kyle

Let's see....the topic is "worst ford cars" and we give our opinion and you have a problem with this....wtf? I could care less about toyota or honda...I don't follow their website but I do follow Ford's because I really want the company to WIN! And like I have said before-I believe everyone on this site (in lieu of otis, lemon) all want the same. Some of you guys sound like children....the best selling, the biggest, the most recalls....who gives a shit. I could care less if i was buying a vehicle because it was the number one selling truck in the world...I want to know that it is the best vehicle for my needs. Do you think they have this discussion over at BMW? Lexus? MB? I think Ford builds some exceptional vehicles....but most of them are not sold here in the States. I love their trucks and I think Jaguar is right around the corner from turning things around. Range Rover is doing a great job, Volvo needs some new product but it is coming....and Mazda has some of the best vehicles in the world....so don't give us shit because we think Ford can do better. "Yes Mr. Ford, we have got rid off all the naysayer's at the company...you will be glad to know that we all think that you are terrific, by the way...we just lost another point of market share and $5 billion dollars but that is not so bad, we could of lost 2 points and $10billion....golly, gee, aren't we great" I don't want to hear anyone question my passion for Ford or my patrioism, but god damn it, sometimes the truth just SUCKS!

Just like the president?

I agree 100%.....I mean call a spade a spade. Although I agree with RJ the majority of times....this is clearly not one of them. When ford could not launch a vehicle without 6 recalls they got scared shitless. So anything that could stay the same, stayed the same. They also decided to standardize all of their ip's and if you don't think that is ridiculous your crazy. The only difference in a zephyr and fusion center stack is....well nothing to me. Then look over to the f150-same radio, same hvac control....let's go look at the 500...., the mustang-same here...and now we have the edge launching with the same setup....talk about a dead end job-can you imagine the guy whose supposed to be working in the interior trim handling this...i think he must be on a 5 year vacation. It just reeks of lack of imagination and cheapness......and the radio's are not even that good! Come on RJ-grow some balls and call ford out on this one.....and stop belittling everyone on this board who disagrees with you.....I follow this site as I am sure all of us do (except lemon..but that is another topic all together)because we love ford motor company and just think they can do better......come on RJ you can do it....just this once:)))

Check out leftlanenews.com for several more pictures. I for one am wondering if the passenger rear is going to have headrests. For whatever reason Ford cheapens up several vehicles and leaves them off. I remeber getting into a f250 and thinking i would not only break my neck if slammed from behind-I would bleed to death as well when my head hits the rear window.

well look at it this way....if those are the criticisms than that is not to bad.....how long have we known that it did not have a 3rd seat-2 years? I do hate the fact that it does not have a few more selections on the automatic transmission....especially when the cx-9 has them-it is just a cost cutting move from ford. They have taken flak for that the past year so hopefully they are listening and will change that decision

I think 2009 is unrealistic at best....and it still disappoints me that this did not have to happen....I can't see them moving to the explorer platform-it just seems to expensive. The customer buying the ranger wants to spend $10-16k and wants to have a small truck-look at the dakota-when ever i see that i think to myself that he is a ram wannabee. The market for $25k midsize trucks is very small due to all the manufacturing capacity (read-rebates from whoever has the oldest truck) in the full size segment. Maybe there is a market for an f100-say $15-23k and then the 150. Look at all those small courier trucks on the road...that is a huge market for just parts and service....not to mention if they put out a good vehicle that the driver alone very well may purchase that brand.

who cares about freestyle? the customer who is buying a freestyle is not the same customer who is buying a cx9. And besides why not give them both? I am convinced that there should be several versions to satisfy the customer-why do you think there is more than vanilla and chocoalate?

the reason why they have not said anything is because simply they don't even know themselves. I think with all the changes in upper management-especially on the product side-every time a new manager takes over he puts his stamp on what he thinks is most important and face it....small trucks are not something someone is going to make president on! Yah, I revamped the ranger product and we now sell 200k a year....I think they would rather try to make a name on something else...whether it is hybirds, large trucks, small cars, midsize vehicles, just about anything but small trucks-or maybe full size vans! I like their new management and really appreciate their candeness(?) about what is going on...."change or die" is a pretty accurate assement of their position. It will take a few years, along with some disappointments but they will get there. I personally care little for titles-"best selling, #1, etc." I would rather see ford putting out vehicles that create some excitement, look fresh and take chances-ie-a little like chrysler and nissan (just one example folks!) then producing vanilla cars. If they do this the results will speak for themselves. Face it would you rather have ford profitable, bold (where the hell did that come from), and be the darlings of the automotive industry-kind of like honda-then what they are right now....big and boring-although both of these are changing as well.

