kyle
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Posts posted by kyle
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Yes, because the inside of the Camry is such a wonderful experience. Complete with that silly LED Clock that Toyota has used in every single car since the 80s, and green plastic crap on the center stack that Timex and other alarm clock manufacturers have been using for quite sometime. Yeah sign me up for that.
BTW if anyone is looking for an 07 Camry Stock head unit this site has em really cheap:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=b...asin=B00080FO0S
michael are you talking about the camry that has reclining rear seats, push button start, lexus like gauges, gated shifter or the hybird version?
the fusion won on several fronts but give credit where credit is due....I think and obviously others feel that the interior is not as good as the accord or camry.
the fusion interior is spartan but sporty, the camry very luxerious and the accord a blend of both...
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I enjoy these little clips and appreciate how frank they can be. I know they ended these a little early-supposed to do 50-but think it is a unique perspective in the industry.
And I could not be happier with mulally and fields....they are starting to ask some really hard questions and breaking down the ford culture....very good to see.
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not sure why the legacy is missing because they definitely match up size, price and performance wise. That is my favorite car in that class, but I give ford credit...there is a huge market for awd vehicles, something subaru just can't exploit.
and glad to see some more of this type of advertising.....we all know the shortcomings (and all vehicles have a few) but they need to get the message out that this vehicle needs to be on people's list.
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Of course they are up. They expanded their model offering by 100% over the 2005 lineup. If they weren't up that high, I'd say something was seriously wrong. Prior to the Outlook, Sky, and Aura arriving, all they sold were the ION, VUE, and Relay. You'd think with the increased offerings, they'd be up even higher than 41%.
the outlook just arrived and have not even started to market it yet...not that saturn is even advertised. And the sky is a convertible which ususally sells more in the summer....so the point being is their is some positive things going on with that brand.
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saturn sales were up 41%....I guess that expermint that richard said would fail miserably is....well wrong! Just taking a shot at you richard....just goes to show that the more we think we know the less we actually do:))
myself included....because I was a little skeptical at best
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2,220,090 not sure if that includes Scion. If so ou can carve out approx. another 160k units.
Camry sales are starting to flatten out. Up 1.4%. With a much improved Malibu, hybrid sedans from Ford/Mercury/Saturn, and a new Accord on the horizon kinda makes you wonder what is going to happen down the road with that vehicle.
Having said that, unless the Fusion/Focus/Five Hundred gain traction and continue, I doubt we will be sitting here singing the same song this time next year.
Kind of agree with you there....we won't be sitting here next year and saying "were number 1!"
I think the day's supply for the camry are still pretty tight and they have a plant coming online this year with the subaru joint venture. I just would never underestimate toyota anymore.
The 500 is the ace in the hole here....if it does not pick up any traction those vehicles will be the main stay of fleets next year.
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Richard, I wish you would recognize that Bluecon is right when he says you miss the target with your analysis. As a former insider at a significant level, I can say with assuredness that you are indeed incorrect with many (but also clearly not all) of your assertions. I will try to show where you misinterpret how Ford operates or the facts are wrong. Let’s look below at just a few examples from your paragraph:
quote: According to at least one Ford insider, the guy who led the Escape program has accepted an early retirement offer.
The problem with the Escape would not be the Escape chief engineer (CE). The problem is with the cycle planning process that only allocates limited funds to support product upgrades. Minimize the funding and the options for the CE become likewise minimal. The problem is however that Ford has for the past 4 to 5 years refused to fix the cycle planning process. Their solution has been to push the decision making higher and higher into the organization until the senior team was overwhelmed. Partly this is due to the mistakes of Ford 2000 where planning has been de-emphasized as a career path and instead has become a pass-through rotation for engineers. As such, very little upfront planning accompanies any of the cycle plans. The 80s may have been overkill with the detail in the back-up books, but now there is nothing justifying decisions other than senior management whim.
quote: The Five Hundred was the first new car launched by Ford NA in five years (stop and think that one over), and was, if not a screaming success, immediately competitive with fullsize sedans in its purview.
quote: Hopefully, with the changes being put in place, and the offering of retirements and buyouts, Ford can clear out the deadwood in NA product development that has prevented Ford from developing a solid and consistent lineup.
