Was the DEW98 a failure?

[Buick61]

When the Ford Motor Company introduced its new global midsize RWD platform in 1999 underneath the 2000 Lincoln LS, it was met with great fanfare by the automotive press. The LS garnered Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award and was nominated for North American Car of the Year. With such jazzy features as rear-wheel drive, a manual transmission (V6 only) and an available V8, the LS seemed like a great mix of attainable luxury and unpretentious sportiness.

 

How did the marketplace react? In 1999, it sold 26,368 copies. Its first full calendar year, 2000, saw sales hit 51,039. Ford had a mini-hit. How did mother-Ford nurture its nascent sedan? They starved it. It was treated to one update (in 2003) before becoming a V8-only $45,000 has-been. Anyone remember seeing an LS ad anytime between 2004 and 2006? I don’t. Sales collapsed to 19,000 by 2005 and less than 9,000 found [ostensibly]willing buyers in 2006 before the axe fell.

 

...

 

What went wrong? This:

 

1) Lack of flexibility in design and manufacturing

2) Expensive to produce (and Ford cordially passed that expense onto its customers)

3) Starved for development funds

4) Terrible marketing for all model-lines

 

Had the platform been cheaper to produce and more flexible, then the Mustang could have been its savior. Alas, that wasn’t meant to be. Ford had to modify (i.e.: cheapen) the DEW98 to such an extent that it had to become a whole new platform (D2C) before the galloping horsie could have a new home in 2005.

,,,

 

Imagine if the Five-Hundred came out on a DEW-derived platform with the Mustang 4.6L V8 under the bonnet and styling that wouldn’t get lost in the bread isle of your local A&P? It most certainly wouldn’t have been demoted to Taurus status.

 

 

Read the whole article here: http://themagsreport.blogspot.com/

[ZanatWork]

I agree, in general. If the platform had raised the LS or the S-Type to "Best in class" honors, it would have at least justified some of its expense. However, both cars were constant mid-pack finishers in comparison tests (at best) and the T-Bird's structure received a constant storm of "Flexible Flyer comments. The V8 was too underpowered in the American offererings, and wasn't a BMW-BENZ beater even in the Jag.

 

The chassis wasn't a winner, and was never given the development to become one. If it'd made a bigger splash to begin with, more R&D down the line would have been easy to justify.

Edited March 17, 2007 by RichardJensen
Edited to remove blank space

[RichardJensen]

Why are people still talking about this?

 

It's ancient history: Ford had a decent product and didn't follow through with it. Thank you very much for pointing out the obvious yet again Mr. blogger.

[LSFan00]

Why are people still talking about this?

 

It's ancient history: Ford had a decent product and didn't follow through with it. Thank you very much for pointing out the obvious yet again Mr. blogger.

 

ditto.

[g48150]

The scariest part of this is that the "New" Mustang was SUPPOSED to be on this platform.

 

Chris Theodore changed that and created the S197 platform.

 

Thank god for men with balls and brains at FoMoCo, something that is in short supply today...

 

BRING THEODORE BACK!!!!

[Buick61]

Why are people still talking about this?

 

It's ancient history: Ford had a decent product and didn't follow through with it. Thank you very much for pointing out the obvious yet again Mr. blogger.

 

That's an overly simplistic summary. It's not just the follow through. It was planning and production. It was doomed to failure from the start. They made a costly platform, didn't consolidate production locations, didn't plan the product cycles well, and didn't plan the model-line possibilities well.

 

And when other companies see that a product/platform didn't live up to potential, the introduce a new generation. How many Toyota Avalon generations did it take before it became a decent product? 3? Same for the Tundra. And Cadillac gave the Escalade a second chance after a lackluster debut generation.

[Edstock]

IMHO, the core problem was that the chassis couldn't take a bigger V-8 than the 3.9 Romeo engine, which could not be significantly enlarged. The chassis became a dead end.

[LincolnFan]

No shit, sherlock? ( to the blogger)

[RichardJensen]

That's an overly simplistic summary

You're right. It was overly simplistic. However, I haven't seen Ford make similar mistakes on any car launched within the last 3 years, therefore I will reiterate the assertion that it's old news.

 

Ford isn't doing stupid crap like this anymore, therefore it's like "lesson learned.... moving on..."

Edited March 17, 2007 by RichardJensen

[akirby]

IMHO, the core problem was that the chassis couldn't take a bigger V-8 than the 3.9 Romeo engine, which could not be significantly enlarged. The chassis became a dead end.

