AlRozzi

Yes my Focus is American! We love the car. Wife says it is the best car she has ever driven. This is my first experience with DC automatic. I actually love the trans. Our 2012 and 2013 Focus are manual. Maybe having driven manual trans cars most of my life is why I find the DC auto enjoyable. I promise to get some photos. I wanted the SEL for the features. A couple worth mentioning are the 4 wheel disc brakes and 17 inch wheels

akirby, I tried to include a photo but after half an hour of failure I gave up trying. Obviously not a tech wizzard!

Actually it is the wife's car and she fell in love with that color. Truth be told, it is the reason we bought it! She always liked "Lime Squeeze" Fiestas and also the similar green offered on the previous generation Escape. Outrageous Green has grown on me now. The only drawback is no matter where we go in that car, I feel everybody knows our business!

2018 Outrageous Green hatch.

Excellent observation! I felt this styling reminded me of something and yet could not define it. You have nailed it precisely. And to think that Toyota was the "Japanese Buick." Perhaps the next design language cycle will be Oldsmobile?

Honestly, I am not here to argue with you. I am open to any form of energy generation. If solar provided 100% of all our electricity needs, I am fine with that. If we could use 15 different methods to generate electricity, that is fine with me as well. I desire any means of maximizing efficiency and productivity with regard to energy generation. I don't visit this forum to argue how we get our electrity. My passion is automobiles. I am an auto enthusiast. In fact, I am a Ford loyalist. I have owned nearly 40 cars, all but one of which were either a Ford, a Mercury or a Lincoln. In previous years I wrote articles for Blue Oval News. I visit this forum because the members tend to aggregate articles which makes it easier for me to find out hot news in an efficient manner. I don't always have time to search around the web every day to see if there is some new Ford model, or a competitor's model, sales results, P&L, etcetera. My concern is that as a car guy, I want to be able to buy the kind of car I desire to own and drive. And I still believe that the auto industry is consumer driven (pun intended), not a public service, mass transit authority. Correct me if I am wrong, but I get the impression you are an angry, political activist with an agenda toward mandating a specific outcome. Perhaps I am wrong about that? It would not bother me if 90% of all vehicles sold were an EV. I just desire an automobile market where if I wsh to own a Mustang with an internal combustion engine, I can have one. In fact, I am against autonomous autos and ride sharing. I am well aware that fascism is taking hold of the world and that liberty and freedom are a thing of the past. I have lost the battle I and I am ready to accept that fact. My posting on this topic has had nothing to do with how we get our electricity. It is in fact about my enthusiasm for automobiles and my passion for the Ford Motor Company.

Yes. And the last time I looked, the sun is on fire. Energy is all about burning stuff. Besides, without the suns heat, there would not be any wind, nor waves for that matter, not to mention solar radiation. Our very lives depend upon burning stuff and making heat. What does this have to do with electric propelled Lincolns? Maybe there is a need for a "solar gold metallic" edition with leather seats?

Is not nuclear on the most hated list along with oil? Wind and solar are unreliable and what about the needed scale for one billion cars, not to mention all the other areas of electrical needs? Wind mills are destructive to the environment, being noisy and scares and kills wildlife. I'll believe it when I see it. Point is, there exists no panacea in energy generation. As for China outlawing gasoline and diesel cars, I think there may be a hidden agenda. As it stands today in China, it is the cities where wealth is centered, and also where air pollution is a problem. By mandating electric cars, it cleans up the air in urban, wealth centers and transfers air pollution to the poor by burning coal in plants in ruaral areas.

Why do some believe that electric powered cars are zero-emission? Something has to be burned or cooked to get that battery charged up.

