Harley Lover

In more than one article I've read concerning the forthcoming announcement of the acceleration of the plant closings/job cuts, there has been passing mention made of "accelerating product development" and at least one or two mentions of accelerating the development of a product currently under development to get it to market sooner. Curiously, I've seen little conjecture about which product this might be, and I'd like to hear what everyone here thinks - both from a practical perspective as well as your 'wish list' perspective. My guess is the Fairlane project, simply because it is already underway, and is presumably being designed on an existing component set (D3). Is it possible that there is something in the pipeline that Fields has managed to keep under wraps up 'til now, that could be accelerated as the chosen product? Perhaps a new vehicle off the Panther, or a new RWD sedan? Please share your thoughts and the reasoning behind your ideas.

This is intriguing, but I'm not sure I get the point, unless Ford plans to sell of Mazda, as described in the first paragraph above. Otherwise, Ford owns controlling interest in Mazda, and there's nothing to be gained by buying more. Mazda already was the lead developer of the C1 used by Ford, Volvo, and Mazda, so having them lead more development wouldn't be too much of a stretch. I would like to see one of Ford's subs take over a closing plant - either Mazda or perhaps Volvo would make sense to me. It will be interesting to see if there is anything to this email...

Technically, it's not the C pillar, it's the door panel. But I feel your pain. Ugh!

Why not read the content of the article, instead of kneejerk negativity?

Based on the impact of this new person, I hope Ford will use her for other forthcoming launches.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../609040366/1148 This is the most encouraging thing I've read about the Edge. Ford going outside to get a different set of quality eyes, and then making the changes this person recommended. Excellent! I'm also encouraged by the opinion of the analyst (I know, I know) that even Ford's competition recognize the potential of the Edge. We all agree on the importance of this product, so this is very encouraging news for it's propects.

I don't think anyone would argue that a more comprehensive update would be good, but I don't think you are realistic to expect a major body change in 2 years. Can you think of any example of an auto that has had a major body change at its midcycle refresh? The closest thing I can recall is Honda's change of the rear end of the Accord in the most recent refresh, and that was not a major body change. Toyota's midcycle refreshes are always simple tail/headlight and bumper panel updates. The current Camry is a new model reskin, after 4 straight years of the previous car. Even GM did not change the sheetmetal when they performed the emergency uglyectomy of the Aztek. I think this refresh of the Five Hundred is already occurring 1 year sooner than Ford's typical refresh cycle, which is good. I think they'll refresh product much sooner under the new regime from now on. I don't think we can ever expect Ford, or any other manufacturer for that matter, to make a major body change at the midcycle refresh. No one does it. <ducks for cover>

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/09/01/spi...ndred-facelift/

I agree with your sentiments, but I think it's too early to say that Ford has "nothing exciting planned". We just don't know one way or the other, and it's the lack of information that's frustrating right now. There is a Ford insider on the Autoweek board that claims to have seen renderings of future products, and he is very excited...but that's just hearsay, and not much to build upon. My attitude is that Fields seems to understand the importance of product, and he has allowed J Mays to assemble a truly talented group of designers. My hope is that Ford will move from just showing cool concept cars that never make production, to building cool versions of concept cars. I'm convinced we will see some exciting concepts at NAIAS in January, and I want to believe that Fields will turn some people loose to get the product in front of the buying public. I hope.

Richard, I think the AM announcement boils down to this: it is the most 'finished' of the PAG group in terms of product line, and is also the most detached from the remainder of the Ford operation. Ford can in good conscience sell AM knowing that it rescued and revived the company to a level it has never enjoyed in its history - therefore, NOW is the time to sell in order to realize the full impact of its increased value. Jaguar, OTOH, potentially stands at the starting line of a substantial runup in its fortunes, IF the rumors regarding the goodness of the forthcoming S-Type are true. So, to sell Jag now would be to give up the forthcoming increase in value of the company, and to lose the value of the investments recently made. IMO BMW made just such a mistake in the sale of Land Rover to Ford - the new Range Rover was just about to be released (with BMW having done ALL the work on the product), and Ford reaped the rewards of that product, and applied its design to all the followup products, which as we all know have placed LR in a position of profitability. Hold Jag, sell AM, even though this kills my dream of an X plan AM. I'm sure everything I've written will be debunked, but I've had fun writing it!

C/D didn't like the first gen Expy when it was the top seller in its segment. Not sure I'd get too excited about their opinion of these vehicles, since their track record has not been to "be in love" with the vehicle that sells best or even fares well in the segment.

