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Also, I would love to think that Ford is working to some ingenious master plan of holding back BEV production biut the realist in me says that once again, Ford Europe forged ahead and tried its best with an imperfect plan thanks to short sighted decision to use VW MEB platform signed up in the previous decade when much of the BEV battery and vehicle development was still struggling to be affordable. I hope Ford has success with its new BEVs - Puma, Explorer and Capri, they need to have skin in the game and those vehicles at least get them out in front of buyers.

VW has a huge problem, it’s MEB platform was designed to include a serious amount of manual Labor assembly thanks to German Autoworker Union and a good portion of VAG being owned by Lower Saxony government. VW employs a massive number of German workers who want a decent pay rise, those workers are now being told that the equivalent of three plants production has to be eliminated…..this is going to get ugly. The horrible irony here is that VAG is trying to do the best for everyone and seems to be pleasing no one I sure hope it gets this sorted because new vehicles or not, efficiency and a happy work force is critical to success in 2025 and 2026……the Chinese wolf is at the door.

Ford is already calling the Maverick BEV a mid sized vehicle, so probably accentuating that even though internal dimensions Ranger vs Maverick are amazingly close. Its now in Ford’s best interests to use smaller sized batteries in lighter vehicles to improve profitability even though reports showing a big drop in battery prices is happening….

Internally, Ford is getting really nervous about spending so much on Blue Oval City and Battery plants. The size and production capacity is massive…….all while Lightning production was paused because inventory is too high…..

And it’s not like Ford refuses to fix problems with Lightning, typical CR reporting.

A lot of that was Farley trying to trot out interesting product for dealers to talk about. At the time he was getting his ass roasted over million dollar EV upgrades. Fast forward to December 2024 and XLT Lightning available with 0% 72 month finance plus $4,500 cash and free home charger… and there are so many Lightnings sitting unsold that production was first cut to one shift and then stopped until the new year..

The biggest culture issue Ford has is it keeps thinking that outsourcing is lower cost. How many times do they have to get burned before they learn….

Very good offers on Mach E, no wonder sales have stepped up last month https://www.ford.com/suvs/mach-e/pricing-and-incentives/?intcmp=vhp-seconNav-io Also really good deals on Lightning, 0% finance for 72 months plus $4,500 bonus cash and free home charger https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/f150-lightning/pricing-and-incentives/?intcmp=vhp-seconNav-io

Precisely, it’s also why Farley is starting to question how ICE vehicles are designed and made. In a recent EV discussion, Farley shared that one particular vehicle had up to 150 control modules (I’m betting F150) and to save $500/vehicle, ford let out the contract individually to tender so none of them actually talk to each other - example, Ford has to go to Bosch if it wants to change seat control. Recent chip shortage exposed a huge issue with Ford and other carmaker designs, it’s way past time that institutionalised design rules be changed and streamlined to simplify build processes. It’s like the designs became overly complex because departments were preserving or at least justify their existence.

Exactly so, Farley wanted to get this team as far away from Ford’s Engineering Division as possible. When it comes to developing an affordable BEV, Ford ED has proven incapable of getting anywhere near that. This is the ED that requires up to 150 separate modules in a vehicle and then criticises Rivian for having an incompatible centralised ECU system…

2..0 EB Hybrid powertrain is just so interesting, would love to see that spread to other vehicles.

I have to agree with both of you, the ICE nose looks better. I don’t know why Ford feels that it has to push the Mach E style nose, to my thinking that’s the least desirable part. And like the other Ford BEVs sold in Europe, the starting price is too high at near on 30,000 pounds

I wondered about the same thing but Ford seems to be focused on SD Ranger. New Landcruiser Prado has a higher GCM at 6,600 kg while Everest is 6,250 kg, something that impedes a loaded up Everest from towing the maximum 3,500 kg. An increase in GCM to 6,600 kg would square Everest against the new Prado, maybe the lower combined weight is due to some design restriction?

And the other thing is the wider track Raptor and SD versions use F150 swing arms at the front. Honestly, uprating brakes to F150 is probably enough but yeah, a more durable vehicle for sure. The big plus is that Ranger only takes a month or so from order while a small truck takes nearly a year.

And from VW’s Q3 results: https://www.automotivedive.com/news/volkswagen-vw-q3-2024-net-revenue-falls-ytd-earnings-sales/731565/ Big changes coming for VW……. Volkswagen to shut three factories, axe jobs and cut pay by 10%, says union This article is more than 1 month old German carmaker warns of stagnation in the European sector amid news of deeper-than-expected action https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/28/volkswagen-shut-three-factories-cut-thousands-jobs-union#:~:text=The German carmaker Volkswagen is,according to the company's union. This is a good article that spells out the problems that VW is facing with rising costs, mostly because it’s just so Labor intensive because Lower Saxony government is VW Group’s second largest shareholder….

