akirby

Don't forget that this is the first gen Fiesta so the only ones buying them are first time buyers. In another 2 years we'll start to see repeat buyers with the MCE. Exactly what we're seeing with the Fusion. It won't happen overnight. The imports have been doing this for decades.

Not at all. Very accurate IMO since this is the first time Ford has tried to make Lincoln a viable stand alone brand in decades.

I was just saying that an awful lot of F150s never see anything other than a paved road and light hauling. I doubt the bed would be aluminum - composite would be a better choice. Of course if you plan on seeing a lot of abuse there will certainly be non-aluminum alternatives.

Most don't regularly abuse F150s either.

I don't think some people realize how bad Ford was pre-Mulally and how much of a turnaround has really occurred, especially in terms of making business decisions - nor do they understand how to make good business decisions. They just want Ford to make whatever vehicle they want.

You can't use logic, math and common sense when it disagrees with his opinions.

I give up. If you're trying to be just like the other online and print magazines, you've succeeded. And not that's a compliment.

How? All I heard was "they're getting a refresh" and one press conference at the L.A. Auto show. It's NOT a REFRESH! It's a totally new car on a totally new platform. Please pay attention.

The Lincoln LS had aluminum fenders, hood and trunk lid. Never heard any issues with repairs.

You don't see a difference between an Explorer and a minivan?

So you don't think anyone would cross shop a Fit and a Focus? Or a Fiesta and a Civic? I don't know anyone who says "I want a B-sized car." People buy smaller cars because they're cheaper or they want better fuel economy or they just like the styling. Which small car they prefer depends on their preferences. For people with kids to haul interior space could be the #1 criteria. But for people on a tight budget it may be price. I think for most people styling is extremely important. I certainly won't buy a car that's not attractive to me no matter the price or features. If I drive 30K miles per year fuel economy may be #1. Every buyer's criteria is different and most are completely subjective which is why it's difficult to do an objective overall ranking. My only issue is how you weight the categories to come up with your overall ranking and how much emphasis you put on one category over another.

That's where they add some of the options and accessories that aren't part of the normal production line. I think it's outsourced now and they're bringing it in-house.

I'm not drinking any koolaid. I never said the Fiesta should have been number 1 or the other vehicles weren't worthy. I just don't think an objective comparison should put too much weight on things that are subjective. Put the Fit and Fiesta side by side and let regular buyers compare them. Some will prefer the utility and space of the Fit while others would prefer the styling and driving dynamics and features of the Fiesta. Utility/space is but one attribute.

That list is only Ford GM and Chrysler.

Sure. I was just giving examples. If interior space is a big issue then a Focus might be a better comparison to the Fit. OTOH if you value styling and performance more than interior space then the Fit would be at the bottom of the list.

See - this is where YOUR personal preferences and biases are tainting your comparisons. Just because YOU feel that less interior space makes a vehicle "inferior" doesn't mean everyone else feels that way. The only objective statement you can make is that one is bigger than the other. Whether that makes any difference to perspective buyers is totally subjective. I think a lot of people DO pick a brand first - brand loyalty is huge especially amongst Honda and Toyota buyers. But that wasn't the point. It doesn't matter how you're shopping or what you're looking at or what brand. Each customer has specific criteria that cause them to prefer one over the other. For some styling is #1. For others it's performance or fuel economy. For others it's features. For others it's interior space. You put too much emphasis on ONE criteria out of a dozen that people consider.

It's only an issue for me if it's uncomfortable. Brady complained about the front passenger seat in the Focus being "cramped" but it's not "cramped" to me at all. I've ridden in my daughter's Focus several times and space is not an issue - and I'm 5'11 250. It may be less room than other vehicles but it would not enter into my buying decision at all and I'm sure I'm not alone. If a Fiesta is too small buy a Focus. If a Focus is too small buy a Fusion. If a Fusion is too small buy a Taurus. Pointing out that it has more or less room than similar competitors is great but whether or not that's a problem should be up to the buyer as it's totally subjective.

But don't you think that overall ranking order is really irrelevant to a car buyer because each buyer has specific things they're looking for - fuel economy, roominess, comfort, performance. When I read a review I'm looking for pros and cons for each vehicle so I can determine what's important to me. E.g. I don't care about roominess so that wouldn't be a negative for me on the Fiesta or Focus but it would be a huge negative for some people. If you present the pros and cons of each vehicle then the reader can decide which is best for them.

You were also convinced that the MKZ would have the bow wave grille and you were wrong about that, too.

Bingo. I like the way they do tool comparos in Family Handyman and/or Popular Mechanics. They rate each tool in different categories and then pick various winners like Best Overall and Best Value. Then they go on to say if you need to do XXX then this is the best one. E.g. if a cordless drill driver is deficient in many categories but it has the most torque then that may be the best tool if you're driving large screws. For subcompact cars I think the categories would be best value, best utility (combination of cargo capability and interior space and versatility), best comfort, best performance and best fuel economy. Then you could pick an overall winner based on relative rankings in these other categories. To me that's more useful than just ranking 10 cars 1 through 10 based on different criteria.

When Flex was first announced, I believe they discussed 75K as a reasonable target. Some tried to stretch that to 100K. But then the economy tanked and total sales fell from 17M annually to 11M (a 35% drop). That would change the 75K to 48K to maintain the same market share. They should end up around 28K for the year. I'm absolutely sure that Ford would have liked more volume. But they're also getting many more conquest sales and higher ATPs than anticipated and that makes up for lower volume up to a point. Where that point is - I don't know but Ford does and the fact they put money into a MCE says we're above that point right now.

The very fact that you rank them together implies one is "better" than the others, otherwise there would be no need for ranking. The question is better at what? Something specific or overall? Overall is implied since you don't qualify the rankings as being based on utility, space, fuel economy or anything else. This is the problem that the print magazines encounter with their comparison tests. You're correct that most cars are not better or worse than others at everything, so why even go there? The print mags do it to sell magazines. What you should do is review all of them, point out their pros and cons without any specific preference or bias towards one attribute or another, then if you feel the need for rankings do several rankings based on different types of buyers or specific attributes. Best Utility, Best Value, Best Fuel Economy, Best interior space, etc. etc. That is much more useful than just having one ranking list that's based on different criteria for each vehicle.

Umm.......isn't that EXACTLY what it means?

Ford also expected 1M F series sales. Does that make it a failure?