ZanatWork

The biggest truth, to me, is that the Transit Connect fulfills most of the same jobs that a Ranger would, with the added bonus of sheltering the payload from thieves/elements. My employer is regularly buying Nissan NV2000s (they won't even discuss Ford vehicles after the DCT fiasco with our Fiestas) because they're relatively cheap, fairly rugged/dependable, and versatile. The mini truck market has likely been wounded by the baby work van offerings.

Sadly, it's continuously put back into the collection consciousness by asshats that don't know how to control their cars...and there are a lot of Mustangs out there.

My concerns would be centered around platforms, as there would need to be a new one. As mentioned earlier, previous Rangers were pretty tight for taller people (I'm one, and I don't miss old Rangers as a result). Modern packaging and safety requirements would make the existence of any true compact pickup difficult, unless it involved "Ranchero-ing" a Focus or another similar approach. That doesn't bode well for towing/hauling. I am a huge fan of rwd-based vehicles and I do think there might be enough market to support a true compact truck or two. However, I don't see that Ford could legitimately make a business case for a new Courier or the like.

The proportions look odd to me, but I feel that way about many of the baby CUVs out there. This feels strange to say, but I think Ford needs to shrink and kind of "cute-ify" the nose on the Ecosport. With the front end so similar to its bigger siblings, I think that could alienate some potential buyers. Too much commonality in a time of unfettered personal expression seems to be a poor idea.

Those big double-cam heads take up some space, for sure. It's maybe the only thing I kinda envy about the GM LS motors...but I'd just use an older Ford V8 if I had a space-limited project. I forget the company, but there's a new FE coming out, one that has modern tolerances and improvements to oiling, etc. That would be very tempting for any number of uses.

"It's a performance vehicle, so it's always partially about the engine"- Reality I would like to see the NA version with the 2.7, though.

Still waiting for a full road test, very interested in how well the refresh improves the whole car.

I'd also buy one, and others I know in Ford/car circles would be very interested as well. Not everyone is attracted to an extra foot of bodywork/weight, higher centers of mass/gravity, and having one more tall, rounded soap bar. Yes, CUVs have tons of momentum right now...but given that essentially every major automotive publication in the country has some fairly rabid wagon enthusiasts, dismissing the potential of sports wagons is just plain dumb. Given the ongoing failure that's been the C-Max over here, there's reasonable resentment from those (like myself) that get to look, AGAIN, at Ford items overseas not available here. The Focus ST wagon makes the C-Max look like a bad joke.

The most important take from this, obviously, is that the Flex almost doubled its sales. One brave vehicle in a sea of melted soap bars...!

I have trouble believing that the V8 is dead. There's too many good examples out there, and obviously customer bases that still support that classic engine architecture. I do think that smaller-displacement versions with turbocharging are basically inevitable (see: Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari, and so forth) and that GM will eventually have to figure out a means for performance power beyond adding displacement.

Honda's styling in recent years just confuses me. The front and rear of the Civic is laughably busy, but it's obviously selling very well. I can't drive for 5 minutes around here without seeing one. The Focus needed a more dramatic MCE and an "auto" that wasn't junk. I hope the lessons are learned for the upcoming model.

Well, current sales woes for the Focus and Fiesta alike can largely be traced to the hideous DCT gearbox. With that transmission being in the majority of the cars, the whole run was hamstrung.

This has me concerned, because the apparent abandonment of the Fiesta in this market and focus away from cars has a familiar ring to it, one that had nightmares of proposed fwd Mustangs and car platforms that were engineered straight into mediocrity and/or uselessness. The Taurus going from revolutionary to rental, the Escort/Focus embarrassing afterthoughts, and the Mustang? Marginalized. But hey, it's fine, F-Series and Explorer sales are making it possible to buy a bunch of red-ink-soaked toy brands...and we don't think Americans want rewarding drivers' cars, just more trucks/SUVs!! Arrrgghh....

It kinda looks like a Flex and a Range Rover made a camo'd baby.

I saw that, and may have drooled a little. I thought the use of the hydroboost system was clever, because that was actually a trick to improve steering feel in Fox-derived Fords for decades.

Dan is a jerk, and I've happily emailed him at a previous employer to point out ridiculous errors in some of his columns. His eventual retirement will improve the world.

Given that most CUVs are basically "tall wagons", there should be a way to keep the Mustang viable on a shared platform.

Maybe, but the painful fact that you can get a Focus ST wagon in Europe is kinda heartbreaking when its only brand-sibling equivalent over here is the ugly blob known as the slow-selilng C-Max. Yes, trends have people buying more and more baby CUVs that have AWD but never even see dirt roads, and have an extra foot of bodywork height/weight compared to an equivalent wagon. Subaru actually took risks like that, including WRX wagons. They're the most-loved freakin' car brand in our market right now, despite the fact that they're getting way too "normal", nowadays. In any case, a small "sportwagon" remains attractive to some of us (I'll bet more than 15), and would likely do decently with even moderate advertising effort.

If "car guys" had bought Panthers new instead of used, Ford would've green-lighted a genuine successive RWD chassis to respond to market demand. Instead, the "Panther Mafia" consumed all the P71s they could find at auction. I kinda understand the loyalty to that platform, but again...if it was so great, why so few retail sales?

http://jalopnik.com/ford-ceo-mark-fields-reportedly-fired-in-management-sha-1795421644?rev=1495426354345&utm_campaign=socialflow_jalopnik_facebook&utm_source=jalopnik_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow So...did Mark get fired, or is this is rumor and speculation making a stepchild?

I wonder if the Fusion could take on an "EL" model of its own, the way Crown Vics used to have extended wheelbases for police/taxi fleets. As some Fusions are used in law enforcement, nowadays, it may not be a terrible approach.

Yep. My employer (with many locations nationwide) is officially done with that horrid transaxle. Aside from a few Transit Connects, there will be no more Fords purchased for the company. The hatred for the Powershift is immense, coast to coast, with my employer and co-employees. It's expensive, it's crappy to drive (I hate driving the things), and it's benched several of our cars, now. To hell with it.

Yeah...sorry...as someone who's owned both FE and 385-series motors in my vehicles, I'm afraid you're less than accurate in that assessment.

I saw a rumor regarding the 7.0 being in the next GT-500, but I saw it over someone else's shoulder, and don't remember the source. I kinda doubt it, but it did make me wonder....