jpd80

Yes, Farley kinda mentioned that in and interview a while back, I think it had to do with proportions when everyone was talking about short hoods and smaller frunks. At that time I was discussing with DeluxeStang and others and just cautioning the unbridled optimism on CE1 being all things to everyone. Unfortunately some other members saw that as being overly negative so I eased back on sharing opinions. The whole point to recreating traditional segment vehicles is to have something a bit different, and over time new buyers cycle in with differnt tastes - maybe some new proportions are good... I doubt that the $20,000 small pickup gains much traction once real engineering review begins and the reality of todays costs seeps in. Current announcement is all about a bunch of execs with grandiose visions…..I think Tesla is currently getting a dose of reality on costs and the changing market sentiment. So fast forward three or four years, can’t really see a $20,000 trucklet.

Second Gen Mach E was supposed to share upgrades of GE2, I wonder if Ford still adds those upgrades to Mach E There’s probably a lot of good reasons to do that, particularly if they reduce cost and work better. Honestly hard to know because Ford is probably working out when upgrades will be needed.

Put it this way, there’s now a feeling that if the vehicles and parts are compliant to USMCA (80%?), then Ford and GM’s vehicles coming from Canada or Mexico probably won’t be hit as bad as first thought. Not sure how the Korean and Japanese automakers are positions, it may be a real mixed bag for them as lots low cost parts are sourced from Asia for US manufacture from outside USMCA, Toyota may be in a better place.

First off, thank you again for all the hard work on your charts, that’s a big thumbs up Any month that Ford sells above 70,000 F Series is a solid month but when I saw over 20,000 Mavericks I knew that Ford was pushing hard with it as well as Bronco Sport and Escape combined and if you throw Corasir in that mix, that’s over 47,000 compact vehicles ….now that’s impressive. 14,000 Broncos, 7,000 Rangers, over 20,000 Explorers and over 11,000 Expeditions are all good results. Finally, Lincoln had a reason to get in there and turn over 11,000 vehicles into cash…

Not a single vehicle as much as advanced software to work with fuel and electric vehicles. FNV4 was headed up by Doug Field…. suspect it was like the Tesla single brain software to control everything some details here https://www.gurufocus.com/news/2820741/ford-cancels-fnv4-electric-architecture-project-amid-cost-overruns

Yes CE1 opened Farley’s eyes on what can be done out and away from Ford’s “big book of rules” bureaucracy. I think this is more proof that Ford’s own corporate BEV efforts are not achieving intended objectives.

Wow, that’s a big jump in fuel economy, do you miss the extra room or not really?

Ford’s situation seems to be different to GM and Stellantis who have a different exposure level to tariffs.

The bigger issue for Tesla is that their boss has effectively alienated a big chunk of people who would have been return buyers for years into the future. All of that gone and now we’re heading into tougher times….. so good luck with that.

And this is a real world issue, no matter how efficient a heavy utility is, it still uses X amount of fuel. Looking forward to hearing your experience with Maverick hybrid fuel efficiency - guessing big difference.

With a 70% drop in profit, I think Tesla has some big issues to face. Yes, a low cost 3 is a quick go to replacement for the proposed low cost BEV but either way Musk needs to be back at Tesla.

Agree 100% They really have a problem with products that don’t seem important at the time but help with wider sales. Would RAV4 have pipped FSeries fo sales lead if say, Escape had performed better instead of just sucking it up.

I’m wondering if Tesla has quietly killed its low cost EV since the brand has gone off the boil with sales.

Looks like there are several former Amazon executives involved with Slate and the big investor is Jeff Bezos. Bezos, via his family office, reportedly holds a passive stake and is not directly involved in the day-to-day business Great plans but I think we need to watch this for a while to see what progress they make.

At the moment Slate is all marketing, let’s see how Bezos goes with actually delivering at that price.

Slate is promising but an effective hook always tells people what they want to hear.

I’m sorry for calling him out, I’m just worried about the consequences for ordinary people.

Ford’s business in Europe and UK faces a different set of challenges to that of North America, I wouldn’t begin to assume the complexity of decisions required for region specific products.

Right now, I think Ford is heavily invested in keeping F Series profits coming in, anything else that would be “nice to have” sits in a separate bucket waiting until markets get back to some level of stability and normalcy.

Couldn’t agree more, extension via a four door coupe is probably incremental production, adding things like Mustang pickup or a two seater coupe like pre C8 coupe, maybe but I get the feeling that when it comes to Mustang branded vehicles, less is more…

While I’m not against Ford using the Mustang name on more products, this type of design competition is not helpful simply because the students doing the designing have no idea of what buyers tastes are. I understand that the intention is to broaden the appeal of Mustang branded vehicles but at what cost to the name..

There’s a big difference between costs skyrocketing and suppliers being unable to deliver enough parts, remember the chips and control module shortages that plagued manufacturers…ford was hit hard by this. So now, some of those commodity vehicles like RAV4 would seem have better margins than before….. all I’m saying is that it might be worth Ford reviewing some business cases that previously didn’t work.. Edit for clarity, I guess what I’m wondering is if there’s now more money in some of the mass produced vehicle segments and if that perhaps forces a rethink at Ford but on their terms of course (Escape & Edge?)

I guess a heritage name only means something to Ford if it can charge a lot for the vehicles carrying that name…

Cause and affect….my recollection was that during COVID and later due to restricted supply of vehicles, manufacturers jacked up prices and people paid them…so rather than cost push, this was profit push inflation.

What’s curious about all of this is the price hikes that have occurred not on,y at Ford but all automakers. I wonder if it’s time to change opinion on what was once considered commodity vehicles that are now priced a lot higher by all competitors. Maybe they all came to the realisation that buyers will pay more.