MKII

Ford having access to Volvo's safety equipment, why is it taking so long for Ford NA to implement these devices into the cars in North America, such as WHIPS (seat/head restraint designs). Does safety equipment have to pass NA emissions, certification, etc.

I see in your sig line that you are in tropical Manitoba, were heated seats are not a popular item. My complaint is based on my preference of having heated seats in my vehicles, and the choice to have heated seats with cloth seats, as I do not like leather seats. Ford offers heated seats in the Taurus, its not a special or rare option for this variant. So why not give the consumer the choice,whether it be leather or cloth, just seems "odd". I guess in Fords opinion, you are not allowed the same comfort as the person that favours leather seats.

Again if you want heated seats in a Ford you have to sit on leather.No stand alone (cloth) heated seat option. :shrug:

Well it must take alot to discourage the lads that made the decisions on the future of the C170. Its not enough to discourage them that they loose $3,000 per vehicle, plus the general lack of interest from the consumer. And now the flood of negative responses the 2008 model has received. IMO it appears that Ford has a desire to keep repeating the same mistake over and over, for the sake of saving some $s today, with no regards for tomorrow.

The C1 platform debuted with the European Ford Focus C-Max compact MPV in early 2004, so FoE must have lobbied for permission in what year? Also the EUCD was chosen by Ford's European operations instead of the Mazda-designed CD3 platform due to the large number of components shared with the smaller C1. Another factor was reportedly the inability of the CD3 to accept Volvo's straight-5 engines.

"Lost money" I'd say keeping C170 in the U.S

If you like hot hatches have a look at this video http://youtube.com/watch?v=NBcKavyvjrw&amp...ted&search=

Points from article "Camshafts in 20 engines have snapped, says Toyota spokesman Mike Michels. The outside camshaft supplier, which Toyota declined to identify, has traced the problem to "a metallurgical defect in the casting, a flaw in the metal which they have corrected," he says. To date, Toyota has built 30,000 of the engines, and the company is determining how many might be affected. Michels says that it was "an early batch," and that "Toyota is confident in the production from that point on." Toyota likely will not test each camshaft to see if it is prone to failure. Rather, customers whose camshafts fail will have their entire engines replaced." So Toyota knows the fault, Supplier to Toyota corrected the fault, Toyota knows how many engines have been built to date, but Toyota states they "likely will not test each camshaft to see if it is prone to failure." If they corrected said fault, they must know which engines, from the production date that have the correction made. Yes/No? Would a recall be in order in this situation, or at least a TSB, with letters to the owners of this vehicle equipped with the 5.7l V8.(early build batch of course) Or just let the new owners stress out with the knowledge that my engine might break down.

Yes I know the R line has been discontinued for the time being. But. Volvo engineers are working with Team RS in Germany, developing the Focus RS, because they will be using the same setup for their C30-R AWD. Of course all things planned can go up in smoke, depending on consumer demand etc.

Rumor is Volvo will produce an R version of the C30 with AWD and high pressure turbo engine. Probably won't see this model for 2 years.

The engine for the new RS is the new 3.0 I6 Turbo, with the AWD from Volvo/Haldex (new design)

Weary corporate lifers have become all too comfortable with the idea of losing money. Mediocrity is acceptable.

Volvo Car Corporation (VCC) sales April, 2007 Total figures per region, Year to Date for car models. World sales YTD 2007 155,118 // 2006 143,171 + 8.3% Volvo Europe sales YTD are up 12%. USA is one of the only markets in the minus Total world 155,118 143,171 + 8.3 Europe* 93,915 83,784 + 12.1 USA 35,009 38,078 - 8.1 Sweden 18,782 18,495 +1.6 UK 11,718 11,511 +1.8 Germany 11,280 10,978 +2.8 Netherlands 8,299 7,007 + 18.4 Italy 7,845 6,179 + 27 Belgium 6,213 4,933 + 25.9 Spain 6,333 5,674 + 11.6 France 4,872 3,406 + 43 Russia 4,675 2,022 + 131.2 To access the link you will need to register source https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/enha...x?mediaid=11465

Sorry for the sloppiness, I am not worthy to castigate at you, I bow down to your superior posting abilities. FYI, I did not think anything about Kiley, I only took from the article what I found interesting. That Mulally does not make excuses and spew out empty politically correct statements. He castigates at Ford much the same as I, only difference is that he is not sloppy and hopefully listened to. RJ, with your immense knowledge of "all things", why are you not making the journalistic world a better institution and writing for auto rags?

