jasonj80

Looks like they found some of them.

15 more vehicles were stolen over the past weekend, approximate value of 1.3 Million.

Some Lightnings got stolen last night from the lot.

Maverick/Escape/Corsair is they sealed the engine compartment too well for aero dynamics and created an unintended issue if there is a leak it can build up flammable gas. The fix will end up costing MPGs as they add venting by removing the aero shutters and open the engine underneath. 2020 Explorer/Aviator was a program that started and stopped so much that many different people worked on the project that had limited knowledge of where the program was at. The program launched almost 2 years after it was intended with a completely different cast of people that started it back in 2013. 95% Ford's problem is bean counters get in and force engineering to make changes based on cost, they don't understand engineering and frankly don't care. They get their bonus for cost reductions and walk away from a disaster and just blame engineering or assembly when their are issues. Bean counters don't listen to the people that assembly the vehicles (They are completely below them) and while engineering isn't always the best at that when fixes are proposed for possible quality issue or ease of assembly they are dismissed as expensive and "that's their job" along with there is no metrics to show that will save money. The higher up MBA bean counters agree with them that the engineer should have seen this or "used a better design". Ford loves Bean counters as the Whizkids put those policies in place in the late 40's and is intertwined in Ford's culture to the core. They are the direct reason for the decontenting that takes place, and Farley is right there with them. Apparently his latest push is to dump the keypad on the drivers side door for more cost savings, he is the direct reason the F-150 doesn't have access on the back doors with keyless entry. Every program now has to fight for any feature that is deemed outside of being necessary. Basically if GM on trucks or Tesla doesn't offer it, Ford doesn't need it. Lincoln is also under brutal attacks for resources, China is saving Lincoln right now from being shutdown. Farley is losing a lot of respect right now from engineering because if it isn't his way, it is wrong even if consumer data or trends is different. There is also a mass exodus from engineering right now at Ford, they don't feel respected in what they do and they want low cost engineers and have run all the senior leaders out with a lot of instructional knowledge so the same mistakes are being repeated over and over and CYA is just as alive at Ford for decisions as it has ever been.

Well when you keep deleting features you just eliminate things that can have problems.

Ford used the Skyline name before Prince/Datsun/Nissan did. First model was in 1956 as a 1957.

Easier to maintain residuals as well as stop people from buying the lease out and flipping the vehicle for a profit.

Yes it still has a CHMSL that is incandescent, however on the window sticker under the Safety/Security listing it shows LED CTR HIGH MNT STOP LAMP.

They are doing it now with covid, Ford does it all the time pre-covid. I’m not sure a glovebox light really takes anymore chips than a vehicle without one. GM just cancelled super cruise on the pickups last week ($2300 credit). The supply chain is actually getting much much worse as time is going on. They have them - they are just listed as LED on the lariat window sticker and they are not LED on vehicles produced. You can’t put things on a window sticker and then sell the vehicle without that feature. It is actually why window stickers became required by law by Sen. Monroney.

They are listening to very wrong people right now, dealers who are very vocal about needed cheap cars and only cheap cars. The problem is that they will never be cheap enough for the customers who want a nothing vehicle, with no profit and who will just find the next cheapest thing in 10-12 years when their last cheap thing dies. The Chinese are going to come in soon and eat up the low end of the market, leaving a smaller and smaller pie when you cater to customers with no brand loyalty. The Maverick Lariat is an example of where they are going, no rear window defroster, no auto dimming mirror, no home link, no rain sensing wipers, no LED tail lights, no navigation system, no sync 4, etc. (The CHMSL is going to be a class actions lawsuit soon, legally can't sell vehicles have features on the window sticker then build them without it) It is like not bringing the Everest here, it would sell 120K units a year and wouldn't touch Bronco sales. Electric cars are the future, the problem is Politicians decided that future was in the next 5 years and not the reasonable 2035-2050 time-frame. Expect a minimum of 10% increase in vehicle prices over each year over the next 3 years. Politicians created this mess and they won't be able to fix it with the way it needs to be fixed. It is the 1970's all over again.

You forgot heated wiper park, power folding mirrors XLT , front parking sensor on XLT, B&O was Standard on Lariat and I'm sure there are many others. Have to wonder if they will even bring equipment back or it is just gone for good with the new basic basic basic message that is being pushed. Farley likes to brag how much he can save by eliminating "Complexity" AKA features and then wonder why Ford has the quality issues they do because those cost savings ARE in components as well.

Look at the price increases with Tesla over the past year; Lithium prices have skyrocketed. There are going to be some substantial price increases coming for 2023MY. Maverick is the same way the base hybrid is now losing money.

They do know one big one, the Toyota Prius.

On the outside, it is snug on the inside to me (That being said I drive a full size pickup) But It feels considerably more snug than the Maverick that is 2" narrower.

Have to remember most auto's use garbage chips based on 10+ year old technology and a lot of them. They were super cheap, slow and energy hogs but made it easy to make vehicles configurable for different options, simpler wiring harnesses as well as made sure if something failed it wasn't a catastrophic failure that left you stranded on the side of the road, but would allow all sorts of gremlins and little problems happen. Chip industry was moving on to more complex chips and the canceled orders just gave them the push to do that. The fire at a plant made it worse because the question becomes why rebuild a plant that is making something that is 10+ years old when the cost to update it to a modern chip plant that have wider sales uses is almost the same cost as rebuilding it. The chip industry for years has been telling the Automotive sector they need to get on the ball and update their chips but the limited talent and lack of understanding/desire world finally caught up.

