Harley Lover

Freeman Thomas?

I like it a lot. The designers found a way to make its chubby proportions work - it reminds me of the way chubby little puppies are cute and cuddly, this car evokes that response. I showed it to my wife (expecting the worst) and she was really taken with the design. A win!

Ford's incentive costs were most likely up substantially in March due to Toyota's scorched earth incentives. Toyota will continue that policy, which might adversely affect Ford's costs going forward.

It's interesting that Ford adopts the C pillar orientation of the Escape on the Explorer, and has abandoned the more upright treatment traditionally used on the Explorer. This choice should really give a stronger family resemblance between the Escape and Explorer (assuming the Escape retains the treatment in the next gen, which it most surely will), firmly establishing the Escape on the SUV side of Ford's ledger in the general public - in contrast to the Edge, which is firmly established on the CUV side. Very nice.

From Bimmerfest:

Ford also faced tremendous investments to bring them into compliance with fuel economy/pollution regs coming later this decade. While an argument could be made that Volvo might not cost as much as it could be further integrated into Ford's global strategy, Jag and LR represented deep pits of investment in the coming years.

Are the dies still around for the Five Hundred sheetmetal? Would it be adaptable to this gen of the chassis? I guess it would be simpler to give the current body new front and rear caps to differentiate it from the Taurus.

Why Las Vegas? Why this Friday? Is there a law enforcement convention they hope to tap into, or...? It seems unusual to have an announcement like this that does not seem to be tied into some larger event - like the Superduty at the Texas State Fair, etc..

Didn't that Fiesta have a 4 speed? Wonder what it will get with the 6 speed?

... and the cost to wind down the L/M dealerships would be astronomical. Even attempting to integrate the Volvo dealers with the L/M dealers would be a daunting task. At the end of the day, Volvo's unwillingness to integrate with the Ford empire sealed their fate.

Will the "unnamed" models be the Fusion/Mondeo hybrid, the Escape Hybrid (perhaps with Kuga tophat), and the plug-in Focus?

I guess we'll know for sure early next week, but these figures are tremendously encouraging. I don't really care if Ford eventually outsells GM (except for bragging rights), but based on their discipline WRT pricing, these results would continue their progress toward sustainable profitability. My other big question: if the GM projections are correct, why in the world are they cranking up their production, when the sales just aren't there to justify it? Will those idiots ever learn?

Time for a new avatar!

Isn't Avon Lake getting the full size Transit in a couple of years?

Automotive News confirmed it's the wagon.

This article is about sales through mid month, focusing on retail. I hope the geniuses at GM finally figure this out, and quit pissing in the market and messing up price. From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100221/AUTO01/2210308/1148/Study--Toyota-s-loss-is-Honda-s-gain#ixzz0gC9NONkh

I think it's an 'either/or' choice for the Lincoln or Mercury. Based on their past comments about emphasizing Lincoln over Mercury, I think they might lean towards Lincoln being the sister product instead of Mercury. OTOH, L/M showrooms have both the Milan and the MKZ, so there is certainly a precedent for having a version for both brands in the showroom. If the Escape gets bespoke sheetmetal (a 'trucky' tophat), my thoughts that the Kuga could be a Lincoln are twofold: that Ford will go down the path of giving Lincoln the product instead of Mercury, and Ford's stated intention to no longer have Lincolns share sheetmetal with Fords/Mercurys. The MKZ doesn't count since the triplets haven't been through a true model change yet - just a mid cycle update.

Are there enough sales for Ford to build the business case for 2 distinct tophats? I think the Kuga is more likely to be a Lincoln - the Mariner will be a sister to the Escape in the same way the Milan is to the Fusion - and there are certainly enough sales to justify a "U.S. only" body for the Escape/Mariner.

From Automotive News: "Ford will debut production versions of the new C-Max and Grand C-Max compact minivans at the Geneva auto show on March 2. The automaker also will discuss its global C-car strategy and introduce an additional Focus model. " Elsewhere in the article, the global Focus is mentioned. So, the wording here makes it sound like either the 3 door or maybe the CC will be shown. I'd love it if they really surprised us with something unexpected for the C family.

It's certainly the ultimate sleeper - at least until he makes the pass, and the victim catches a glimpse of the rear.

Everyone's sales are surging in China. I hope Ford can accelerate their expansion plans there; GM and VW have a huge head start, and Ford will have to work to overcome the neglect of this market by the regimes that preceded Mulally and company.

The complaints about the 2010 Prius relate to the regenerative braking and Toyota's chosen programming for controlling it - the problem is not related to the CTS issue. Nonetheless, it's a bruise on Toyota's starlet (pun intended), and I haven't read what they are doing to improve the programming for that feature.

Read the results more closely instead of treating the entire year as having the same performance month to month. Ford has already turned the corner on cash flow: "Ford reported $3.1 billion of positive cash flow in the fourth quarter from automotive operations. With a positive cash flow in the second half of 2009, Ford's total cash burn was $300 million for the year, compared with $19.5 billion in 2008. Ford expects positive cash flow in 2010."

This is not meant as a challenge, but is a real question: do you want a unit body small pickup? Built on an Escape chassis, you would essentially have a smaller version of the Honda truck (at least in concept). Would that be okay?

I don't think it is - unless the new 3 is on the new platform too. I'm pretty sure this is a reskin, as the greenhouse appears to be untouched.