bzcat

F-150 going without V8 is plausible given the advances in powertrain development and F-150's outsized impact on CAFE. But frankly, I don't see it happening... Ford can control the product volume by price and it can keep the 5.0 V8 as option for Luddites as long as they are willing to pay extra for it. Also, I would imagine that by 2018, a significant portion of F-150 sales will be hybrids, which should yield a decent improvement in CAFE to allow a handful of 5.0 V8 to be sold. Mustang will surely have a V8 no matter what since it has only minor impact on CAFE.

The update is more than skin deep. Tacoma also get a new V6 and transmission, plus new interior and a revised frame. Basically, it is getting the Ranger treatment... updated it just enough to keep selling to the faithful.

People who bought the early hybrids with subsidy generally end up buying another one without subsidy. There are plenty of former Prius and Escape hybrid owners buying Fusion hybrids now without Federal tax credit right? Prius is not the best selling car in California without tax credit... oh wait, it is the best selling car despite no tax credit whatsoever. With EV, once people get over range anxiety, they probably won't go back to normal cars either. The battery price has to come down sure... but I think it is shortsighted to assume GM can't make a profit at those prices in the future.

It's like F-150 FX4 but more bro'd out. If your wardrobe consist entirely of baggy shorts and tank tops, this Ram is for you.

I read it for you and just tell your the important parts :reading:

Old system wasn't confusing if you limit yourself to sedans but lack of foresight (starting at CTS) means no room for downward expansion of model range. SRX is way out in the left field vs. ATS and CTS and GM couldn't trademark any more *RX names for additional CUV models. ELR also another WTF name.

Well, Focus and C-Max are just different body styles of the same car... and I wouldn't say either one is redundant. The trend is clear... by 2017 or so, almost every new car will have PHEV option just like we have various hybrid, gasoline, and diesel options now on the same car. So PHEV Focus and PHEV C-Max can both exist... as long as people want a tall wagon. Whether people in US/Canada want a tall wagon is a whole different topic... PHEV C-Max could be replaced with PHEV Escape just as easily.

XD is not a trim level, it is a different model. The "normal" version is NP1500 Titan The "heavy duty" version is NP1500 Titan XD At least they are not claiming it to be comparable to F-250 or Ram 2500. Nissan is going to market Titan XD as an "in between" model between Big 3's standard and heavy duty pickup trucks. Sort of like Chevy's forgotten 2001-2006 Silverado 1500 HD. http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2015/01/2016-nissan-titan-xd-the-packages.html The trim levels are:

Well, a Focus PHEV will depend on government incentive to be price competitive with gasoline engine car too. Volt is based on GM's Delta platform so your prescription for Ford is exactly what GM has done with Volt... take a Cruze and add batteries. The new Prius is also going to be based on Toyota's modular platform so everyone is calling shots from the same playbook.

CT2 = Delta III sedan (Buick Verano twin... the new Cimarron!) CT3 = ATS CT5 = CTS CT6 = Omega XT2 = Gamma III SUV (Buick Encore twin) XT3 = Delta III SUV (Buick Envision twin) XT5 = SRX (which will be replaced by Epsilon III based model) XT6 = SRX with 3 rows of seats

RS has historically appeared as the last hurrah on most of the Ford Europe vehicle line.

Sorry, didn't see the existing thread: http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/58080-2016-lincoln-mkx/ Please continue there

The big news here is that the new one is a 5 seater. The lack of middle seat in the current model is a big deal breaker for people with child seat.

This looks really good... It's like Chevy version of BMW i3

GM's press release says 9AT auto and "Twin-clutch all-wheel-drive system" which means the car is FWD based with on-demand AWD. Probably a styling preview of the upcoming 2016 LaCrosse. 9AT = Ford-GM replacement to the ubiquitous FWD 6 speed auto. If this car is RWD Omega platform, then it will have the 10 speed auto. We are looking at the Taurus competitor... remember Buick (and Opel by proxy) is GM's mainstream brand outside the Americas and Australia. It is supposed to compete with VW, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai etc.