These two quotes show that you don’t understand what is happening inside Ford. It’s not deadwood being cleared out – it’s the solid folk who provided Ford’s backbone for decades. And your statement is a case in point given that the CE of the Five Hundred was one of the first to go in what was purely a political move. He went from hero to zero in about a month when a certain Product Creation VP decided to make some changes to bring in “his” people. An old manager of mine years ago told me that reorgs aren’t about efficiency, they’re about power. And they’re not about deadwood either.
quote: Let’s consider the situation Bill Ford found himself in (seeing that he, in my opinion, receives an unjustified amount of the blame for the state Ford is currently in): Bill Ford came to the CEO’s office having completely avoided the product side of the business. He came up through finance. This is not necessarily bad: Trotman and Nasser were product men.
This entire paragraph is completely false. Bill Ford’s career inside Ford was primarily product planning – NOT finance. And Nasser was not a product guy AT ALL. He was a finance guy from the word go. He was the protégé of Wayne Booker (a finance guy) who pushed him through all the key finance positions before he started taking general management positions. Bill Ford had a decade of product experience more than Jac Nasser. An old friend of mine bumped into Nasser a year or so ago and he stated that he was much happier buying and selling companies for a bank – which is precisely what he did at Ford.
quote: I don’t think that Bill Ford was prepared to believe, and it certainly seems as though no one under him was prepared to tell him, just how messed up his product teams were.
There was nothing wrong with the specific product teams – unless you are referring to the entire “energy room process” – but that wasn’t a multitude of teams but rather a single effort to drive compatibility into the target setting process. But as I stated before – there were no career planners to make the process work.
quote: Ford’s successes blinded officers of the corporation to this–or officers of the corporation (e.g. Jac Nasser) knew that there were problems, and REFUSED to fix them, refusing to expend any effort at all on fixing them.
Nasser never believed there were problems (at least of the sort you allude to) – how could he refuse to fix something he didn’t believe was there. Sure the management team recognized the need for continually improving the PD process but Nasser was primarily interested in getting the Ford stock to approximate the dot.com multiples of the day – he spent very little time on process. As such he shed assets that never should have been shed. He eliminated engineering capability if they took to many assets. And he drove teams to deliver product with too few resources assuming that process enablers proposed were as good as implemented.
quote: Among snippets that have escaped from the last few years, it appears that Bill Ford was increasingly frustrated with the quality of information that he was receiving, and that he believed he was being misled on a regular basis. …… Steven Hamp was appointed chief of staff, apparently to provide some kind of BS detection regarding the information being passed to Bill.
Bill Ford is an idiot because he didn’t depend on the team he put in place – not because the quality of information he received was questionable. Case in point is Greg Smith who in his last year with Ford was made Vice-Chairman to help advise Billy in corporate operational issues. So in one year, How many times do you think Billy availed himself of Greg’s (considerable) expertise…..None. Billy listened more to his UofM business school professor and some green advocate than he did to the management of his own firm. Now it’s not a bad thing that he did consult those people – but the problem was that was all he consulted. And that’s why Greg resigned.
quote: Bill Ford was, in many ways, a flawed CEO, but at the time that he assumed that role, there was no one else at Ford. Nasser had driven the remaining capable executives from the company, and had made himself foremost in the crew of liars and cavilers bent on preserving their jobs by hiding as much of the truth as possible from Bill.
Heh heh – much of this IS true.
Nice post....appreciate the info. Would be curious to hear if you are still with the company or have moved on.
Richard I think that their is some validity to what has been stated and think you should take it for what it is...
From my perspective I have to say that as much as Nasser was a failure, Bill Ford was more so. Bill was Jac's boss for what 4 years prior to the change up. All along he as chief executive office and a long term member of the board was well aware of what was going on in the product side.
He more than anyone is accountable. I do not believe that he was outright lied to and it is his responsiblity to ensure that he is given accurate information.
