is on the way out also.

If I were the new CEO, I'd weed out the bad dealers, and close 'em for good. Base it on CSI #'s and also send some "spy buyers" or service work to seee how bad/good they are. Crappy dealers got to go!

I bet the "Fairlane" XUV [hope they break the 'F' naming for good] will come out and the Freestyle will quietly fade away. Some will say the D3 platform is a flop, but Ford will get their money's worth with different named products.

Buyers have been complaining about high car prices over 30 years, and rebates go back that far too. "Buy a car get a check for $250" WOW! People get sticker shock and refuse to buy unless they see something "off" on the paperwork. So, endless cycle of rebates. The sainted Camry sells under sticker, why do you think it's #1?? The "old" ones sold for razor thin dealer profit. Still wonder why Toyota is dead set on selling more Tundras and Lexues?

People expect Bob Lutz to jump to Ford, and that suddenly it will be 1970 again, with cheap gas, muscle cars, and little emission controls. Umm wake up?

"Sounds like the 500 is the new countour. Let's spend a billion dollars on a new world car and abandon! A+ for Ford." Umm, the D3 is based on Volvos, so they are hardly wasting $$. After two years, people expect too much. Also, for the millionth time, they are not "abandoning, dropping, or cancelling the D3 platform". Looking at Contour, it sold well in countries as the Mondeo. And the engineering costs also created the Duratech V6 and other tech items still used today.

Oh another 'good old days' rant... Well, back then, cars had 60-70-80% of the market. And, there were fewer car makes competing. Some probably wish the 'govment' could have blocked all 'furrin cars', too. But then these same people gladly go to Wal Amrt every week to get cheap Asian made 'stuff'. The rant is like Andy Rooney or some old timer going on and on about changes.. "Remember when there were only 3 TV Networks?" "... gas was 20 cents a gallon" etc, etc, etc

Get ready for the annocuncement that the Panthers/Taurus die sooner than planned. And maybe much better cars & trucks will come too

CR will pick on any little thing so that the NY Times or Washington Post can make a big headline about it. Of couse if in a Honda, it would be "while a bit low for our tastes, we are sure Honda owners won't mind"

Here's why. If "Joe Blow Mustangs" screws over someone, they may say "I won't buy Fords again". Couldn't care less, the aftermarketers are getting filthy rich restoring old cars, so they should pay up. Can scream and yell, but GM, DCX and all are doing it too. Go buy a Chinese car then.

"The 500 is getting a refresh to be competitive against its competition.............the avalon doesn't need a refresh because toyota did it right the first time." Ahem, then why does Toyota do any re-freshes? Why aren't they still selling the 1996 era Avalon if they were right the first time????? If Asians refresh it's 'continuous improvement'. For Ford, it's "they fucked up and have to fix it"

Blah blah :blah: Dont care what you think of me personally, since we've neer met, internet is impersonal anyway. What's "DCK" mean? "Dick"? [sorry i had to go there :happy feet: ] The Escape is no where as bad as the Freestar or other money losers. And the RAV4's first generation only overlapped the Escape by what a whole year? Big fucking deal. That doesn't mean that the RAV had three whole generations in 7 years time. So many are hung up on 'what version is this car?" It isn't software. Toyota's trucks are not on the "perfect 5 year cycle" and that 'gold standard' is tarnished, Expect 6 years or more from them, 09 Corolla is the start. And "Edgier, shemedgier", they ran out of $$ to redesign to "All new". What is interesting is that while the RAV and CRV were first, the Escape came and took #1 compact. Wait and see how the new oen does in a year. SO what if the A piller won't be 'new looking'. And one more thing where are the RAV$ and CRV Hybrids???? No where, while Escape/Mariner offer it.

I couldn't care less. Better to stand out then ot be another LExus look alike SUV.

HF2 hired the Whiz Kids, not "Old Henry" which implies HF1 Hmm, lets see, they were still the #2 selling car company in Aug. Fusion has increased sales and has Zero quality glitches unlike the 'all new Camry'. While their large truck based SUV sales are down, so are GM and 'holy Nissan and Toyota's' big trucks. In fact, wasn't the Nissan Titan going to steal alot of Ford sales by now? And why is Toyota allowed to delay new models without harsh ctiricism?

The 500 is based on Volvos, so no it is not a total flop. And, no it is not 'abandoned'. If it were, there would be no plans for updates. Too many are fanatical at ripped Ford. Toyota Avalon sells well in its 'first year', but then kinda of fades. No one complains that Avalon is not getting same #'s as the Camry. Shows that Large cars do not sell as well as mid sized in this day and age. To exepct 400K sales of the 500 is nuts. Fanatics will say "Ford is sinking", while they still manage to be #2 in sales. WTF?? Escape isn't abandoned, and only hot heads are whining. IT is still selling well, and in the truck segment '5th year re-dos' are not written in stone. And if it is so true, why is Toyota going to 6 years with the Corolla? They are supposed to be 'perfect' right?

This was planned, the grille is not 'old', and the 500 is only two years old. The greenhosuse is not the major problem with the car, it is the fascia and the interior. Also, too many think it is a 'Taurus replacement' or that it doesn't offer AWD. FOrd should promote that it is a large car, has AWD aval, and that it gets better MPG than other AWD vehicles. No, its not for the teen boy racers who want fender flares, swoops, and new looks every single year. SO what?

What is funny is in news reports, the headline reads "Honda has record truck sales". But it's not what you think. No, the Ridgeline is not overtaking the Detroit 3 pickups, in fact it is down. The Odyssey and Pilot 'shopping carts' are the ones selling. Some forget that minivans are officially classes as trucks.

People and companies that buy full sized van do not care at all about 'new styling'. Also, there is no need for a 'complete re-do' to please those onlookers who sit and judge, but do not buy. The van is getting a deisel motor, so how is that for the 'must be new, new, new' crowd?? "Ford should kill the 500" Talk about 'cut and run'! It only fuckin 2 years old! Spend tons of $$ and drop a whole car line, since it "not a Taurus"? BTW: Taurus was outsold by Fusion, Mustang, and Focus. Time to get the morphine injection ready!! And lastly, for a company that is supposedly 'going out of business', they sure are selling!!! If the Fusion trio bombed, then yeah, get the lifeboats. But also, the presumed 'dead' Focus is doing well, and the Mustang proves that 'retro is NOT dead'.

The Nitro is a badge job of the Jeep Liberty, bug f-n deal. Will bomb just as the 'all new' Durango and Ram trucks. Aspen is an even worse badge job, kind of like the K cars with landau vinyl tops called 'New Yorkers'. With the dealers selling all three brands under one roof, most will opt for the Jeep versions, or another manfacturer at all, if shopping for a truck/SUV. The 'excitement' about these badge jobs shows Mopar heads still think the brands are separate comapnies. Just like they think that Plymouth was still the #3 selling car make [not since 1970] when it was killed off, mercifully,

3 'completely new' Rav4s since 1999? Try one, the 2007. The 'all new' version beofre was just new skins, big fucking deal. Now it has a 3rd seat, but it is for infants. And the V6 is a gas hog.

Ford had the family crest in the 50's, and then block letters in the 60's and 70's. But no they should not kill the blue oval, just get more new products out there with the blue oval!!!!

I agree the Import fanatics who think that all Asian car makers are Holy Buddist Monks, will sping it as, "See, a chance for them to shine!". :P:P:P