FordBuyer

BS seems to be an inventory issue. Turn around time is 17 days which is very good. Maverick is about 3 days.

Escape and Mustang sales up significantly. BS must have production issues. Bronco sales are impressive. And of course electrified vehicle sales are skyrocketing as fuel prices continue to climb. Sam's Club fuel pumps were a mob scene yesterday.

I would hope Lincoln dealers know a bit more as Nautilus leaves the scene leaving dealers with a 3 vehicle lineup.

Not evil, but greedy as in not paying an equitable share of taxes and even demanding that local and state governments pony up for new roads, sewers, water lines, rail lines, and the like. Abandon urban infrastructure and build all new out in cornfields at state expense.

Parts of Metro Detroit do very well like A2, Western Wayne County, and Nothern Oakland County. The areas of Detroit that have poor schools, infrastructure, crime, and lots of poverty need huge tax breaks to get anyone to build there. Western Wayne County and A2 don't have to offer huge tax breaks to get Rivian or Bosch to build multi acre campuses. I grant you it's a real dilemma. If you don't offer huge tax breaks like Detroit had to do to get Okympia Entertainment to build a ball park and arena, then they wouldn't have been built in Detroit. It's like either way you are screwed. Ford could have gone anywhere to give mobility division a home, but Detroit offered huge incentives to restore the abandoned train station that was a symbol of Detroit's decay and bring in thousands of tech workers. Dan Gilbert got huge incentives to build a billion dollar complex on the Hudson site, another symbol of Detroit decay. The list goes on and on. So I wouldn't call it a win-win, but a win and not much change for the people who live there in general. Same poor schools, poverty, and living conditions. In some cases, even worse as rents skyrocket because of gentrification. All the poor people have been kicked out of Downtown Detroit as rent has skyrocketed in recent years with Dan Gibert's Bedrock buying over 35 buildings downtown and turning many into apartment buildings. So now the average rent is approaching $2,000/month. I guess you could say life is complicated, and no easy answers. Going forward, leaders are really going to have to address affordable housing and homelessness. And how to attract new business without destroying tax base for decades.

Should be a lot of fun watching the Multimatic Mustang race. Still remember watching Parnelli Jones racing his Trans Am Mustang against Mark Donahue's Camaro at MIS back in the 70's. And lots of battles at Waterford between rear winged V8 Mustang and C5 Corvette Z06. Believe it or not, if Mustang got the lead, ZO6 couldn't pass it on short, very technical Waterford course. And finally tube frame racing Mustangs winning at Belle Isle. Always fun.

You got it. Massive brain drain going on there since the 1980's. Still remember GM buying EDS and about 35,000 young, bright workers coming into Metro Detroit around 1989 or so. Within 5 years, they all left and moved on as GM fortunes lost steam. Another failed venture by GM. And of course don't forget Chrysler that has filed for bankruptcy twice. And let's not forget AMC and the abandoned Packard plant still semi standing. Also remember going to a Macdonalds on Woodward Avenue that used to be a Hudson showroom. And Trump pardoned Kwami Kilpatrick, the most corrupt mayor that has ever lived. Now he's back in Detroit doing god knows what.

MN has a very diversified tech economy and winters there are worse than MI. And Western MI has a very diversified economy even with its Lake Effect snow storms. Grand Rapids/Holland Metro Area is a great place to live if you enjoy snow.

MI has had a "brain drain" going on for decades. For example, most U of M graduates move out of state after graduation. My wife has two kids...both U of M graduates and they both work in Norther CA. Ditto for Michigan State. Dan Gilbert stayed and became a billionaire with Quicken Loans, but that is an exception. Most leave and want nothing to do with feast and famine auto industry. MI will not get any better until it has a true diversified economy not solely based upon autos, mortgages, and pizza. The bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler enlightened a lot of MI college graduates....get out of state and find more stable employment.

If you are building a new plant in the middle of a farm field in sparsely populated area of state, then crony capitalism can make some economic sense. Ditto for Brownfield projects. But for example, Ford got huge state and municipal tax breaks to retool MAP and I doubt if Wayne, MI has ever fully recovered. It sure didn't really help its tax base as Ford received huge tax breaks for many years going forward. Soon after, Focus ended and lower production of Ranger until Bronco came online. Wayne is a lower income community that very few are flocking to. Not a ton of economic development. Michigan Avenue has seen its best days. Some economic development in Canton area, but not on other side of I275. MI has been giving huge tax breaks to autos for decades, and population continues to leave the state. At least MI is about to get rid of the pension tax.....reason for many seniors like myself to leave the state. Snyder tried to shift the tax burden to seniors with pensions resulting in mass exodus of educated seniors.

