jasonj80

Funny you mention the rear doors, that is the number one thing that will send me over to GM or Toyota Pickups who both offer it on the back doors of their higher end pickups. It infuriates me with my backpack, tools and full hands that I have to fumble for the fob which deletes the purpose of the keyless entry. My coworker doesn't have kinda words for her 2022 Edge (She has had a 2013, 2016, 2019, and now 2022) calls it her crap car.

Did a nice job on the back end, the front looks update at least. Interior is nice but can tell this really is just an update of the current model with hard points staying the same.

Looks like about 25 more Mustangs have been stolen from the shipping lots over the past few days. Wonder if some people just needed one for the Stampede tomorrow.

They are going to streamline the lineup by dropping the Nautilus all together. Lincoln isn’t allowed to have more than 3 decent vehicles in the lineup at anytime or it might actually succeed in the market.

Sync 4 is listed in the order guide. Love that Red interior, looks like a nice update with materials as well.

Politicians determine what you drive; they set the rules in which OEM must follow -- you might not like it or agree with it but that is what is happening and has happened for 50+ years. They have said CAFE is going to increase significantly post 2025 and it will, even if there is a change in leadership those plans are in place at the OEMs they'll just beat whatever the lower standard is. The only help they have gotten from this administration is fairly consistency rules across 50 states, which the previous administration could have done have also done had they passed laws to remove the exemption CA was granted in the 70's. Short of saying you can't build electric cars OEMs wouldn't change plans as they are 2-5 years into this switch. OEMs are investing in electric as that is the ONLY way you will meet CAFE late in the decade, sell vehicles in 20+ states (with some of the largest populations) the EU and Asian. Stellates is full in on electric as well; they showed the first electric Jeeps. Unlike FCA, PSA was pretty far along with full electrification. Toyota is in catchup mode and spending tens of billions but like VW once they get there in the next 3-4 years they will be selling millions. Honda is using GM for their first Gen electrics because they were so far behind but R&D is now fully engaged and resources are being diverted from future ICE to Electric. The future is electric no matter what the talking heads on TV/Internet are trying to push, the talking heads in Washington are going to make sure of it.

This Mustang will probably be close to a 5 year cycle if not 4 then ICE put out to pasture, EU tax laws and CAFE will see to that. Post 2035 ICE is done, there already isn't development dollars being dumped in it where transmission and engine programs take 5-7 years. Killing the AWD, Hybrid (other models?) shows this Mustang became a stopgap before the fully electric one. The Mustang name will be dead if they wait until 2030 to make the switch.

That will be figured out just as ICE engines driving in extreme hot weather were. 30 years ago the freeways out west would look like they allowed parking with the number of vehicles pulled over in heat like they have had the past week. No more blasting the heat in 100 degree + temps so you might make it over the top of the mountain or pass without over heating. Now 7000lbs of trailer behind you a/c on full blast and the temp gauge might go up a needle in the middle of the afternoon. It’s not if the Mustang Coupe/Convertible will be electric, it is when. The question will be what is first to market the Mustang Coupe BEV or the Corvette SUV BEV.

Exactly, that is the issue Tesla kills its own occupants - who cares they signed up for it. Tesla kills someone else when something doesn't go as planned and its still not their fault. Also If you show the beta system not working properly you get fired or kicked out the beta program.

Mach-e hit the launch date, Bronco was off because of the pandemic and the roof issue. Now as with the whole industry it is just a supply chain disaster issue with components and price increases. If Ford could get the supplies to build more Mach-e's they would be running 3 shifts at the plant. Tesla will just use roads as beta as they are doing now, if a few people die that is okay with Tesla and Elon. Tesla the Company will blame the driver as it is an "assist system" and Elon will tout that it is still saver than Human Drivers. Tesla needs to widely launch the system as they are getting real competition in the electric vehicle space and this fancy named level 2 system sets them apart for people that don't understand what a level 2 system actually is.