A friend of mine worked for H&P for nearly 20 years before Carly Fiornia was promoted to the top job. Not to much later he was out during a reorg in the company. Listening to him it is apparent to him that he has an ax to grind-and if I was making $200k a year and was out I would be to-but he always harped back to the original founds management style....anyone?
It was MBWA-management by walking around. Obviously bill never worked for Ford but if he had "walked around" he would of seen through many of the problems.
The best thing he ever did was hire Mulally. Second best thing was knew he had to hire someone.
Everyone at the top of ford's manangement has changed in the past 8 years but one.
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It didnt change till 2000MY
Also it had the same changes as the 500 has...new grill headlights and tail lights. It just needed more work done to it get rid of the oval shape, The 500 just needed tweeks.
Its amazing how much hate is around this place for certain products that Ford sells.
This refresh wasn't intended to save the world. it was to fix what was wrong with it.
As for sales increases, we'll just have to wait and see, but I dont think 200K units a year is out the relm of possibitly.
the taurus changed dramatically 2000-new instrument panel, etc. I think they changed everything but the doors on the body.
if you think the 500 only needed new taillights and a 3 bar grill (besides the motor) to get on the list of people looking at an avalon, lesabre and a 300 I respectfully disagree (as opposed to sixcav-sure do miss him sometime-who would of been much more personal!) disagree. Their is not enough compelling reasons to get on the list...and 200k sales of this unit....please...they only forecast 100k of the edge-a brand new product that is ford's best effort since the original taurus.
yah it sucks that I have to hate certain products that ford makes because I just love the company. how can anyone defend these vehicles when they are getting their ass kicked in the market. If ford was selling these vehicle's at respectable levels and people were actually buying this car other than price (besides for few loyaltist's) then my argument would hold no merit at all...but in this case I hate being wrong.
you will not hear me bashing the f150, the mustang, edge or the fusion (although I have stated before their interior's are their weak point).
what is the market size of honda right now...just off hand...they are in and around 10%-that is what ford gave up in less than 10 years-imagine that. to me it just boggles the mind....and the only reason why they went from 25 to 15% (which mind you is where they WANT to be-no guarantees that is where they will bottom out!!!) is because of product. product, product, product.
and I guess if I hate something it must at least mean that I give a shit.
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Where do I send the check?
To me!!
Vehicle looks great...like some have said-"half hate it, half love it." This is what they have to do-make a bold statement.
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I stand by my comments....I have seen numerous posts where people say "wait till the 500 gets redone, etc." Say what you want but when you guys get excited about dual exhausts and clear tail lights there is a problem.
Honda does a slight refreshening every 2-2.5 years on their accord and it is a hell of a seller to begin with. Ford acknowleged the problem early on and it took forever for this pathetic showing.
And the taurus change from 1996 to 99? took the car's styling in a whole different direction.
Defend all you want...does not matter to me...I am not the one trying to sell these things. It is just another sad redesign by ford.
And like I said things will change significantly in the next 2-3 years with fields pushing the styling department...
Some of you guys just crack me up....it is rather amusing how jaded you are. I just hope you don't actually work for ford. Kind of like some fanatical sports fan defending your favorite team, etc.
And please don't question my love for ford because I happen to call them out on their failures-really sucks that they are going through this but they did this to themselves-no one else.
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this is the reason why ford is in trouble....we have heard since this vehicle was launched that it would be updated and many have predicted that this would be the second coming of this vehicle.....
now if you still believe that I feel sorry for you....they updated the taurus in quicker time with far more changes to the vehicle's personality.
honda does this type of updates every two years...
now the good news...this is the reason why mulally and fields are shaking the hell out of the company. these things will not continue to happen and products that will hit the streets in 2 years or so will not look old by the time they are released.
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They say they are going to stabilize retail share.
they can say alot of things....but the industry is already forcasting a drop in sales for next year....so with a declining market means more incentives and that is not where they are headed. You also have a new gm pickup and a new toyota pickup-huge volume models.
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they would be thrilled if it stabilized....and have been saying that for a couple of years now....don't think it will happen until mid 2008
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It took me an hour the other day to catch up on the ford 500 topic-with some defending it and other's criticizing it.