The article titled "The New Heat on Ford" was regarding Ford, Yes? Or are you just tryng to move the topic to something other then Ford , by harping on the writer of the article. You need to spend a few days with Mr. Mulally, maybe he can teach you to stay on topic, and stop with the empty corporate dribble.

More important to were the Focus or Fusion are built, is the grading system mention in the article is were the Focus could benefit "The company's complacency shows up in the very language it uses internally to rate its own models. It uses the designations "L" for Leader, "AL" for Among Leaders, and "C" for Competitive. Too many executives simply strive for Cs, says William C. "Bill" Ford Jr." Change the grade from "C" to "L" that would be the starting point to address the profit margin of the Focus and the rest of the line up.

Please show the articles that stated "several times" that the C170 when launched would have a life span of 10 years in N.A. Your 2nd point has merit, lets see if FoA can execute it.

from article - "But fixing Ford will require more than simply whacking expenses. One way or another, the company will also have to figure out how to produce more vehicles that consumers actually want. And doing that will require addressing the most fundamental problem of all: Ford's dysfunctional, often defeatist culture. Although Ford once exemplified corporate efficiency--it is the birthplace of the assembly line and home of the celebrated Whiz Kids, who pioneered many modern management techniques in the 1960s--it has degenerated into a symbol of inefficiency. Weary corporate lifers have become all too comfortable with the idea of losing money. Mediocrity is acceptable. The company's complacency shows up in the very language it uses internally to rate its own models. It uses the designations "L" for Leader, "AL" for Among Leaders, and "C" for Competitive. Too many executives simply strive for Cs, says William C. "Bill" Ford Jr., executive chairman of the board. When asked about the grading system, the great-grandson of Henry Ford mimes putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. "We still do that?" he asks in disbelief. "I don't know where that came from." When Mulally was reviewing the company's 2008 product line last September, for example, he was told that Ford loses close to $3,000 every time a customer buys a Focus compact, according to one executive. "Why haven't you figured out a way to make a profit?" he asked. Executives explained that Ford needed the high sales volume to maintain the company's CAFE, or corporate average fuel economy, rating and that the plant that makes the car is a high-cost UAW factory in Michigan. "That's not what I asked," he shot back. "I want to know why no one figured out a way to build this car at a profit, whether it has to be built in Michigan or China or India, if that's what it takes." Nobody had a good answer." Enjoyed this article. It is refreshing to read comments from Mulally asking the same type of questions that some posters ask on these forums, and are labelled Ford bashers for asking such questions.

Indeed the article predictions are as you put it screwed up. But you have to admit that reading the article at that "time" made it possible for Focus consumers to hope that the C1 would be in North America for MY2008. The fact of the matter remains that competitors are offering Americans higher quality compact cars and Americans are buying them. Ford doesn’t think Americans want a higher quality compact – or that we’d be willing to pay for it, and many posters here use this same theory in their arguments. But the competition appears to be making Ford's excuse a bad decision.

Ford problems are not in Europe, just Jellymould doesn't like new euro Fords, especially the new Mondeo, which does not go on sale until summer 2007. Ford of Europe sales increased by 7.4 percent in April to 143,700 Year-to-date total vehicle sales 6.3 percent higher, at 622,828 The company’s solid showing in April contributed to a 6.3 percent sales improvement, to 622,828 units in the first four months of 2007. Market share was 0.2 percent higher, at 8.97 percent. “Our sales performance in April shows that we are building on the momentum of the first quarter," said Stephen Odell, vice president, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford of Europe. "Our products are in demand and we are focused on continuing growth with further new models, such as the Focus Coupé-Cabriolet, refreshed C-MAX and, of course, the all-new Mondeo. The Mondeo goes on sale in the summer, and the impressive press reaction so far confirms our view that we have another winner." http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=26018

