rperez817

The hybrid powertrain is better suited to urban operation with lots of idling or stop and go traffic. That's where the hybrid's fuel economy advantage is biggest. For long distance travel on rural highways, Tahoe PPV's additional range is significant. About 550 miles per tank compared to 440 miles for Ford PIU Hybrid. Edit: Ford PIU Hybrid actually has lower highway range than the non-hybrid 3.3L version. Highway fuel economy is 1 mpg higher with the hybrid, but the fuel tank has 2.4 fewer gallons of capacity.

Ford splits its utility offerings for police departments into pursuit and non-pursuit/SSV. Explorer based Police Interceptor is pursuit rated, while Expedition SSV is designed for non-pursuit law enforcement duties such as tactical work, evidence tech, off road, administrative, etc. https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/speciality-vehicle/expedition-special-service-vehicle/

No sir. The #1 reason Nissan is in trouble now is that their former CEO, now fugitive, decided to pursue sales growth without fixing the company's organizational issues. As I mentioned in another thread, this is a recipe that only makes things much worse. Business consultant Jim Blasingame said "growth for its own sake is organizational suicide" and "If a tree is bent, fertilizing it won't make it grow straighter – only faster in the wrong direction. If you have organizational challenges, don't grow until they’re resolved." At Nissan, the former CEO fertilized a bent tree. Jatco CVT currently used in Nissan vehicles (and other brands) are fine. Some early Jatco CVT models had issues, but those have been resolved.

Yes sir mackinaw, I remember discussing F and dividends in another thread. As in that other thread, I'm not ignoring F dividends. As I mentioned previously, you don't have to hold on to a laggard individual stock in order to get decent dividend income. There are plenty of dividend paying index mutual funds and ETF that performed better than F in terms of capital appreciation over the past 1, 3, and 5 year periods. In addition to index funds, consider REIT funds, they tend to have consistent dividend payout policies. But as with anything real estate related, keep an eye on interest rates with REIT funds.

Last time F closed below $9 a share was December 5, 2019. Last time it closed above $10 was July 24, 2019. Don't know what the bottom is, but ultimately investing in F is not an efficient use of capital.

Thank you akirby. I think everyone on this site familiar with U.S. Ford Rangers now knows what the situation is with the 2019-2020 version of that truck. I looked up the year 2011 sales numbers for F-Series and Ranger. In the U.S., it was 584,917 for F-Series, 70,832 for Ranger, 655,749 pickup trucks total. Then as now, there was very little cannibalization between those two product lines.

Yes sir. The pickup truck segment in the U.S. continues to be very strong. Especially midsize pickups. As I said in other threads, Ford made the right decision to rush the global T6 Ranger to the U.S. market, rather than wait for the next generation Ranger. Ford's status of being the #1 seller of pickup trucks in the U.S. for 2019 is a big deal, and Ranger is the reason Ford earned it. The idea that F-150 sales are cannibalized by Ranger is and has always been faulty. Maybe some Ford executives 10 years ago thought that was a concern. But they were wrong. And hopefully they no longer work at Ford.

Thanks to Ranger, Ford was #1 for total U.S. pickup truck sales in 2019. GM had the crown in 2018 and several years prior to that. Ford's lead over GM in 2019 was more than 23,000 units for the year. That means that Ford would probably have beat GM even if GM didn't have to deal with the UAW strike.

No problem CurtisH sir, I respect your preferences. When it comes to driving enjoyment, some drivers prefer a raw and visceral experience, others prefer refinement and balance. Nothing wrong with either. Tesla Roadster (both the original Lotus based car as well the upcoming model designed by Tesla) may be more to your liking than the currently produced Tesla vehicles.

In the case of Model S, responsive steering with good road feel, minimal body roll, instant power delivery (no lag), excellent braking, smooth & steady ride, and exceptionally low NVH. All that plus the interior comfort and spaciousness of a full size luxury sedan.

Thank you HotRunrGuy for sharing your and your family members' impressions of 2020 Escape. It definitely seems like the 1.5L 3-cylinder engine has design flaws that cause it to run unusually rough and noisy. Consumer Reports also experienced poor NVH control in the 2020 Escape SE 1.5L they road tested recently.

I think this will soon be the new norm in automotive retailing, both new and used vehicles. A customer friendly experience researching, reserving, and ordering a vehicle online and taking delivery of it at a convenient location (whether at a dealership or at the customer's home or worksite) makes test drives unnecessary. My 2019 Ranger purchase didn't involve seeing, driving, or touching the truck prior to delivery. My wife and I are doing it again with our Mustang Mach E reservation.