Looks like the Ranger is going after commercial sales normally restricted to the Landcruiser 70 series This could work out well in the local Australian market , it’s a way to challenge some easy Toyota sales.

Correct, Ford discovered that the cylinder barrels needed to be hotter and the heads cooler, so lots of changes to coolant passages to get that done.

I remember those early days when Ecoboost was developed originally by Ford Europe and pitched to the USA by Derrick Kuzak, claiming the 20% improvement in fuel economy that Ford US powertrain could no replicate on EPA tests. At that time many Euro based manufacturers were gaming the European test cycles with insufficient roll down test resistance figures for dynamometer testing. So it’s easy to see how those fuel economy figures could not be replicated under closer scrutiny. The work that Ford US power train did to turn Ecoboost into a genuinely efficient power choice lead to F150 customers embracing the 3.5 Ecoboost and then the 2.7 Ecoboost after that. Similarly, the I-4 EBs replaced the need for transverse V6s in FWD vehicles - these days, nobody really questions the strategy of DI, Turbo and 6-speed auto as it basically shaped the last ten years or so for Ford. just looking at Ranger, the 2.7 EB looks ot be the perfect fit, with near 400 lb ft of torque -at certain points, that 80-90 lbft moe torque than the 2.3 EB

Good question, the new BEV complexes are costing an absolute fortune, who knows if Ford will see anything like the volume it expects Meanwhile, REV center went back to one shift and now idled until the new year. When things look this bleak, it’s hard to see the upside but maybe things will completely change in a year or so….that’s what Ford is hoping.

Yes, it looks like VW is not convinced that Rivian can pull off such an important vehicle but maybe it will in time… Looking deeper into the VW Xpeng agreement, there’s actually two platforms they were looking to develop for China, the first was CEP a or Chinese Electric Platform that’s mostly Xpeng and the second was actually modifying the MEB platform electrical systems as a form of regionalisation and simplification of control systems. Things seem to have gone quiet on the latter work on MEB but I wonder if this work could be fruitful outside of China - it would make sense to evolve MEB to simplify both the electrical and mechanical assembly processes to save money. Still I can’t find any source to confirm this. I could be falling into the speculation trap here but it seems the most logical thing would be to fix MEB and make it less costly to build rather than just throw everything away…

Absolutely. It’s a double whammy of Model E investments in infrastructure and ongoing Ford Blue warranty charges. If Ford could stop the bleeding, the whole thing would be quite profitable

ok, let’s just start with this article and then I’ll add something shared with me https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/28/volkswagen-shut-three-factories-cut-thousands-jobs-union The German carmaker Volkswagen is planning to shut at least three factories in its home country, lay off thousands of workers and cut pay by 10%, according to the company’s union. The deeper-than-expected cuts come as the company faces weak sales and slow expansion in the electric vehicle (EV) sector amid tough competition from Chinese manufacturers. “The board wants to close at least three factories in Germany,” the works council chief, Daniela Cavallo, told employees at VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg on Monday. Its remaining manufacturing sites will reduce capacity, she said, citing information provided by management. An inside source is advising that MEB vehicles are all on the chopping block and save for German government intervention this doesn’t look good. The problem with MEB and the high series versions is the built in requirement for labor, the build times are killing profitability Final thought Even if Chinese whispers are unfounded, VW group are in a real pickle at the moment, so with a ton of cash reserves, I expect them to keep trying until an upturn in the market but either way MEB is now a huge black hole that will probably be written down years early.

MEB variations extend across the high end brands - all of them cancelled because they are just not selling in decent numbers. VW is in real trouble and their chiefs know it, the truth is slowly trickling out and even the later of the articles you quoted is now out of date. All that waffle about software being vehicles identity is just marketing nonsense that didn’t fly, VW is now desperately trying to find a connection with its premium buyers who neo seem non pluses about the company’s direction. Dont get me wrong, VW still has plenty of revenue coming in and not looking at bankruptcy in the next few years but man, they have squandered so much.. Put it this way, if they’d just gone and bought a healthy share in Tesla back in say, 2018 then none of this would be a concern….

I think you’re misunderstanding the rule, only certain kinds of Chinese software are not permitted. As long as it is disabled, then there is no impediment, especially if VW were to switch to Chinese based BEVs being built at its US plants, then that could easily be made compliant. Rather breathtaking to watch VW literally walk away from a $70 billion investment and throw its arms around a Chinese partner. Wo knows if this signals the first of many coming collaborations.

For Europe, they basically have, Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo all gone those were the bulk of sales for Ford Europe, now they struggle to sell anything…what’s left is basically over priced.