akirby

Not concept vehicles, just renderings.

Did Ford really overhype it or did they just put one picture out on social media and let us create all the hype?

Knowing the people in the skunkworks I bet they completely threw away the book on current processes. You do t make the kind of improvement they’re looking for with incremental changes.

What some of you don’t realize is that Ford probably doesn’t want to double Navigator sales because they don’t have spare capacity and Super Duties probably bring more profit. That will change when SD gets added to Oakville. The other reason we may not see air suspension or hybrid this year is simple cost cutting for ICE vehicles and reallocation of resources. Remember what you see now was pretty well done a couple of years ago. The direction on EVs and ICE didn’t change until recently. It’s never a simple decision or a case of “we don’t need that”. It’s usually can we afford to do it.

Why do I have to defend anything? I don’t work for Ford. Most of your dislikes are just personal preference. Nobody is going to compare Navi and Escalade and buy the Escalade just because the screen is a few inches wider. I guarantee you this refresh will either keep sales the same with higher ATPs or increase sales slightly. Which is probably exactly what Ford wants right now.

When you’re showing a franchisee new potential products you have to be careful how you word things. If Ford said they were definitely building something then changed their mind a stupid dealer could file suit claiming they relied on that information and were harmed somehow. It would be a stupid lawsuit but that doesn’t always stop them. This way they can’t do or say anything if they change plans. I guarantee that language came from the attorneys.

They could have started from scratch with a new platform but nothing about interceptor or mkr as built were remotely production capable. We discussed this way back in 2008. 😎

I said this yesterday. Ford has done a slow rollout of new stuff on several models and there is a lot of time before the order banks open.

Legitimate criticism: no new powertrains although the current one is really great at 440/510. There really is no point going bigger. There is still time for a new hybrid powertrain announcement before ordering begins. Ford has done this before. no air suspension Stupid criticisms: The L is too long The 48” screen is too small They're using the same screen in a Ford (gasp!) The screen has a line in the middle! (double gasp!)

Our Nautilus is on the seat and it’s no problem. Then again I hardly ever change them. The massage controls are also there with a large dpad.

Common misconception. According to ford insiders all they kept was the floor pan and fuel tank.

Fix your sarcasm detector…..

BTW - what is this obsession with digital rear view mirrors? It does nothing that 3 regular mirrors don’t already do.

Bigger isn’t always better. GM is the market leader so of course they’re going to spend more. I think KTP is still capacity constrained so Ford spent the budget on the new interior which will help sales more than air suspension or digital rear view mirrors. Keep in mind there could be additional changes, especially powertrains, announced later. Order banks don’t open for a few months. Or they make changes next year. They are obviously somewhat constrained by budget and capacity and are content to keep sales where they are or slightly better. Could they have done more? Yes. They also could have done a lot less.

I know, I know. I got it confused with Fiesta..

I rest my case, New front, new rear and a completely new interior with the Panasonic display but that’s not enough. Sheez.

I just didn’t remember Ford saying it was being fully converted to EVs.

They’re definitely considering all 3 regardless of what makes it to production.

No I was thinking Ecosport was built there but it was just Fiesta. So maybe it was gutted.

Of course - that’s just CYA legal speak.

I bet it replaces the ecoboost performance pack

I don’t remember any massive retooling

Well the old way certainly hasn’t been working…..

Why not Cuatitlan?

I expect electronic controls for everything, cheaper off the shelf electronics, in house software, designs that are simpler to build. Remember, these aren’t typical auto industry engineers.