Not in detail but " Three basic platforms" will comprise the bulk of Ford's automotive lineup through 2008, with "Mazda C1,CD3" and "Volvo C1+or EUCD" providing the building blocks for Ford, Mercury and Lincoln" My point in this post is regarding the C170 Focus. MY2005 - excuse - money (cost concerns) MY2008- excuse - try again in 2 years (cost concerns) MY2010 - excuse Fill in the blank (_____) ? Good chance FoA will use the excuse that 2008 redesign is good enough for market, plus $$$ spent on 2008 redesign.(cost concerns)

Please explain then why Phil Martens said at the end of 2004, In the coming years, Ford cars will have a distinctly global flavor. Three basic platforms will comprise the bulk of Ford's automotive lineup through 2008, with Mazda and Volvo providing the building blocks for Ford, Mercury and Lincoln. Reference to C1 platform- Ford's North American Focus willjoin this architecture in approximately three years when all Volvo, Ford, Mazda, and Mercury small cars and crossovers adopt this platform. Cost concerns kept Ford from launching the Focus on this platform this year(MY2005). http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/090401.html I believe cost concerns for the MY2010/11 C2 Focus will raise its ugly head again, assumption based on the mucho $$$'s used to redesign the gap filler 2008 C170.

Besides being the new kid on the block, and successor to the best selling Peugeot ever (206), and popularity or preference in Euro market for B segment vehicles. 1.Peugeot Customers Benefit From 2007 Budget Peugeot’s popular range of small cars just got even more attractive with the recent budget announcement that the cost of taxing a car in VED group B is now only £35, a 30% reduction. With over 16% of all Peugeot cars sold in the UK falling into this taxation group and Peugeot small car sales up over 23% this year, the budget will have been happy reading for many Peugeot owners and potential customers http://www.carpages.co.uk/peugeot/peugeot-...et-23-03-07.asp 2. Incentives? In addition to this fantastic and fresh product line up, Peugeot customers will also benefit from some very attractive offers as summer approaches. One year’s free insurance is available on the new 207 CC* and the sporty 207 GT (petrol and diesel variants*) http://www.carpages.co.uk/peugeot/peugeot-207-10-04-07.asp

Sales of the Peugeot 207 increased dramatically during April, recording a 373.2% increase on the same month last year, from 7,874 units to 37,260 in 2007. This can be explained by the limited availability of the model during 2006, its introductory year. Positioned at fifth place during March (2007), the Peugeot 207 is now at the top of the table in first place. The Renault Clio also marked a significant hike from eighth position to second, Volkswagen Golf from seventh to third, Fiat Punto from sixth to fourth, Ford Focus from first to fifth, Volkswagen Passat from tenth up to ninth. The arrival of the Renault Scénic / Grand Scénic at tenth position pushes BMW’s 3 Series out of the top 10. Many manufacturers benefited from the registration plate change in the UK during March, which as a core European market for the volume brands always has influence on overall sales figures. Therefore it is no surprise to see that Opel/Vauxhall and Ford have both seen a reduction in new car registrations during April as the market settles back into a more typical trading pattern. The Opel/Vauxhall Astra, moves down four places to sixth position and the Corsa down from fourth to seventh. Ford’s Fiesta also lost ground, dropping from third down to eighth in the table. Other new models performing well in the European market during April include the Toyota Auris, Citroen C4 Picasso, Fiat Bravo, Ford S-Max, Nissan Qashqai, Kia Cee’d, Skoda Roomster, Volkswagen Eos, Volvo C30, Chevrolet Captiva, Suzuki SX4, Fiat Sedici, Opel Antara, Dodge Caliber and Audi Q7. http://www.jato.com/frameset.asp once on the site click the media tab for related link The top 8 sellers in EU market are all C segment and smaller. As far as the new Mondeo, lets wait and see how it does.

I don't think the bar or FoA core consumers expectations have been upped too much, hence FoA still pumping out "OK" vehicles, with "OK" sales. What's that old saying "you get back what you put out". For FoA sake too many consumers expectations have risen in regards to what a well built and desirable vehicle is, hence the lack of interest to FoA products. With FoA deciding to use this 2008 redesigned Focus as a gap filler for 2 years, when the supposedly C2 Focus will appear in North America, does not instill much confidence that FoA is doing much different, then what they have been doing. Just the same ole story, using some time line excuses.