With $5 gas probably coming this summer, Ford needs to make more hybrids in every segment. The most fuel thrifty brands will sell the best. Toyota, Kia, and Ford if it can get more hybrid components are the most ready for $100 oil. And the Explorer hybrid needs a bigger battery.

I remember the Chrysler and Edsel push buttons, but for some reason it never really caught on. I like the rotary dial on my Escape and it seems to be slowly catching on with other auto companies. The push buttons on the Lincoln to me are just a gimmick. The traditional gear shift selector to me takes up too much space. The rotary dial creates much more space for other features.

Crony Capitalism lives on. The tax burden gets shifted to the little guy creating even more income inequality.

I'm surprised no one is talking about the new Multimatic GT3 Mustang coming to IMSA racing in 2024. Looks to be the replacement to the Ford GT. Lots of the GT3 goodies will be available to Mustang owners. GT3 will be V8 powered.

The key feature is that it comes standard as a hybrid. That alone makes it worthy of a look, especially since no other large SUV offers hybrid version.

You are correct....lots of scam artists in FL. But lots of good businesses here also that value their customers. You really have to do your due diligence and be very careful. We have been lucky as no nightmare stories so far or in our neighborhood. Only scams going on in this area are free roofs based upon phony claims that are driving up our home insurance claims. Many home insurance companies are pulling out of FL because of this.

Not sure that is great news when prospective customers can't buy Ford's most popular products. However, announced today that Ford has new program where Ford dealers selling certified used cars will have money back guarantee if turned back in within 14 days or 1,000 miles. So buy used...longer term warranties and can give it back up to 14 days with all your money back if not satisfied.

Yeah, thanks for the particulars.

What does transfer of title have to do with vacationing in FL? Looks to me like brutal cold up North. Cold here this weekend, but 70 degrees right now and 80 degrees by next Wednesday.

I know I have never received title on my Escape. Dealer told me FL holds title until I want to sell. MI always sent title to me about 6 weeks after purchase. Transfer of plates costs hundreds of dollars in FL. Without a state income tax, FL finds ways to tax you. However, new tags are a lot cheaper in FL than MI and auto insurance also.

I have no knowledge, but I would think that Ford is proud of its relations with the UAW and closing Flat Rock would be very negative when Ford can't meet demand of many of its vehicles. Especially when GM is making huge investments in MI. Certainly puts pressure on Ford to give MI a bigger slice of the BEV pie I would think. I would think the UAW is already stressed out by pivot to BEV and how it will affect Ford blue collar jobs.

That is great news that GM is investing $7 billion in MI after Ford invested $6 billion in other states. Kudos to GM. Now Ford has pressure to do something with Flat Rock plant.

Lots of auto companies are using the sharp edge design theme, and I'm glad Ford isn't one of them.

I sure get it that it's a sellers market in vehicles and houses. Very bad for buyers and great for sellers. For me anyway, it has been very hard for me to keep up with. For example, houses around here have gone up close to $150,000 on average in last 9 months or so. When that balloon pops, it's going to be explosive. Pays to be patient.

Maybe it's just me, but any big Ford dealer needs many Demos on lot in all segments if it expects to sell many new vehicles. For example, my Crosstrek was a demo before I drove it off the lot and I drove it extensively before I decided on a Ctosstrek back in 2017. Ditto with Escape Hybrid. I drove an Escape Hybrid demo for almost 2 days before I bought one. In fact, I test drove it for over 300 miles. Mullinax had at least 5 Escape Hybrid demos on lot with different options and colors. I would expect most new vehicle buyers want to extensively drive any model before laying out that kind of money. Now that important aspect of buying new is mostly gone. Deal breaker for me. Mullinax has 4 2022 Escapes on lot and 1 Bronco Sport. No demos including Maverick. And this is a huge Ford dealer. Hard to sell vaporware. Not blaming Ford here. Just stating reality of marketplace.