That is one thing that stood out to me on the full sized Bronco was how small the interior actually was. It has almost identical leg room as the Sport.

Suspending the gas tax is pretty dumb but why else would politicians be running their mouth to do it. The savings individually are minuscule vs the overall impact it will have. In Michigan you're only going to save about .27 cents a gallon, so maybe $4 a fill-up. The legislator/governor can't legally suspend the sales tax on Gas with the way the Michigan Constitution reads after the prop A changes in 1994. Now with the gas tax suspended in Michigan you've created a host of issues that get complicated. Infrastructure Bonds are earmarked to be paid with gas tax revenue, without that revenue you don't have money to pay your obligations because it is a fixed amount for gas tax revenue so where do you get that money from and that is for State Bonds for local with the wording of Act 51 (How gas tax funds are distributed) you're depriving local City and County road funds they use to pave and maintain local roads who may already have projects bid out based on that revenue or who have sold bonds against that revenue to complete large projects so they will be forces to raise mileage rates or sell more bonds to make sure they are paid. Michigan has underfunded roads for the better part of 25 years and this will just make it worse while actually providing no actual savings. What no one is talking about yet is the price of Natural gas at 9.32/million BTU and heating oil at $4.33 peoples heating costs are going to be crazy this winter. Whatever your bill was last year use a 2.5x to figure your budget.

If you feel you were treated unfairly contact your State Attorney General office and file a formal complaint.

A little bird that fly's pretty high told me today people at Ford are NOT HAPPY this was said and internally some damaged control has started. It was UGLY after this and the hope was it would just die on its own and not gain traction. It was a statement dealing with transition and wasn't said properly with vehicle names and absolute terms; nothing has been finalized if the Escape name was going to transition over to an Electric. "Escape" name recognition is over 85%, the updated model is launching soon (including a large bump in program budget) that fixes the current shortcomings and this is going to over shadow it. Not a place Ford wants to be with a new model.

The Edge never lost money, it was a Fusion with a 10-15k price increase. So even discounted it was selling for way more than the Fusion it was based on. Edge issue was if never had a champion in Ford, that is the sole reason it is dead and never had hybrid or plug in developed (even though it was the original show car for fords hybrid tech). If a program is to survive in Ford it has to have internal fighters for project funds, it was never a priority vehicle for Ford.

It does though, I know two people with Super Duty's on order ( XLT and Tremor Lariat so not 90K but still 60K+) who currently have F-150's and were going to upsize to more easily tow their trailers (10K and 9.5K). They both decided to stay in the F150 world for their new trucks; for them it is not 20mpg to 30 mpg you're comparing but 13mpg vs 20mpg or even close to 24mpg with the Powerboost.(one went this route so he'd have the large generator mileage is a bonus) That is 10K-12K over 5 years, assuming you drive 15K drive.You also can tow that with a properly equipped F-150. There is nothing wrong with this type of buyer in the Super-duty range but they are more likely to forgo the size if it is going to cost them tens thousand or more over the life even though they could afford it. Also not sure why you'd even buy a 2022 90K Super Duty or even 80K F-150 as Ford has removed a lot of the luxury features because of the Chip Shortage. Platinum/KR/Limited are basically Lariats now but that is another topic. There are drivers of Super-dutys who need the Diesel or extra power but construction contractors who just drive to and from the job site, weekend warriors and mall crawlers who could do with a F-150 or even Ranger and just like the extra size "because" they might need that payload or towing when their towing consists of a utility trailer with 5K in it or a travel trailer or boat that is 10K. Fleet and Government pricing puts Super duty's at times cheaper than F-150's and considerably cheaper than a Ranger so that drives sales of them as well. Bigger fleets that can go electric are going to go electric sooner than later, that is 30K+ in savings over the life of a vehicle, and that is each vehicle. Ford knows that everyone can't go electric (Farley said that yesterday) but there is a change happening with high gas prices. Google Searches for Pick-up trucks are down over 20% from last year, but searches for Hybrid pickup trucks are up over 80% from last year.

Farley confirmed the Escape is dead today, more consolidation and 100% online and fixed prices. .https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/06/01/ford-electric-vehicles-online-sales-non-negotiable-price/7468899001/ Few stand out points -- Ford estimates the company's distribution model is about $2,000 per vehicle more expensive than Tesla, including one-third being inventory sitting on dealer lots, one-third or $500 to $600 per vehicle on public advertising. -- "Our model is messed up. We spend $600 or $700 on the vehicle to promote it and we spend nothing post-warranty on the customer experience. The problem is, on a parts business, which historically has been very profitable, we only get, maybe, only 10 or 20% of the customers come back to us." --"If you ever see Ford Motor Co. doing a Super Bowl ad on our electric vehicles, sell the stock." -- While Ford focuses on its iconic products, vehicles such as the Ford Edge and Escape will give way to Mustang and Bronco, Farley said.

The CEO signs off on all final designs, that is true at every auto company. CEO's absolutely request design changes during development. There's a vehicle coming out at a competitor that virtually no one in design liked where it ended up but was pushed by the CEO and Board member with the design of it. CEO's hold tremendous power when it comes to design.

It looks like it is getting worse in the past two weeks as there are huge lots filling up with Mustangs and Rangers along with Bronco/F150 all around the Dearborn/Downriver area. You do start to wonder when Gas prices impact sales.

I know a few people that have flipped Bronco's and haven't had anything said to them. In this case I don't think Ford would push it as its really easy to see the person lost their job and went to something less expensive. Worse is what GM is doing to people in Canada where they can't sell a vehicle for a year and there is a $1 lean of the vehicle.