If the equipment becomes optional I don't really have a problem with it because that is packaging, but when they just delete things that are actually useful that people want - and are offered on competitors vehicles is stupid and reeks of cost cutting. Having home link standard on the XL Expedition didn't make sense. Ford's MAJOR problem in packaging is that there is NO consistency in what features are on each model line, product teams don't seem to even talk to each other. They over survey and have so many options that it is just confusing for a customer, and some options could even be moved to the dealer for install later Getting a SEL on a Edge/Escape/Fusion/Focus/Taurus or an XLT on a Maverick/Ranger/F-150/Super-duty all end up with vastly different equipment at that trim level. I have yet to meet a person at Ford that can explain to me what the difference is between Co-pilot 1.0, 1.5, 1.5 Assist, 1.5 Assist+, 2.0, 2.0 Assist and 2.0 Active. I've studied the order guides and there is no consistency. The closest I can get is something to do with Rain-sensing wipers, intelligent adaptive cruise short of Active; Active means it has Blue Cruise Lincolns have escaped some of the de-contenting but not all, base power passenger seats also have lost lumbar and/or seat-tilt power adjustments, bin lights removed, engine covers, hood insulation, dual note horns. Looks like the Nautilus kept the keypad for 2023, while Edge lost it.

Looking at Ford market share in the US over the past 20 years would prove different on sales. While Ford has sold about 20K more Explorer's a portion of those number of those are PI units. It sums up Ford's good enough attitude for the US market - we have sales and if we lose a thousand customers that's okay its more profitable this way. The problem is a thousand becomes ten thousand which becomes a hundred thousand which becomes a million. Ford still thinks GM is there only competition in the market and looks to benchmark them exclusively for almost every market where they might slightly benchmark Ram for Pickups and Wrangler with the Bronco. If I was in the market today with the equipment deletions and price increases I wouldn't have replaced my F-150 with another one. Ford is very shortsighted in their decision process. To go back to the topic here, the Corsair was a great vehicle when it was launched a few years ago and has been gaining sales, but deleting the options that made it stand out and new competition in the market will customers continue to buy it? Lincoln will be waiting for the electric version in a few years it will be great but by then Audi/Mercedes/Genesis and Cadillac will be out with great product. The PIH is behind Lexus and Volvo in Range and price, so unless a significant upgrade happens in powertrain it will be behind. What is Lincoln going to offer that they don't already have?

Interiors like this, we get features removed every model year for cost savings while they get more frequent updates and more equipment added as well as keep features that are deleted here. Things like soft touch materials, color changing ambient lighting, key less entry on all doors and surprise and delight features are added. The only surprise you get on a US vehicle is the feature you liked on your last Ford/Lincoln was deleted in your new one. Key less keypad deleted, Ambient lighting deleted, led license plate lights deleted, parking assistance deleted, 10 way seat to 8 way, deleted power lumbar support, glarefree headlights deleted, temperature in the knobs deleted, deleted one touch down on the back windows, deleted massaging seats, deleted kick lift gate (these never worked anyways) etc etc etc.

Tesla has a built in loyalty as they have been the only game in town for the past 10 years. In the next two years there will considerable more competition and product that rivals or exceeds what they offer. They will be attacked from both Luxury as well as Volume players. The question is Tesla a luxury manufacturer or are they a mass market brand? What Tesla has though is direct to consumer which is a huge advantage in the cost structure. The past two years has made people HATE dealerships more than ever.

Safety at Ford wasn't really taken into consideration until IIHS started with their crash and roof testing and blasting it on all forms of media, yes there were airbags and such but structure management wasn't really applied in the same way it was at Volvo/MB at the time. Ford took notice and immediately implemented changes as they were smart in realizing that being on Dateline (which at the time was a top 10 most watched show) and showed catastrophic injury that would hurt your sales. The super-duty was always above a weight class of being tested so there was no reason for anyone to fix it. Even now Ford (and other OEM's) skips on even cheap mundane safety equipment in the name of cost savings. If it isn't mandated or cause bad PR don't worry about it. Some of this legal and cost mentality stems from the Honda Airbag lawsuit where OEM can't be held responsible for a vehicle not having certain equipment. Dodge and GM vehicles of the same age and class do the same thing, there are just way more Ford super duty of that time frame on the road so the numbers are much much higher. It is like the late 90's Explorer, it was safer than the Blazer, Cherokee and 4 runner but there was so many more of them it made a larger impact. Until Congress gets involved with these lawsuit judgements they will continue to happen. Tort reform needs to happen, but Congress will never touch it. So companies just raise prices to cover it.

