mackinaw

The fact that David Schoch brought it up yesterday, means it's still on the front burner.

China vehicle sales in 2013 = 20 million. Projected China sales in 2020 = 32 million. Ford's China expansion is in western China, not Beijing, etc. where you find the problems you mention. Considering that Ford's China sales will hit one million this year (or at least close to it), it shouldn't be hard to hit two or three million once they have the capacity. Even at these numbers, they will still be considerably behind Volkswagen and GM (who are also building more plants and expanding into western China). Even if the China train stops today, their market still dwarfs ours.

From today's Detroit News. Note that China sales are expected to hit 32 million by 2020. Dearborn — Ford’s chief of Asia Pacific operations says the Dearborn automaker is exploring additional expansion plans in China and is in talks to create a local Chinese brand with one of its Chinese joint ventures. Dave Schoch, president of Ford Asia Pacific, said in during a roundtable with reporters Tuesday that Ford has not made a decision on expansion plans, but that current industry projections — IHS Automotive predicts 32 million autos will be sold per year in China by 2020, compared with 20 million last year — could prompt more spending to keep pace with demand. “Our investment cadence is continuing,” Schoch said, citing five assembly and engine plants still under construction in China. “(But) when I take a look at the business plan now and beyond that, it clearly says to me (and) raises the question, do we need more capacity?" From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131009/AUTO0102/310090111#ixzz2hGgcdS21

It seems that once they go through their initial new-car growth spurt, sales settle down to about 6,000 - 8,000 per month. It's probably best to consider the Mustang, Camaro or Challenger as niche vehicles. Great image cars, and I'm guessing profitable too, but the days of selling 400,000/year are long gone.

From today's Automotive News, via Reuters: BEIJING (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. is poised to overtake its Japanese rivals in sales in China as Toyota and Honda struggle to regain market share following a flare up in anti-Japanese sentiment a year ago. "We should be able to sell more than 900,000 vehicles, possibly close to a million in China this year," the Ford official said. Ford sold 551,738 vehicles during the first eight months of the year, up 50 percent. The company is expected to release its September China sales data as early as Wednesday. Toyota is targeting to sell about 900,000 vehicles and Honda about 750,000 in China this year." Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20131008/RETAIL01/131009878/ford-on-track-to-beat-toyota-honda-sales-in-china#ixzz2hA501ex0

From today's Automotive News, via Reuters: DETROIT (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. mapped out a plan to build one-third more vehicles globally by adding more plants in emerging markets, overhauling its production methods and running most of its factories around the clock by 2017, executives said on Monday. The No. 2 U.S. automaker aims to build around 8 million vehicles worldwide by the middle of the decade, up from about 6 million cars and trucks this year. These efforts build on CEO Alan Mulally's "One Ford" system to cut costs and boost output by adopting a unified manufacturing strategy. This strategy is the cornerstone of Mulally's restructuring of Ford over the last seven years. "As we've restructured and kept with our core principle of keeping capacity sized with demand, we're now able to fully utilize capacity around the world and get our absolute maximum from them," John Fleming, Ford's head of global manufacturing, told reporters at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant." Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20131008/OEM01/131009875/ford-targets-one-third-increase-in-global-capacity-within-5-years#ixzz2h9MwssGQ

From today's Automotive News, via Bloomberg: "Ford vehicles assembled in China and the rest of Asia now outnumber those built in Europe for the first time. By 2015, Ford will have the capacity to produce more cars and trucks in Asia than it made last year in North America. "Opening up the highways to these consumers is going to be lucrative business. Morgan Stanley said in a report last month that it values Ford's Chinese operations at $15 billion (92 billion yuan). That's more than a fifth of Ford's stock-market value and exceeds that of Mazda Motor Corp. and Fiat Group." Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20131006/GLOBAL03/310069996/fords-tilt-toward-china-asia-begins-to-pay-off#ixzz2gwp05VdM

You can say this about any vehicle, irrespective of the engine/transmission combination.

Being that I own Microsoft stock, I sincerely hope you're right. The problem though, was Microsoft's failure to recognize the rapid shift to mobile. Apple makes most of their money selling iPhones, not iMacs. While I heard a lot of good things about Windows phones, their marketshare is right there next to Blackberry, meaning it's nonexistent. Hopefully their buying Nokia will allow them to deliver a cell phone ecosystem that can challenge both IOS and Android.

Well, he's going to leave sometime. Whether it's soon, or at the end of 2014 (when he said he would retire), the clock's already ticking.

From today's Automotive News (via Reuters): DETROIT (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. has bought a five-year-old software company for less than $10 million in a move the automaker hopes will beef up its in-car connectivity that is critical to winning over younger, more affluent buyers. The acquisition of Livio will also help promote the automaker's method of connecting smartphones with the vehicle as an industry standard, which will help speed the pace of app development, Ford said today. "With the acquisition, Livio now has the ability to advocate Ford's contribution of SmartDevice Link as a standard," Paul Mascarenas, Ford's chief technology officer, told reporters. "That, I think, is a big opportunity." Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20130926/OEM06/130929919/ford-buys-small-software-startup-to-bolster-connected-car-offerings#ixzz2g1FmwfZT

I agree. MFT is no different than any other technology device. Smartphones, tablet, laptop, etc. we eventually learn and get used to whatever operating system is on the device to the point where operating it becomes second nature. I know just what to do to use the touch screen as well as the voice commands for MFT in my '012 Focus. In reality, it's actually very simple.