As long as we're speculating, I've been wondering if the rumored "new engine" might be a V8 version of the Cyclone 3.5 V6. Kind of a new gen mod engine in reverse. Would this make any sense, given the particulars of the 3.5 (bore spacing, stroke, etc.)? It would presumably make good $$ sense, since both engines could (I guess) be manufactured on the same line.

Lack of credible products? F150 Mustang Fusion Triplets Coming this Fall: Edge That's just the immediate picture. Why are you so focused on the Super Duty trucks? P.S. I'm not in denial of Ford's problems, I just don't agree that there is nothing positive happening.

To be fair, the companies have a history of dealing with one another. "English Patient", anyone?

It's just a rumor, so there might be nothing to it at all. OTOH <just for fun> what if Ford has determined a way to utilize the Mustang chassis as the basis of a new family of RWD vehicles? Say, a Ford sedan, Lincoln sedan, and Lincoln coupe? Those products could surely take up 100,000 units of production!

I don't agree with the argument that GM launching new trucks should cause Ford lost share at all. Remember the fanfare with which GM's new SUV's were launched at the beginning of the year? AND NOW THEY ARE SLOWING THE LINES: http://transport.seekingalpha.com/article/15409 So I think a reasonable argument can be made that GM might gain a few early conquest sales, but by the middle of next year (at the latest) Ford will retain its customary position in terms of market share. Ford seems convinced that the market for trucks has permanently shrunk, and they are in a better position than GM to match production capacity to sales. Toyota must be dropping bricks in their drawers, with a new truck plant coming onstream (eventually - they keep postponing the intro date of the truck), and the market size falling. It will be fun to watch them scramble if the market embraces the Tundra they way it embraced the Titan. I guess they'll build a lot more Siennas than planned (I think that product will share the plant, just like the Nissan minivan shares the Titan plant).

Don't forget to factor in the sales that will go away with plant closings - specifically, the Taurus comes to mind. Even though those units might carry little or no profit, they still represent "market share" that will be lost. Ford will have to generate a lot of new sales to overcome the loss of these units if share is to grow. I'd almost rather focus on some other unit of measure, like profit/unit, since Ford might lose "market share" with the closure of some plants, yet actually be more profitable as the product mix improves.

That's a great idea, especially since Volvo has spoken in the past of finding ways to minimize currency fluctuations. Is Volvo's production capacity fully utilized?

I noticed that comment in the article, too. I hope Hall is right, and they have tweaked the appearance of the concept, and made it less generic. My fingers are crossed, Ford needs to deliver solid product in all of these upcoming intro's, and I think Fields realizes it, even if some of the drone lifers do not. I don't think we've seen much of Horbury's influence thus far, perhaps this will be the start.

IIRC, one of Ford's motivations for considering an FWD Mustang was that GM was hard at work on FWD versions of the Camaro and Firebird. GM ultimately cancelled the chassis, but the styling was adopted on the reskin of the Camaro/Firebird that appeared in the early 90's. Thank goodness things worked out the way they did for the Mustang.

To which engine family did the early 60's 430 belong? What displacements did it grow to include?

Hey! They should try that on the Town Car and Crown Vic! :P

A FOCUS COUPE!

Completely wrong. Reitzle wanted a new platform for Jag that would have the flexibility to be stretched to XJ size, or shortened to X-type size (similar to what Aston Martin is now doing, but on a larger scale), but use the same suspension, etc. The small thinkers in Dearborn NEVER allowed his ideas to be realized. The X-Type on the Mondeo chassis was not his idea, nor was the S-Type/LS fiasco. What he knew from experience at BMW was that for Jag to truly compete with BMW and Mercedes, it would need purpose-designed chassis and suspension, etc. Jag might have actually been able to go head to head with those marques if it had indeed been given the chance to develop Reitzle's ideas. Reitzle had more proven talent and results than anyone in Ford management today. I'm still hopeful for Mark Fields - some of his decisions look promising (reviving the Hurricane, for example).

Briar, I don't disagree with anything you've written. My late father retired from AAP, and it will always be near and dear to my heart as the place that put bacon on our table. OTOH, I think Fields has a no-win set of decisions to make, and this was one of them. The lack of proximity to suppliers is probably what killed AAP, but whatever the reason for the decision, I want to believe it was a bitter pill to swallow for Fields and the others. I still hold out hope that this area has a shot at the new greenfield plant they plan to build. No apologies for Fields, his pretty boy demeanor rubs me wrong, too, but I want to believe he understands what Ford needs to do better than his predecessors, especially in terms of product. I hope for Ford's sake he does. I hope everyone at Hapeville lands on their feet, they have earned it. Good luck and Godspeed.