Donaldo

To be fair those were a different chassis and drivetrain with Japanese battery packs and transmissions.

27MPG in hybrid only Land Cruiser sets it apart from Bronco, but not Grand Cherokee 4xe. Probably hard to compare Explorer Timberline without low range 4WD. Maybe when the Bronco PHEV goes on sale or the Timberline gets more off road parts, there could be some more cross shopping

This is an interesting insight. It appears that instead of hiring a staff that has a broad base of talent to address a variety of challenges, Ford focuses staffing more on the crises of the day. One day the crisis could be that its products are too old and behind the market, the next day could mean focusing on quality control and the supply chain of the current products. It seems like a chaotic way of doing business, since these days there will be more than one crisis at a time.

Doesn't every major drivetrain configuration need its own crash testing (which costs a lot of time/money) in order to be legally sold? I've heard this before as a reason mfgs tend to not offer a lot of choices in transmissions (for example).

Does anyone have confirmation if the '23 will finally include the PHEV drivetrain from the Aviator?

Wonder if homes or public charging stations for EVs will have solar panels backed up by large battery storage or capacitors to keep them off of grid power. Or maybe using with the Ford Lightning bidirectional tech, they could steal power from fully charged vehicles. Problem solved!

Also you have the potential to charge a lot of places you visit regularly. Going to work, the grocery store, a shopping mall, etc.are all opportunities to recharge.

Ford doesn't make a hybrid Mustang either...yet. If Ford can make a few extra bucks with special editions, they'll have even more money for research in development for high tech.

The profit margin on a Corvette is going to be quite small (even if the price is high) given the low volume, and would also be small for any other sporty car that isn't a Porsche or Ferrari. Each $82K F-150, Expedition, or Super Duty sold probably puts at least $20K in the bank for Ford - maybe someone has the actual numbers?

Corvette sales were about 21,000 in all of 2021. Bronco sales are over 12,000 per month now. I wonder which one is a better return on investment?

Maybe Ford isn't in a great position to spend employee time and factory space on on a car that would sell well for about 2 years. The population of people that really want a new Thunderbird likely will not buying a lot of new cars for much longer anyways.

"Other dealers taking inventory" is a pretty creative dealer tall tale. A fat ADM means the dealer has fallen in love with the inventory, and doesn't care who buys it as long as they pay up. This kind of love turns hilarious when these jewels end up having birthdays on the lot, surrounded with newer models.

An issue is that although hybrids often last many miles, the number of drivers rebuilding old Ford hybrids with aged batteries is relatively small compared to Toyota. Ford also changes designs and suppliers of hybrid batteries and drivetrains. Availability of quality aftermarket rebuilds or OEM replacements for Ford hybrids is uncertain beyond the 10-12 year mark, but if you live where people drive a lot of old hybrids, you may be in luck!

Forr 2022 the only SUVs with diesel engines sold new in the USA are Wrangler, Range Rover, and Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban/Escalade. Diesel may continue to have a market as more refiners are switching to renewable and biodiesels.

From what I can gather the base price 4 cylinder (XLT equivalent) trim Explorer in China costs $45,000 USD, while the USDM market base price is $36,000. I believe Europe is similar in that they pay more than US customers do.

Is the Bronco Sport PHEV now close to being released?

The remaining 2021s probably aren't going to keep their value well when 2022s, painted tops, and special editions like the Warthog/Raptor start showing up.

Why couldn't Ford offer 'mannequin' Maverick hybrids to dealers that are not for sale like they are doing for Broncos?

This probably assumes it's cheap for dealers to have a lot of inventory (and staff) on the lot with 'volume leaders'. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Maybe more dealers will be downsizing and focusing on after sales service to become more profitable.

It's been noted the Maverick hybrid is build to order only. This may be an indication of the way forward, stocking dealer lots with profitable high level trim models and special editions, and leave the lower margin XLTs for customers to order. Just like Porsche, not a stripper to be found anywhere on the lot unless a customer cancelled their order. This way dealers won't have to absorb the flooring costs of low margin vehicles. Customers who must buy something right off the lot will pay the premium, increasing profits.

Ford has been doing this for a long time with premium trim levels and sub-brands like SVT/Raptor/ST, Shelby, King Ranch, Platinum, etc. Maybe Ford will still sell mainstream and premium products within the same brand.

I think Mercedes-Benz shows that a very large carmaker can have a profitable brand of the most expensive and exotic cars on the road, as well as more entry level transportation and commercial vehicles. They usually make it easy to build to order, since it is almost impossible for the majority of Mercedes dealers to have deep inventories of their vehicles. For example MBZ has 8 SUVs , which covers well over 2 dozen individual models when different trims and AMG versions are included.

I think many of the expensive options available on Porsche SUVs too. The 2021 Cayenne has a base price of about $70,000, but the cheapest new one I could find of 100 on dealer lots around me has a $125,000 sticker. .

Does Porsche still have the highest profits per vehicle in the industry? It should be noted their volume these days is in SUVs, not sports cars.

This story reminds me of car dealers in Japan. Because of the value of the land there, most of them only have a handful of vehicles on a lot for test drives, (like "mannequins') and buyers order what they want. I think new car dealers in many European countries may be similar? Interestingly USA, the Japanese makers have just the opposite approach. Dealers or regional distributors spec what they want stocked and manufacturers build to those specs. Individual options/trims are minimized. They typically make it difficult for the buyers to build to order. It would be interesting to see if build to order really fits a high volume sales model. There are probably many customers who are accustomed to impulse buying and don't want to use a computer to configure a vehicle.