jpd80

I wonder if the comission has simply halved or gone for an arithmetic reduction of CO2 emissions without understanding the practicalities of implimentation. Aside from some very small diesel powered or Hybrid cars, commission's proposed target of 130g/km by 2012 is totally impossible to achieve for say a Mondeo or BMW.

Could we see these models restricted to American exports as domestic European regulations tighten? The same would also apply to the car makers who are dedicated to 4WD manufacture like Land Rover .

As oil climbs higher, the very durable and dependable Crown Victoria will be seen as a bygone relic. Ford have already said the will only keep it around as long as fleets want it so what has changed in the past 6 months? The coming CAFE regulations. We're starting to see the shift with Taxis in New York, the dependable CNG Crown Victorias are being replaced by Hybrids which excel at traffic crawl paces. Although Ford could build a hybrid panther, no such notion is entertained. I seriously doubt that governmnet departments will want to be seen as duplicitous in so far as legislating for much tighter fuel efficiency and then buying the largest V8 sedan Ford builds. Once Chrysler or GM come forward with a much more fuel efficient police package, it's all over for the Crown Victoria. It's ironic that the very thing that made the Crown Victoria a survivor will now be seen as it's main undoing, The last of the giant cars will make way for a more efficient package.

I'm sure that's the reason behind revealing the strength of the F150 chassis against the inadequate Tundra. It's cheaper to reveal your competitor's deficient product ahead of any incentives. If the customers know the Ford or Gm trucks are superior then maybe cost doesn't enter the equation. But on the other hand, Tundra sold much better last month so maybe incentives work for them.

Yeah, you don't know what can be accomplished until it's law. Those people in 1975 thought raising CAFE from 13 mpg to 27.5 mpg would kill a lot of cars. It's just that there has been no small incremental rises in the past 20 years, but more has been done with emissions so they weren't just standing still either. On another note, If all new cars were mandatory E85 how would that affect the CAFE numbers? With higher Compression Turbo engines on E85, the CO2 regs could be met easily.

I bet the share price dropping from over $30/share in 2001 to under $9/share had a bit too! Imagine if 2/3s of your your house or personal wealth vanished in 5 years.

Over 500 changes wasn't it? I'd say it qualifies as a new car that resembles the Fivehundred.

That would be true if Ford was only Ford North America. But it's not, Ford will draw funds from every other division to support North America. Currency and sales are going gangbusters in Europe at the moment so there will be no bankruptcy or forced sales.

That's my biggest fear for North America Yes, but my hypothetical was for incentives 12 months straight or longer, could Ford and GM withstand permanent incentives? Toyota have the cash to do it with smaller sales numbers.

The next Falcon is all Aussie so it's a dress rehearsal, the car after it will be a joint effort. I can tell you something has been begun with FoA and Mustang, it's still/was at the very start in March but a lot more vehicles are now RHD/LHD preserved, meaning the hard points are set but you don't have to tear up half of the car to change the steering wheel over. Although its style doesn't suit American showrooms, the next Falcon is perfect fit alongside new Mondeo, C1 Focus and Fiesta. I gather the guy who penned this CGI had very good Intel and is thinking about an Americanised version.

Matthew, I get annoyed when other people don't reveal who the typical panther buyer is. Retail sales make up only 25% of all panther sales so, Fleet managers have a bigger say. I have no argument with profitability or market placement, just people who misrepresent the facts. If the panther supporters went and bought new ones, that retail number would move up. People wanting the panther to stay the same but won't buy it because it's old. Go figure.

The typical panther buyer is a fleet manager: - Crown Victoria is 100% fleet - Grand Marquis is around 40% Daily Rental Fleet.

Pioneer, what's changed for people to now call them excessive? Obviously, Ford agreed to them back then so with today's situation given all the workers are trying to increased efficiency/productivity, is there no room for management to be reasonable on this?

Toyota isn't about just gaining market percentage, they want to dry up Ford and GM's easy revenue. Let's say Toyota decides bank roll big ($5,000) incentives on 160,000-200,000/year Tundras. To Toyota, it's $1 Billion well spent particularly if they rob another 100,000 sales. The affect on Ford and GM had to lay $5,000 incentives on 500,000-600,000/year of their trucks, would be like $2.5 Billion in lost profit for each maker. Do you think Toyota would entertain using incentives to do that?

Mark Fields was formally with FoE, I bet they used them to benchmark FNA and develop "The Way Forward" strategies.

FordBuyer, What is more important to you than sales is the quarterly financial results, Ford's ability to increase its share price that's the test. Imagine if you listened to your broker and sold at the low point of $6.80? I'm no expert but I see Ford Motor edging higher every quarter, at about $9.10-9.60, they're a long way from the $6.80 low of last year, so you've recovered a little so far. I understand your skeptisim but it's your money and if the stock rises after you sell, maybe you take a worse bath than if you stay put. They had an extremely promising Q1 result, better than most analysts expected. Unless you expect Ford Motor shares to nose dive before 2008, it may be worth seeing the reaction to Q2 first, that's only a few weeks away. As with many here, I hate seeing Ford bleed money to save itself but take heart in Mullaly, he is leagally bound to make every effort to improve the value and stock price of Ford Motor. Don't forget, Ford has just spent $11 Billion in the last 2 quarters to cut staff and make itself more efficient to improve their bottom line. The stock market knows this and has reacted favourably. Hypothetical, if the stock is at $12.00 or there abouts by 2007 Q4, will you still sell? (concern yourself with stock price, not sales - stock price is your money)

The interesting thing I see with sales is Toyota in the Truck market offering strong incentives. Is Toyota about to slice the fat from GM, Ford and Chrysler's main profit earners, their truck divisions? As I see it, a cashed up Toyota could financially cripple Detroit with incentives in the right place and all it would only cost them is a couple billion to do it. Am I reading too much into only one month's incentives and results or are they on a mission?

People invariably downsize with high gas prices, large vehicles always suffer the most. Chev Impala is very important to GM, RWD Zeta Impala will need to be an instant hit. Screw that up and it's all over for them.

Edit, Reposted in 2007 June truck sales.

It's nice to see what is possible with styling, the reason I posted the two cars was to show the extremes in styling and to imagine all the in-between possibilities. The story goes that FoA had styled a different body for replacing the Crown Victoria. back in 2005, Tom Gorman was aluding to an export model same size as Falcon but with American styling. we know this was dashed but, I wonder if they're revisiting that proposal. Not to export from Australia but for common architecture.

I have no idea the depth of collaboration between FoA/E8 and Mustang/D2C platform engineers but it is happening now. I don't live in Disneyland but my frame of reference is different to all of yours in NA.

I remember something about a couple in a motel room and superman jumping out of the clost, Was that you?

Adam, Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your mum. John

I hope there is a back to Borat's "costume", I'd hate for the twins to roll out of bed. Borat: movie trailer