kyle

Well I really like the old moniker and the new one stands for nothing it will never happen. The target audience is: woman, minorities and the G&L community. Trust me they have no interest in that ornament. It is to bad because it looks great.

I live in Atlanta and have actually toured that plant.....huge presence on the south side. Hope they reward those employees with a plant sometime in the future....talked about it a few years back but that was before shit hit the fan. The founder of chick fil-a has been a huge ford fan and has shown a great amount of loyalty to that plant. He deserves the thing for free.

I don't doubt that you are very familar with the vehicles but in the States look who the target market is....first time buyers, young, etc. They don't give a damn about a inch in the back seat or headroom...they buy because the vehicle looks good and suits their lifestyle needs (or more likely their desires!). This vehicle would sell here in volumes and make Ford what it desperately wants and needs to be.....HIP or whatever the generation zzzz's call it!

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/19/sal-pau...d-fiesta-trail/ This is the type of vehicles Ford should have here now......I know Field's wants a small car that is definitely "american" but you can't tell that this think would not be a success. What the hell is a small amercan car anyways?

How the hell do you make it red? Ok, actual sales figures...for what it is worth because as I have said before that is by no means a tell all of a successful vehicle. They will sell more than 100k. Their sales figure is a lot like G Bush's deficit projection number....he indicates a much higher deficit knowing that under just about any set of circumstances it is lower...thus I he is a genius, etc. etc. How many ford dealers in the country? 4000? If they sell just three of these a month then that is over 140k a year. Tried checking my automotive news for dealer numbers but think I am pretty close. Regarding the reviews that are being posted right now...not taking much stock in them...they are all based on the ride and drive out in California this past week. Expect a more thorough review when the production vehicles are tested in the next month. I used to love car and driver...but think they terrible as I do just about any us magazine. I am huge fan of CAR and Top Gear...you want to read a review-they get in depth, etc.

Gretzky's going to back in Canada real soon the way his team his playing!

you know what they say....keep your friends close and your enemies closer!

Here is a few more http://autodeadline.com/Photos?source=Mercury&page=1

I like the update...think for once that they have changed enough to give it a fresh look...would love to have seen more sheetmetal change...but considering what they have done in the past it is a vast improvement. I think the center stack looks great as well....love the large knobs...something ford has never done. Two things I noticed that I would like to see differently....move the ignition key switch and hazard switch off of the steering column. Ford has started to move the hazard buttons to the center stack-where they belong but stayed true to their old habits here. And if you are going to do a electric start move it to the left of the stack like the volvo...it is much easier to access. And don't forget we are really not the target market for this vehicle anyways....unless you are latin, african american or a female...or gay (not that their is anything wrong with that!) But just because I like it does not mean....

u would be fucked as well with regular doors!! I like the idea...it was also designed in detroit which makes me believe that it may be showing up on a domestic vehicle first

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/05/volvo-w...making-whoopee/ It is about time we got some good news!!

let me ask you a question....if you bought a rover sport and it had the same setup how would you feel? Maybe I am making to big of a deal out of it....but the fact remains that ford continues to struggle in the market place and have not updated their products enough and this is just one of those instances where it just reeks of a company being run by bean counters. Some asshole got promoted because of this-not verifiable but can just imagine.!

You are right Igor, alot can happen in three years. But Honda has been an undisputed leader in small car technology and they have developed technology that no one has....I think the whole industry will be making diesels for small/medium size vehicles within the next 5 years. I think both GM and Ford have been cautious in their outlook with diesels due to the negative (unwarranted in today's market) perception. Chrsler's is more open to it due to them being owned by mercedes-a leader in diesel technology. Honda does not have that baggage either and thus don't fear being a leader in the market.

yet another reason why they need to overhaul their product development department.....

Noah I would care if I just spent $50k on a expedition limited that shared the center stack with a $12k focus....now if I was the guy who spent $12k on a focus I would be thrilled that the $50k expy had the same setup.....people want exclustivity-good, bad or wrong-that is the way the world is. Most other manufacturer's have a lot more differentiation in their vehicles-even the camry vs. the solara has a unique setup. I never said immediate demise....but what they have done the past 5 years has not worked well-like it or not.

I don't think the hiring of one person changes the possiblity of a long term partnership and besides bill was talking with this guy for months before it happened.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15129365/ I wonder if Bill has already called Carlos....

well there is link for "best cars from Ford" for the feel good people. When there is not a lot of good things going on then people and rightly so talk about the negative things....if ford was kicking ass and taking names then i think the atmosphere of this board would be totally different..... Richard....I can't produce a probability chart on what if scenario's but you can be assured that ford now realizes that their minor reskinning have hurt them and that is why I am at least optimistic that the next time these vehicles come around for updating someone will have some balls....

I don't dispute that Richard but think we would BOTH agree that it would be selling at a higher turn rate if their redesigns were more noticeable....that's all....and I think it will come back to haunt them with the expedition update....regarding the navigator I cannot even offer a prediction-definitely would not want that job!

I am not disputing that....but with redesigns like the explorer where they basically changed everything and nothing at all. yes mr. customer we put $500 million into this new subframe, etc. comared to toyota (who carries over a lot of stuff underneath) getting their vehicles reskinned-people want fresh looking vehicles even if they get 15mpg. they have so many issues right now that the only problem is doing nothing at all

make no mistake the mustang and fusion are selling because of their exterior design....we can go around and around on this but the point I am making is ford does not do enough to differentiate their products and they are paying the consequences of it.

well I am out of here for tonight....off to my petite blond wife!

well I respectively disagree richard....and I will say this is one of the reason's why ford continues to fail in the market place....they just don't get it. And if your position is so right all the time I am trying to figure out why ford continues to lose market share all the while giving away their vehicles. And please someone else jump in here and tell me that while the ip's on the mazda's are similar they are hardly the SAME. Big difference to me. And besides it has been 4 model years with the current center stack.....across the board...every vehicle launched in the US has the same one....a long time in this industry...and you are in the software industry where things change in 90 day incruments. Let me put it another way....I happen to like petite blond woman but I can tell you that every 5' blond female that I see, how can I say it.has their own unique characteristics-but they are certainly not the same. Oh maybe that is for another forumn

come on richard......if you are comparing the mazda's ip's with ford's and saying they are both doing the same thing you are more blinded that I thought....and regarding toyota we are just saying the same thing, although if you look across the board from them you do not see identical setups- I can sit in my bmw-5 series-98 and it feels vaguely the same as my 87 5 series-they look and feel similar but that is it....switchgear is improved, etc. maybe we can "agree:)))" at least and saywhile their is nothing fundamentally wrong with fod's current interior layout it would be nice to see some unique designs-ie-different headunits, hvac, lighting (why all green?), shifters, cupholders, trim pieces, door panel switchgear, etc. Agree? For mankind please!

Outside of a steering wheel Richard those cars are not rometely the same! Are they similar...hell yah! I don't disagree with you on the need to standardize but for the last 5 years I have been hearing that ford is going to use common items across the board but those are the one's you do not touch or see....and they have 100% failed in that objective. The only thing I see Toyota sharing are their window switches for the past 10 years.....I guess they are pretty good because they are in the LS400 to the Corolla... I don't agree with you that it is a quality issue.....think it is much more cost driven and that management has not totally bought into the belief that "product is king." I will put an * here because I think they do have some great stuff in the "pipeline." I think with their current management they are fully aware of the consequences if they don't get it right this time. No more $25 billion in the bank. And while we have this conversation......Mazda puts out a hell of a vehicle with a hell of an interior....while the mazda 3 and mazda 6 ip's are similar they are nothing more than that...to me that is the benchmark.