I love what mazda is doing right now....think they are one of the hottest car companies in the world. You cannot tell me if that shot of the interior had a ford badge on it that you would be stoked. It seems like ford is almost hesitant about competing with mazda and seems to hold back on the finer details. Why do they get a 7 seat version? Their 6 speed transmission has manual shift capibility-why not the edge? I really think ford just seems to "dumb" down their vehicles to what they perceive what american's care for and don't value as important.

your kidding right? do you think ford needs any more attention at this point? their product development is a total fricking mess. if i was wanting to give the town car attention I would of mentioned that this thing was being "updated" as I tried to put a positive spin before a worldwide media conference. Nope....nothing. Don't get me wrong...I am glad they realized how big this market is and decided they could ill afford to walk away from it.

I would tell the old far that he is right. Quit defending ford when they screw up...it kills me that people just can't face reality. They have not updated that thing in ages and you wonder why their market share is increasing? If they had just did some minor sheetwork they would pick up 50k in sales. That is the amount of sales that the FJ from Toyota is going to sell. The only thing that ford has done with the ranger is done a minor dash update and for whatever reason they also cheapened up the front brake rotors-have several that i work on and these things warped like crazy at 30k-dealer only iteam at nearly $90 a pop. All the other rangers that i have been servicing have close to 100k on them and no problems. btw the dash update includes a gap in the panel nearly 1/2" thick-and you wonder why people would buy a nissan or toyota! My ranger has 275k on the odo and still going strong and ford wants to just leave this market or come out with a f100-this is one case where bigger is not better

I give toyota all the credit for making the vehicle...they obviously can get away with it. If you price it out vs a 4 runner it is very attractive and yah it may be a fad but 50k units of sales with little or no cash on the hood sure helps. Name me one other vehicle that you can buy for $30 that has that type of look? Besides the capibility...i will agree with some of you...they are not going off road...but who cares. Ford could have the same thing going on with the bronco. There is tremdous amount of good will with that name...put a diesel in it and it would sell in pretty good volume. The reason why toyota can take chances like this is because of all the flexibility they have in their manufacturing facilties and they are years ahead with platform sharing.

There is no way the explorer is going away....especially when you consider that GM is abadoning the segment in a few years. I honestly think the largest reason the explorer is selling so poorly is because the updated version looks no different than the original. The is also going to haunt them with the release of the new expedition. I remember a quote some years ago when they updated the original escort and were taken to task of not changing enough and the response was that the escort had the highest loyalty rate of any ford vehicle at the time...and when they asked the escort buyers what they wanted they asked for few changes...I was wondering why they did not ask the guys buying corolla's and civic's what it would take for them to buy the escort not the guy who bought the vehicle because it was the cheapest available....

good point on the brand coasting around....not going to argue with that I just want to see "more." Ads where you walk away and feel like they are getting it and it is reaching out to the consumer. They do this more with the Mustang and seeing a few ads with the trucks but the initial Fusions ads were terrible. I am pretty certain they dropped "life in D" I agree with you regarding them studying the warranty but I really feel their warranty to 60k on powertrain (or 70K) is just not good enough and if you want consumers to switch from their Toyota's or Honda's you have to be a lot better-good enough let's face it does not count anymore. I am aware they have been dropping prices and think it is a move in the right direction...but I heard that they were going to be making some type of announcement and none was made. With each intro they have to adjust their prices to better reflect the real world

last week's restructing there was mention that Ford would release a new pricing structure. I have not heard any mention of that....any thoughts? My first reaction is they are going to continue to reposition their prices closer to actual transaction price of the vehicle-just am not certain of what that will attain. Also am I the only one who thought Ford should of piggy backed GM's announcement regarding their new warranty? That is a missed opportunity and possibly brought about because of the management changes. Who knows but I do agree 100% of what Bill Ford said about the employees and company are just sick and tired of hearing only negative news....they need to start playing offense. I also would like to see them put up their advertising account up for bid....JW Thompson has had it forever and to be honest it lacks almost as much credibility as a Bush news conference! K

I have been listening to the webcast......heard Mark Fields say that the new lincoln sedan coming in 08 will have a 3.7 litre engine....

I couldn't agree more......it has nothing going for it. And don't tell me it doesn't use super unleaded-do you think the guy who is knocking down $250 a year gives a rats ass that his gas bill will cost him $400 more a year? If you say yes....you are not making that kind of change! And the audi should be in the comparisson...do you think the people buying that vehicle cares if it is unibody vs body on chasis? Hell no, they are buying the name on the front of the vehicle and audi has a lot of cache....something lincoln only wishes they had. Don't get me wrong-I am not a fan of C&D but like many of you have said-the design is just OLD. That instrument panel is the worst I have seen in 5 years. How many times are we going to have to see that same radio-heater control panel set up? It is way overused. This is what you get when you have very poor management at top and turnover in the product development end. Just when you say it can't get worse it does. There is tremendous amount of pressure on Fields and Ford right now.....if they don't start to put out some kick ass vehicles there is not telling how far they will fall.