bzcat

Dakar is primary marketing push for the ROW. Using Bronco wouldn't bring significant marketing return since Ford doesn't sell it where people who care about rally races generally live i.e. Europe

F-150 Powerboost, Aviator GT, and Explorer hybrid would like to have a word with you ?

Ranger hybrid would have to be a global product and there is absolutely no chance a 3.0 hybrid will find market acceptance outside the US. 2.3 hybrid makes all the sense in the world and will be the way forward. Remember, it is replacing the 3.0 V6 diesel for the most part... so it will be a significant improvements on many fronts for buyers opting for the hybrid (or PHEV) vs. the diesel.

Ford's truck operations are a bit tactical and regional not strategic and global. The three parts (Ford Otosan, JMC, Ford US) are operating separately and there isn't much synergy. Really not sure what Farley wants to do but transition to ZEV will not work on regional basis. None of the 3 surviving truck operations generate enough cash to justify the investment so Ford may be just going to sit on the business and see what happens. The US ops can always leverage off F-Series investments and limp along. Ford Otosan and JMC would have to bend together and find a way out. The problem is Ford Otosan is focused on heavy duty while JMC is exclusively medium duty... no synergy.

So are Galaxie and Gran Torino.

The entity Ford Otosan is a joint venture like Auto Alliance, BlueOval SK, Chang'an Ford, JMC, or Ford Lio Ho. So it has its own logo. These are all primarily production oriented joint ventures. But all the vehicles it produce are designed by Ford and carry the blue oval logo: Transit, Transit Custom, Transit Courier, EcoSport, Puma, Cargo, F-Max If we think a vehicle produced by Ford Otosan is not a real Ford, then neither are Ranger produced by Auto Alliance, nor anything produced in China by Chang'an Ford and JMC.

Correct, Ford Otosan is the name of the company, not Otosan. Ford Otosan is synonymous with Ford Turkey.

This is the twice delayed GE2 Explorer.

I think it is a strategic blunder that 2024 Tacoma (and likely 2025 Hilux too) will launch with a hybrid and there is no response from Ranger, at least not until mid cycle update in 2027 or 28. Ranger is Ford's 3rd best selling nameplate after F-150 and Transit and a major profit driver. It's unfathomable that P703 program didn't have EV or PHEV development baked in from the start.

Just noticed Ford Mexico updated the Ranger website showing the new model. I guess the timing means Mexico will be getting the new Ranger from the US instead of Argentina since P703 is not scheduled for production in Argentina until 2024.

Hino the company is a fully owned subsidiary of Toyota and most of its factory in Japan are actually building other Toyotas (e.g. 4Runner, Prado, Dyna, Coaster etc). It is too fully integrated with the mothership so I don't see how it can be spun off. Toyota would have to somehow backfill all those production capacity or reach some sort of contract manufacturing agreement with an independent Hino after spin off. Not sure there is a lot of economic sense for Toyota to do this. It's not facing a lot of shareholder pressure to increase profit margin like Daimler or VW, which was the main reason they spun off the heavy truck operation. Hino the brand has significant market share in medium and heavy duty trucks and buses in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. But in most markets, it operates under the local Toyota management - i.e. Hino is just like Lexus or Daihatsu in most places - just another Toyota brand without separate management. The US market is actually kind of unique for Hino.

I owned a 1999 Cougar too... my first new car in fact. 2.5 V6 170hp and one of my friend had a Contour SE with 2.5 V6 too. We ran those cars hard and did a lot of stupid things with it... ? It's a miracle they survived our ownership.

Cougar was initially conceived as a replacement for Probe. It was a direct replacement for Probe in Europe. The name changed to Mercury Cougar fairly late in the development. The heritage lineage: Capri --> Sierra coupe (XR4Ti) --> Probe --> Cougar 3 of those were sold in the Mercury showroom in North America but all 4 were Ford outside North America.

Probe are pretty good but the interior plastic quality was atrocious as is the case for most Fords of that era.

GX is not going anywhere. Toyota is probably making 20% margin in the GX since it is so freaking old and a rebadged Prado. TX is Lexus version of the new Grand Highlander.

I love this so much ?

RS200 reboot will be awesome. I'm fully onboard with that one and totally fits the theme the article mentioned.

US pickup trucks (US vehicles in general) enjoys a small but robust market in the Nordic countries. Unlike much of Europe, Nordic countries tends to have wide roads and ample parking in its urban centers which is why historically, US imports have had a foothold there. For example, Ford sold Taurus wagon in the Nordic region for many years after the Granada wagon was discontinued. I spent a couple of weeks in Sweden for work a few years ago and US imports were very common. Not as common as Volvo obviously but enough that after the 3rd or 4th Ram or Mustang, I stopped counting. For many year, Ford was actually a top 3 selling brand in the Nordic countries offering a combination of German and US models. Things kind of fell apart when VW and Toyota made a strong push in the region and Ford retreated.

All three (Toyota Townace, Nissan Vanette, Mitsubishi Delica) suffered from heat problems in the US market because they put big engines in them that were not designed to handle. But only the Nissan was fire prone and subsequently recalled and crushed. A good condition US spec Toyota or Mitsubishi vans actually fetch good money now. And the JDM imports of 4WD versions that were never offered here are going for crazy money.

Ford is probably looking at the new Chevy Trax and Buick Envista and thinking that there is a missed opportunity here with Ford Territory or Equator Sport. Territory and Escort are both past the sell-by date in China and in desperate need of replacement. Also with Focus going out of production in Europe this year, China will carry on as the main market for Ford's ICE cars - I would be shocked if Ford doesn't have something already line up in the pipeline to replace them (Territory, Escort, Focus) Ford cannot import them from China to sell in the US because of the 25% Trump Tariff - it will eat up all the margin on cheap cars (it's probably barely breaking even on Nautilus). So will they assemble these low costs models in Mexico for sale throughout the Americas? There is probably a business case there but it depends on whether Farley is interested in shoring up the low end of the market.

I guess the unique distribution deal is the reason why it couldn't be sold as Freightliner. But I agree with you that the name is pretty horrible. Makes me think this is a fly by night Chinese brand with no track record.

Looks like they are taking Fuso eCanter and rebranding it for the US market.

The new Transit Courier is 168.4 inches long which was exactly the length of the Mk1 Transit Connect SWB from 20 years ago. That's kind of interesting... size inflation is not just a problem with passenger cars. It's also a thing in commercial vans. I'm guessing this powertrain will also be in the Puma EV which will launch shortly.

Some states have codified their short duration (2 to 4 hours) storage requirements which is why most of the projects are in this time span. Almost all of this market is batteries. Short duration is designed by default to provide operational reserve like you said. Long duration (4 to 8 hours) storage are still in its infancy and is dominated by pumped hydro. But several alternatives like gravity have emerged. Time shift on renewable is in the long duration market and most states are finalizing their regulatory targets. We should see lots of developments in this area in the next couple of years. Ultra long duration (8 hours to days/weeks/months) are focused on hydrogen. This segment is actually more advanced than long duration because the needs are clear. For example, to provide power during fire season/wind advisory events in California when the powerlines are de-energized to prevent wildfire. We may need to hold this energy reserve in standby for weeks or months at a time. Hydrogen is the ideal medium.

Grid level storage will be required to provide resiliency to enable better utilization of renewable sources. That's where states that have forward looking regulatory agencies are looking and a few have legislated required storage as a % of generating capacity. https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/blog/infographic-q4-21-us-battery-storage-by-the-numbers#:~:text=Currently%2C nine states have specific,New York%2C Oregon and Virginia.