akirby

I'm managing a large virtual x86 environment in 8 datacenters. We've installed over 2 pedabytes of block storage in the last 24 months and there is no sign of it slowing down.

I think it's a desperate attempt to remain #1 in overall sales.

I love that color! That picture also shows how different it is from the Escape.

I saw an insider post that ford was looking to take the navigator way upmarket to land rover territory.

What part of ICONIC did you not understand? Mustang sales should not only be higher, but so should the ATPs. Mustang goes up to $60K and it already has a working plant in North America. It already meets U.S. crash and emissions standards. The investment required for a new mustang is minimal. Ecosport is cheap, low volume, isn't federalized and doesn't have an existing North American assembly plant. Mulally said it's coming so you can unwad your panties.

I was using 2012 global sales per Toyota who included the matrix even though it was disputed by Ford. Doesn't matter though - the point is the Corolla continued to set sales records and was in the top 3 vehicles in the world with an antiquated drivetrain, driving dynamics and features. There is no other reason for the small truck market to have imploded at the exact same time that the crossover market exploded. At that time the small trucks were perfectly competitive, so you can't say that not updating them was the reason for the decline. It's also perfectly logical that Ranger drivers would move to Escapes, etc. Then again you wouldn't know common sense or logic if it bit you in the leg.

My step mother in law is a Tea Party activist in Florida. All they are interested in is backing candidates who are looking to cut spending, cut excess government and do what's right for the people. They don't care about abortion or gay marriage. And they have backed Democrats against Republicans. As stated earlier - the problem isn't the Tea Party - it's the radicals who took it over and who get all the publicity.

And allowing them to do that where it wasn't warranted is a management failure. To wit: Ford Europe and North America being allowed to develop different versions of the Focus, Fusion and Escape. I've seen it in my company with business cases. I can create 3 positive business cases to justify having a separate Focus, Fusion and Escape for each market. So if you look at them individually you say ok, that makes sense go ahead. Instead of looking at the other option which is to use a common platform for each pair of vehicles and then compare that to having separate platforms and making the decision at a higher level. That's exactly how GM and Ford used to operate and GM is still doing that to some degree. They give the individual brands far too much control. Of course if GM didn't have 3 non luxury brands in the first place you wouldn't have that problem.

It's where you should keep all your valuables because nobody ever looks there.......

I had an Acura Integra - first year model in 1986. The Legends were gorgeous - my buddy bought a Legend Coupe around 1988. Vigor was ok and it was downhill after that.

40 mb - how could you possibly fill that up??

Exactly: GM builds lots of cars on different platforms, then figures out it would be a good idea to combine them on a common platform. Everyone else says let's build a common platform and use it for all these vehicles. Which one do you think is cheaper and faster?

I remember the removable media disk drives back in the mid 80s. Size of a washing machine with a stack of platters the size of a trash can. 300 mb. The platters made great frisbees.....

Exactly. I guess googling is a skill. I can usually find whatever I need to find in 5 minutes, if it exists. Case in point: my Sony Bravia LED tv has a bad t-con board that I'm going to replace myself for about $75. How did I know this? I googled it, found youtube videos describing the same problem and other youtube videos showing you where to order the part and how to replace it. I also found an extended warranty from Sony on other models but not mine. Took less than 30 minutes. Then again, I read my owner's manual cover to cover - usually before I get the vehicle. I can't stand the thought of having some feature that I could be using but don't know about or needing to do something and not knowing how to do it.

So why don't you stop?

With the new CTS the ATS is now much cheaper and that's what is increasing sales. They probably should have done the CTS first.

Nope. Some people prefer driving small cars over larger cars and the monthly payment difference between a similarly equipped focus and fusion is significant if you're on a budget. And some people just prefer the style of the smaller cars.

If you notice none of the people complaining even attempted to read a user guide or do a google search for how to do what they wanted to do. Much like car owners refuse to read their owner's manuals. People expect to be spoon fed and are too lazy to learn anything for themselves.

How the hell do you have both a sedan and coupe with the same wheelbase?

Then they must be using the same development resources as the F150, which makes sense. Finish the F150, start the expy/navy.

Platform was not the right word. The ATS coupe and new CTS coupe may all be Alpha platform but they are bespoke chassis with their own wheelbases. As opposed to the MKZ hybrid which is the same basic vehicle as the regular MKZ just with a different drivetrain. The ATS coupe is as different from the ATS sedan as the CTS sedan is different from the ATS sedan. And that's expensive.

That's what I thought too. Modified rear suspension, unique sheetmetal and unique dash/interior. It's obvious that they were waiting on the F150 program to prove out the new platform. My guess is the new Expy and Navigator based on the F150 are already 2 years into development and we'll see them next year with the new powertrains, aluminum body, etc.

Not in 2012. In 2012 Corolla outsold Focus. Try to pay attention. The segment started contracting when CUVs came out and it accelerated when gas hit $4/gallon. Neither of those had anything to do with the vehicles not being updated or competitive. People who used to buy small and midsized trucks switched to crossovers and small cars and hybrids that got better fuel economy and/or offered more utility. Why would EVERY mfr stop investing and upgrading their vehicles if that's all they had to do to win back sales? Because the sales are not there to win back even with updated offerings.

Not if the opinion is based on facts. E.g. if the predictions were an increase in global temps and a 1 foot rise in sea level and there is data that suggests global temps have not risen in the last 10 years and sea level has also not risen by more than an inch or two, then anybody with a brain should understand that the initial premise must be questioned.

Is it worth continuing the research? Sure. Is it worth trying to reduce CO2 and other emissions? Sure, but if you're going to do that then you should be starting with the worst offenders and that's not American automobiles. And we shouldn't be making drastic policy changes and spending billions on it until we identify that it's really a threat (none of the predictions on sea level rise have come true) and we have a sound plan that we're confident will remedy it. Right now we have neither - just a bunch of doomsayers.