Basically, F-series is the reason why Ford is the number one selling brand, and to a lesser extend, E-series. Toyota leads the passenger vehicle sales by at least 200,000 units. [Note: the list below is kind of nonsensical... it arbitrarily exclude pickup trucks and vans from the groupings. But I've done so to make a point about how important F-series and van sales are to Ford. ] 2014 Sales by brand All Vehicles 1. Ford 2,386,438 2. Toyota 2,062,382 (including 58,009 Scion, which Toyota treats as the same like GM used to include Geo in Chevy sales) 3. Chevy 2,033,442 4. Honda 1,373,029 5. Nissan 1,269,565 Just Passenger Vehicles - Cars, SUV, & Minivans (no pickup trucks & commercial vans) 1. Toyota 1,664,346 (include Scion but exclude Tacoma and Tundra) 2. Ford 1,456,069 (exclude F-series, E-series, Transit, and Transit Connect) 3. Chevy 1,415,802 (exclude Silverado, Colorado, Express, and City Express) 4. Honda 1,373,029 5. Nissan 1,154,440 (exclude Titan, Frontier, NV, and NV200) Just Cars (no trucks, minivans, or SUVs) 1. Toyota 1,113,942 (Yaris, Corolla, Prius, Camry, Avalon, iQ xB, xD, tC, FR-S) 2. Chevy 880,683 (Spark, Sonic, Cruze, Volt, Malibu, Impala, SS, Caprice, Camaro, Corvette) 3. Nissan 789,898 (Versa, Cube, Juke, Sentra, Leaf, Altima, Maxima, 370Z, GT-R) 4. Honda 781,224 (Fit, Civic, Insight, Accord, CR-Z) 5. Ford 762,545 (Fiesta, Focus, C-Max, Fusion, Taurus, Police Interceptor, Mustang) Just SUVs & Minivans (no cars, pickup trucks, or vans) 1. Ford 693,524 (Escape, Edge, Explorer, Expedition, Flex, PI Utility) 2. Jeep 692,348 (Compass, Patriot, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Wrangler) 3. Honda 591,805 (CR-V, Crosstour, Pilot, Odyssey, Ridgeline) 4. Toyota 550,404 (RAV4, Venza, Highlander, Sienna, 4Runner, Sequoia, Land Cruiser, FJ Cruiser) 5. Chevy 535,119 (Trax, Captiva, Equinox, Traverse, Tahoe, Suburban) 6. Nissan 364,542 (Rouge, Xterra, Murano, Pathfinder, Quest, Armada) Just Pickup Trucks & Commercial Vans 1. Ford 930,399 (F-series, E-series, Transit, Transit Connect) 2. Chevy 617,640 (Silverado, Colorado, Express, City Express) 3. Ram 469,136 (Ram Pickup, Promaster, Ram C/V) 4. Toyota 273,534 (Tundra, Tacoma) 5. Nissan 115,125 (Titan, Frontier, NV, NV200) As you can see, Ford F-series and vans dominate everyone else, the SUVs stands on its own, but the car business not so much... a distant #5.

I would think the AWD system is the same, with helical gear set towards the front differential that only engages when computers detects slippage in the rear - no reason to change it. But looking at the technical drawing I posted, you can see that the system is integrated with the manual transmission... so if Ford wants to sell the AWD Transit in the US, it will have to allocate some engineering resources to make it work with the 6 speed auto. Or maybe they wait until the 10 speed is available... As for Quigley conversion... I think those guys are working on a true full time 4WD system, not on-demand AWD that Ford uses. I don't know if the helical gear set and multiple clutches are needed for Quigley... they will probably forge some sort of direct drive that constantly engages the front wheels.

More detailed info on previous generation Transit AWD: http://www.gizmag.com/go/6198/

Previous generation AWD Transit was based on the RWD model with longitude engine and high floor because the FWD Transit has low load floor that precludes putting the drive-shaft under the floor. Also see this site for a brief synopsis: http://www.awdwiki.com/en/ford+europe/#Transit__2006_____ The current generation AWD is listed on Ford UK's website. not on sale yet as far as I can tell but during the launch in UK, Ford said it will be available again without collaborating on engine configuration. But one would assume it will be RWD based again.

Ok, so Taurus will be 2016 model year as well... makes sense. New Mondeo went on sale a few month ago in Europe.

I think the timeline is stating to make sense and your source was just mistaken. Or you misinterpreted his message We know Taurus will debut in Shanghai Auto Show in April and production will begin in China shortly thereafter. So all evidence are pointing to the car going on sale in China first. So there won't be a new 2015 Taurus in US... that is probably what your source is inferring to. But as silvrsvt noted, Flat Rock has plenty of capacity to take on Taurus and it make very little sense why Ford will not sell the car in the US. Additionally, Ford has to find a replacement for Falcon in Australia in 2016 and the only place it can source the car is from the US due to the free trade deal. I see it playing out like this... April 2015 - 2015 Taurus launch in China Late 2015 - 2016 Lincoln MKS production starts (coincide with Fusion mid cycle update which will allow Ford to briefly shut down Flat Rock to retool, do pre-production test builds etc) Early 2016 - 2017 Taurus launch in US Late 2016 - 2017 Taurus export program begin (Australia, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Middle East) - Geelong plant shut down and Falcon takes the long nap

It's profitable but no at all like pickup trucks. With F-series, retail sales accounts for vast majority of the sales in the F-150 level - hence they have become basically luxury cars with big dollar options and ever more high trim level contents. In vans, fleet accounts for something like 90% of the volume and utility is still key above all else.

Cutaway and chassis cab production will continue indefinitely until Ford decides what to do with medium duty market, specifically, what/how to replace the E-450 cutaway and chassis. The E-series van production will end soon.

AWD Transit has longitude engines so it is based on the RWD model sold here.