So much for that "new car" smell! I think the car companies are setting themselves up for failure with autonomous vehicles and especially with ride sharing. This will eliminate performance, specialty and off-road vehicles. Yeah, the wealthy will still be able to afford to own and drive their own cars, but production will be low. Think Ford GT. Vehicles like Mustang, Raptor, ST Focus and Wrangler will be gone. The only profit oriented trim left to produce will be luxury. There will be a need for small pod, medium pod and large pod vehicles. Might as well be generic and make them all in one color like the Model T. I predict there will be just 3 global car producers left in 30 years, producing generic pods designed around government specifications, with only a smattering of niche builders catering to the wealthy.

I suspected this to be the case given their sales spike in recent years w/o increasing fleet much if any. Could also explain Ram's success relative to Silverado. http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/subprime-strikes-again-auto-defaults-are-booming/ar-BBEzOz7?li=BBnbfcN Few things capture this phenomenon like the partnership between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Banco Santander SA. Since 2013, as U.S. car sales soared, the two have built one of the industry’s most powerful subprime machines. Details of that relationship, pieced together from court documents, regulatory filings and interviews with industry insiders, lay bare some of the excesses of today’s subprime auto boom. Wall Street has rewarded lax lending standards that let people get loans without anyone verifying incomes or job histories. For instance, Santander recently vetted incomes on fewer than one out of every 10 loans packaged into $1 billion of bonds, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The largest portion were for Chrysler vehicles.

It only took Fields 3 years to wipe out most of Alan's work and set Ford back 8 or 10 years. And Hackett, I am an auto enthusiast. I don't want either a self-driven taxi or an electric wheel chair. I have been with Ford all my life. Don't make me switch brands now.

About time.

Nice. I had been so confused with the details. But seriously, I suspect FCA's fleet % is down because they don't make cars anymore (almost).

Now that VW and Fiat are guilty of the same crime it seems a VW/FCA merger could be like Diamler/Chrysler's "merger made in heaven." Ah...well, understanding that they are guilty of a crime, maybe it is a merger made in hell?

...and for investors it is an opportunity to buy shares

I agree regarding Cascada. I've seen at least a half dozen running around and they look bad no matter the color. It apprears as if it were smashed down under the weight of something. I don't get it.

Wish this could happen (pictured below)

I now have doubts that GM will buy FCA considering they have retained most of the 10B dollars in pension obligations belonging to Opel/GM Europe. I have reservations regarding PSA's viability in adding a new anchor around its already precarious situation in Europe. Without having sold off stakes to the French gov't and the Chinese it may have already folded. Does it really need two more brands selling the same vehicles?

How reliable are these studies? I recall reading some time ago that people who buy a vehicle which they perceive as among the best don't report problems honestly.

That is so true. I recall before GM brought out the Saturn brand Chevrolet had been the best selling U.S. brand for decades. During the '80s their tag line was" USA 1." With Saturn GM had to move a good deal of small car sales out of Chevy and then all of a sudden Ford was the USA's number one selling brand. If GMC sales were moved to Chevy I don't want to even think about the sales bragging rights such a combination would garner for the brand. I won't even go there...

I think you may have exposed GM's brand strategy. Now they want Dodge, which is basically Jeep CUVs and a sedan that doesn't sell worth a hoot.

Thanks. I saw this color for the first time on a friend's 2013 Fusion and I am amazed at how classy it looks. As I mentioned above there is a 2016 Fiesta hatchback on a dealer lot with that color and it looks fantastic.. I am always in the market for a toy and that Fiesta is really tempting me. I don't typically like white but this one is especially nice. I still have my white, 2000 Cougar - yeah, I haven't had the heart to get rid of it yet - but I think the Cougar looks good in white, although it is not pearlescent white. That generation Cougar looks bad in dark colors in my opinion. Maybe because darker shades make it look smaller? White and silver make that generation Cougar look rather nice.

I made the comment earlier that GM should discontinue Regal sales if they acquire FCA and I also meant US sales only. Regal sales in 2016 were just under 20,000 yet Corvette was near 28,000 (US). In my post I also said GM should also discontinue Fiat and Alfa US sales. I say this primarily because car sales in general are diverting to utilities. I would bet we see more car models disappear until there is another market shift.