The latest MFT update is actually rather nice. If you read the article, it's suggested that the just-discontinued dealer reimbursement program will be replaced by something else.

Always interesting to see how a new vehicle is designed. So many different ideas. I kind of like the first one shown.

From today's Detroit News: "Ford Motor Co. on Thursday plans to announce an approximately $700 million investment for its lone Canadian assembly plant, according to a source familiar with the situation. The Dearborn automaker, which manufactures midsize crossovers including the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX in Oakville near Toronto, will also get about $135 million from the Ontario and Canadian governments, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. A Ford spokesman, when reached by phone Monday afternoon, said the automaker had “nothing to announce today.” Canadian government officials will attend a plant event Thursday, the source said." From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130916/AUTO0102/309160100#ixzz2f6aGXZC1

Yeah, the Mustang you refer to is at the Henry Ford (the name for the entire Henry Ford complex, including the Museum, Greenfield Village and the Benson Ford Research building). Last time I was at the museum, it was sitting right next to a Mustang 1 (the mid-engine two-set sports car). The Henry Ford complex is a must-see if you're ever in Dearborn. Even if you don't like history, you'll like this place. Just so much to see, all of it interesting.

Probably all true, but just wait until these teens get into their 20's, get married, and start having families. They'll be busting down the door of the nearest Secretary of State to get a license and will be scouring Craigslist to find an old minivan they can get around in.

Brad Wernle works for Automotive News and was speculating on what some future Fords and Lincolns could look like. Just one man's thoughts and opinions. Worth the read: http://www.autonews.com/article/20130911/BLOG06/130919960/a-glimpse-at-some-imaginary-future-fords-and-lincolns#axzz2ecWULrc4

Somehow, I have a hard time understanding how an electric car can stall. Whatever, from today's Automotive News: "DETROIT (Reuters) -- U.S. safety regulators are investigating incidents of stalling in Ford Motor Co. Focus electric cars after receiving 12 consumer complaints. The preliminary evaluation of the Focus electric cars from 2012 and 2013 model years was opened after 11 of those 12 complaints alleged the vehicle shut down while driving, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. An estimated 1,000 of the plug-in electric cars, launched last year, are included in the probe. Half of the incidents occurred at speeds above 30 miles per hour, and all of the complaints were received within the past five months, according to NHTSA. No accidents or injuries were reported. A Ford spokeswoman said the U.S. automaker is cooperating with NHTSA's probe." Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20130910/OEM11/130919996/ford-focus-electric-car-probed-in-u.s-for-stalling-while-driving#ixzz2eWL3Zx2W

Well, Ford has benchmarked VW's MQB modular platform design, which is a total rethink of chassis engineering and packaging. See this CNBC article, about seven paragraphs down: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100449231

Automotive News got it from Reuters: "DETROIT (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally, credited with driving a culture change that helped save the automaker, may step down sooner than planned, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Under a succession plan outlined late last year, Mulally, 68, was expected to stay on as CEO until at least the end of 2014. But Ford's board of directors is now open to letting him step down earlier as he explores other roles, two people familiar with the board's thinking said. This shift underscores the board's growing confidence in the executive team's ability to avoid the missteps that pushed Ford to the brink of collapse before Mulally was hired in 2006. The board has also warmed to COO Mark Fields, a 24-year Ford veteran who is widely expected to be the next CEO, according to sources. Under these circumstances, the board is willing to let Mulally determine the timing of his potential exit, the sources said. Mulally is considering another high-profile job to follow up his tenure at Ford, they said, adding that he had discussed a role in the Obama administration at one point. Mulally's name has also been floated as a possible successor for Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer, who said in late August that he would retire within a year." http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/06/us-autos-ford-mulally-idUSBRE98500420130906

Fleet sales always seem to generate a lot of discussion on this forum. This is a pretty good article pointing out that fleet sales can generate a lot of money, if the manufacturer does it right. From Bloomberg, via Automotive News: DETROIT (Bloomberg) -- Sales of cars and trucks to fleets, a $65 billion slice of annual U.S. auto purchases, no longer has to be viewed as the naughty side of the industry. “Fleet and even rental fleet are no longer dirty words deserving of blanket criticism,” said Maryann Keller, an auto industry consultant and former director at Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. “These are not unprofitable transactions, or at least for the manufacturer, they don’t have to be.” Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20130903/RETAIL01/130909983/fleet-sales-now-seen-as-profit-maker-with-sales-revival#ixzz2dsZT064E

Both are gorgeous cars and I really don't know which one I like better. A testament really, to how well Ford has maintained the Mustang line.

Give them time. Once they marry and have kids, they'll buy a car. No way around it.

This is very true. When I was in Morocco years back, the taxi cab of choice was a diesel Mercedes. Across the Strait of Gibraltar, the "S" class was the luxury vehicle of choice.