I can't remember a topic in this forum that generated so much interest. I guess many of us were just disapointed in how little they changed the vehicle's appearance.
I think the upcoming focus has gotten a much better refreshening....actually looks like a "new" vehicle!
http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/12/13/spi...focus-new-face/
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Volvo looks like they will continue to build some nice looking vehicles.
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/13/detroit...o-xc60-concept/
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HA, an IS250 w/ AWD.....don't even get me started on that snail. Auto (check) AWD (check) piddly 204 hp (check). Guess you would need that resale value after you get tired of 15K cars blowing by you.
piddly 204 hp......kind of ironic that the zephyr did not have much more than that last year! And then check to see where the vehicle has that "cheapened" feel to it....you won't find it. And don't even mention resale.
the problem with the mkz is just stated to you guys from someone who bought one....nothing new there...and I happen to like the looks of the car...especially in black....the problem is when you compare it to vehicles in it's class
I am a big fan of awd...borg you will love that feature....another nice product with that feature in the subu legacy-especially when it is turbo charged....and their interiors have come miles!
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It appears 2009 is sort of "the reckoning" at this point. The new F-150, Mustang, Five Hundred, Focus, and others are due right about then...and none of them can afford to be anything like a halfway measure. By 2011, the whole line should be a full generation or more from where it is now. That will either be a better day for Ford...or a real sign of the end.
I agree with the pivotal year being 2009. Fields will have his stamp on things by then-if those products come out and have the same old look then it will be several more years and possible bankruptcy.
The old quote goes "I will know it when I see it" kind of plays into when they have turned that corner and until that time goes they are going to be struggling for quite sometime-there is just way to much competition out there.
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When are they going to bottom out and start to rebound? Very good question.
My guess (which is all it is!) is not until at least 2010-at the earliest. I base that on the products that are in the pipeline and their recent history.
I also think it will take at least 3-4 years for mulally's team to start showing results. There is going to be many people leaving the company in the next 6 months or so, and I am not talking about the layoffs-I am thinking more in senior leadership who do not buy into mulally's direction.
As his team is put together it will take awhile for products to start showing up that can really make a difference.
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What happened to sixcav?
I spent an hour reading the posts on the 500 but did not see anything that warranted his dismisal, at least in that topic.
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typically all new mercurys are intorduce in chicago.
or the south florida auto show...only show I know that is open until midnight...then the fun really begins around that town!
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What the article is saying is correct...the focus is built as a wagon-true for now...but like you I have heard there will be no wagon version
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but damn it...they are not designed in america! just mocking RJ...heh that is good news...although I would rather see some of this under the lincoln lineup
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with te 2008 escape and focus ford has matched the produt cycles of these 2 lines, combined with the exsisting parts sharing, ford looks to be moving to a shared arhctechture for C2.
Question?
does the escape need a V6?
No doubt about it...everyone in that segment has it...4cylinder models will be for the upcoming b car-which I think will have suv like variant
does the focus need AWD? if you want to compete against the impreza yah...but that segment in the market would rather have a sunroof or bigger stereo than a safety feature!
will this hurt the Escape?not certain...think the direction of the escape (more rugged) is going to be the right one for that product...they obviously have room for a more car like looking vehicle-why not have two vehicles covering the market than just one?
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heh Richard....hope you don't disappear completely from the site....and although we don't always agree-who the hell does!-always appreciate your opinion...seems to rise above much of the mud slinging extrimists from "both" sides!
good luck!
Well well, take a collective bow BON crew, Ford listened.
in Fusion Forum
Posted
not on the camry...you have the key in your pocket, etc....and then you just push the start button...now however you perceive it is fine...but it certainly is a nice feature and one ford does not offer on the fusion.
and if the public hardly gives a shit why is it starting to pop up on some other vehicles-altima to name one and even ford has some type coming on their vehicles...but on the new espcape i think you have to insert the key fob and screw with it...that to me does not make as much sense.
point being it is a area where ford did not go the distance and missed a chance to have a few "wow" features on the vehicle.....at the very least it should be on some of the lincoln's