Yes sir. That's the piece of information a lot of folks want to know. Ford hasn't yet revealed that number. Maybe it's waiting until Mustang Mach-E gets closer to production? Anyway, the number of Mustang Mach E reservations will be greater than the number of units sold in the first year. Maybe much greater. Reservations are basically "hand raisers". For example, last year when the 2019 U.S. Ranger started production, Ford NA president Kumar Galhotra told Automotive News "about 300,000 consumers already have indicated plans to purchase the vehicle". That 300,000 number represents the "hand raisers". https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/ford-adding-overtime-ranger-production-first-month-sales-hit-1200 2019 Ranger had a pre-order program. Officially, Ford called it a "Retail Order Verification Program". Unlike the Mustang Mach-E Reservation Process, it involved an actual vehicle order. I pre-ordered my 2019 Ranger at AutoNation Ford Fort Worth in late 2018 and took delivery of the truck in mid 2019. The number of 2019 Ranger pre-orders was a lot less than 300,000.

The reservation fee is refundable, but it is definitely not an order. Both Ford and later my Ford dealership made this very clear to my wife and me when we placed our Mustang Mach E reservation. This is the verbiage given to us before charging my credit card, and again after the reservation request went through:

Tesla announced Q4 production & delivery numbers today. https://ir.tesla.com/news-releases/news-release-details/tesla-q4-2019-vehicle-production-deliveries Production Deliveries Subject to lease accounting Model S/X 17,933 19,450 14 % Model 3 86,958 92,550 7 % Total 104,891 112,000 8 % Deliveries in year 2019 came to 367,500. Tesla's market share for all plug-in cars (including PHEV) in the U.S. is above 60%. Among BEV only, Tesla's market share is about 80%.

Wow! ? Bob Lutz says that Ghosn "operated more like a head of state than a CEO" and has a "god complex". https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/02/former-gm-executive-bob-lutz-says-fugitive-carlos-ghosn-has-god-complex.html

Last year, it was reported Rivian uses LG Chem 21700 cells in its battery packs. The packs themselves, along with thermal management systems, are Rivian's own design. Rivian claims that it achieved the highest energy density to date with its battery packs. Here's a good article that explains the engineering involved. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/rivian-says-its-battery-pack-has-the-highest-volumetric-energy-density-in-the-world-thanks-to-its-cooling-strategy/

And as usual, you corrected nothing.

Thanks T-dubz sir. Interesting details there. However, Ford still hasn't answered the question "how many Mustang Mach-E reservations have been placed?"

Corrected.

Reservations. Order processing for Mustang Mach E won't start until later this year.

Good choice CKNSLS sir, hope you and your wife are enjoying the Santa Fe XL. That model was great product, and set a new benchmark for quality and value in its segment. Santa Fe XL's successor, the Palisade (along with its sibling Kia Telluride) now sets the bar even higher.

Great article, thanks for sharing mackinaw. It would be nice if Ford revealed the total number of Mustang Mach E reservations, and then break things down by location (country, state), trim level, powertrain configuration, etc.

Good points sho94_2000. It is true that Ford's market share in the U.S. has declined in the past decade. The worst case scenario is that long term losses you mentioned cause Ford to go out of business. But I think the short term lipstick on a pig approach for 2020 Escape and Explorer may work effectively for these reasons. 1.) 2020 Escape and 2020 Explorer (except maybe the highest trims) have neither good looking design nor high quality. The eye candy from a simple, quick, and inexpensive design refresh may just be enough to get a few people who are on the fence about getting a 2020 Escape or Explorer to jump to the other side and actually buy one. Or maybe a 2021 model, if the design refresh doesn't come until the new model year. 2.) Ford's owner loyalty rate is still relatively high. Though the number is probably declining, there are still many people who will buy a Ford product or service simply because it's a Ford (I am one of them). 3.) The automotive industry is currently undergoing a revolution. All electric, all autonomous, plus mobility services will define the industry's future. By the middle of the new decade, Ford can start a completely new chapter with more offerings in these areas. 4.) Jim Hackett's "design thinking" isn't fully in place at Ford right now. It will be several more years before it spreads throughout all functions at the company. By then, vehicles like Escape and Explorer may be redesigned with better design and quality.

The Consumer Reports overall score combines the road test evaluation with ratings for predicted reliability, safety, and owner satisfaction. Corsair's overall score is lower than its road test score mainly because of below average predicted reliability. That's also why it didn't get a recommendation. Acura RDX is in the same boat.