All OEM do upgrades on the fly when dealing with quality of parts, fit and finish or even trim pieces, while Tesla might do more they still have defined model years vehicles. As more electric vehicles come to market the chances of Tesla maintaining that momentum becomes comprised when you're not offering something new. The Model S was striking when it came out but the new EQS and Air make a considerably stronger elegant statement than the S does. The Air is just a beautiful car inside and out, and offers way more than an S does. Once BMW gets the i4 in volume it will be interesting if those 3 series customers that left for Tesla come back.

To be fair Ford has raised the extended range MACH-E ~$11,000 from when it launched. It was also profitable when it launched to losing money on units produced now that were price protected. That is after streamlining and removing cost from the program. The supply chain went/is absolutely crazy. The elephant in the room for Tesla is that their units are getting old in the style department, you have people that are on their second going on third unit that are tired of it being exactly the same and are shopping around. They are making the Henry Ford mistake with the Model T.

Except it will not qualify because of the sourcing rules. So if you get it delivered by Dec 31 you fall under the old rules and get the $7500, after Jan 1, 2023 it will not qualify and you get nothing. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2022/08/25/ford-ups-mustang-mach-e-price-order-bank-reopens-next-week/7894458001/

FIFY, Figuring the past reorganization time frame of every 3 years. Ford already was planning on the vast majority of electric by 2035, they need to for the entire European/Chinese market (even though the supply chain and markets are being quietly split from china internally) and have backed CA plan that allowed California to set its own standards. Ford has known this is coming and is planning accordingly. Oakville and part of BOC will be online in 2026 so meeting the 35% target will be doable. If anything it might allow Ford to gain market share in CA as Honda/Toyota are playing catch-up with Honda basically farming it all out to GM in the short term. 13 years is a long way in one way; Ford might have purchased/been purchased by another OEM at that point. There is more consolidation coming in the industry as we close out the decade.

Short of a few Super-Duty's there will not be much of anything except a super limited run or "not street legal" in the lineup that isn't a hybrid or fully electric at the end of the decade; CAFE basically requires it. CAFE is 8% increase from 23-24 model year, 8% from 24-25 model year, and 10% from 25-26 MY. Post 2026 regular non-hybird ICE will be slim pickings.

You can also get a RAV4 Prime that does 0-60 in 5.2/5.4 Seconds for $40,300. This just looks like a Honda HR-V knock off. The Escape is expensive for the segment minus the rebates it used to receive, equipment levels should change for the 2023 to give better value across the board.

Maverick Window stickers list Std equipment that isn't installed so it wouldn't be outside of what Ford has been doing; the implosion in the supply chain caused things to be missed. The F-150 and Expeditions on the lot around here list a credit for them, same for Auto Start/Stop and Park Assist. They will probably just end up deleting some of these features all together vehicle lines get updated and suppler contracts change. People haven't missed them for 2 years so why offer it in future units, made decontenting easy.

5 - 7 Broncos were stolen on Sunday. Still better than the HUNDREDS if not Thousand of Kia's that are getting stolen daily right now with TikTok showing everyone how easy it is with a USB Cable.

The lots have reinforced gates and some have one way grates, they drive them through the fences or out the back of the lots. Personally I think it’s an inside job, seems odd they know exactly where the vehicles are when they are not boxed in by other trucks that would make it impossible to steal, that being said there is a group so they just over power security. The guys who had their ATV and Bikes confiscated by Detroit police just over powered the guard and stole them from the police impound lot this past weekend. Guard opened fire on them as he was scared and he was fired and now may face weapons charges. Ford isn’t taking that risk, they put a small amount of fuel in them and calculate the loss and just raise the price of vehicles for everyone else to cover the cost. Could be worse, 10+ RAM/Chargers/Grand Cherokees are being stolen nightly from driveways all over metro Detroit.

Last thing Ford wants is security doing something and the thief ends of dead who was a "good student" "turning their life around" and was "just being a kid" and didn't deserve to die for just taking a car they had their whole life ahead of them. On top Worthy would charge the security guard for murder, if they killed the Security guard a Judge would let them out as they can't afford bail and that is not fair they are poor and Ford would be in a PR nightmare and shaken down for 20+ Million dollars. Much easier to just let them take them.