 

Actually, the 4.6 did fit in the engine bay - but it couldn't be inserted from the bottom because of one of the suspension pieces so it wouldn't work on the production line.

 

There was a smaller version planned to go against the 3 series and other vehicles for Lincoln but when the Firestone fiasco hit they slashed Lincoln's budget from $2B to 600K overnight. No choice but to cancel the new vehicles. And yes, it was too expensive for a stand alone vehicle. When Lincoln killed the Continental the LS had to fill that void.

 

Where Ford screwed up is not building the mustang platform to handle a sedan.

 

If AM had gotten to Ford about 5 years ago things would be very different.

[silvrsvt]

Where Ford screwed up is not building the mustang platform to handle a sedan.

 

Theres nothing written in stone that the S197 CAN'T be made into a Sedan...just a lack of willpower ATM

[jpd80]

You're right. It was overly simplistic. However, I haven't seen Ford make similar mistakes on any car launched within the last 3 years, therefore I will reiterate the assertion that it's old news.

 

Ford isn't doing stupid crap like this anymore, therefore it's like "lesson learned.... moving on..."

 

Exactily that, Ford now relies on Volvo and Mazda groups for its sedans as FWD/AWD is superior for winter driving. With a reduced need, the drive for a common large RWD platform is a mute point as RWD platforms are relatively low priority - the costs of unifying outweighs any immediate benefits.

Edited March 18, 2007 by jpd80

[jpd80]

Theres nothing written in stone that the S197 CAN'T be made into a Sedan...just a lack of willpower ATM

 

There's heaps of alternatives, Ford could do:

- A RWD derivative Fusion or Taurus with North/South V6 and V8 engines,

- Import the next Falcon

- Develop a sedan off the Mustang.

 

The only one that is on the launch pad is the next Falcon, nothing else is close.

At a projected 30,000 to 50,000 units, it's still a niche market so where's the business case?

Edited March 18, 2007 by jpd80

[LSFan00]

There's heaps of alternatives, Ford could do:

- A RWD derivative Fusion or Taurus with North/South V6 and V8 engines,

- Import the next Falcon

- Develop a sedan off the Mustang.

 

The only one that is on the launch pad is the next Falcon, nothing else is close.

At a projected 30,000 to 50,000 units, it's still a niche market so where's the business case?

 

The RWD Taurus alternative isn't even difficult.

[RichardJensen]

BlueII mentioned the panther replacements may be D3s with a longitudinal engine setup. The things already have a huge driveline hump anyway.

[akirby]

Theres nothing written in stone that the S197 CAN'T be made into a Sedan...just a lack of willpower ATM

 

But it wasn't designed that way from the beginning which makes it expensive if not difficult to do now.

[SysEng]

Ford isn't doing stupid crap like this anymore, therefore it's like "lesson learned.... moving on..."

 

Wanna make a bet

 

I haven't seen anything out of Ford in the last 5 years that doesn't make me wonder...

[03 LS]

That's an overly simplistic summary. It's not just the follow through. It was planning and production. It was doomed to failure from the start. They made a costly platform, didn't consolidate production locations, didn't plan the product cycles well, and didn't plan the model-line possibilities well.

 

And when other companies see that a product/platform didn't live up to potential, the introduce a new generation. How many Toyota Avalon generations did it take before it became a decent product? 3? Same for the Tundra. And Cadillac gave the Escalade a second chance after a lackluster debut generation.

 

A bit of revisionist, isn't it. Lincoln HAD a plan!

 

At the time, Lincoln was still in PAG, under the guidance of Wolfgang Reitzle. Lincoln was supposed to go up market, not down. DEW98, rather, a revised (means upgraded, not cheapened) DEW98 was supposed to be the bases of several "world class" Lincoln sedans. One of them (ever heard of "Silent Bang"?) was to be a LS430 "fighter" (AM's favorite car, remember?), one other, like Akirby mentioned, a 3-series competitor.

 

Had Lincoln stayed on that course, the upgraded DEW98 would have been its perfect platform. Then, everything changed overnight. Instead of going global and up market, Lincoln came back to Ford NA, and is relagated to what Mercury would have been in the original plan (That's why all of sudden LS became too expensive). Instead, GM stole the idea and ran with it. They pumped money, much more than Lincoln's $2B budget, into Caddy, trying to move it up market, and eventually had (somewhat) success with its Sigma. What Caddy is now, was what Lincoln was supposed to be. Why do you think Lincoln had not had a new car in 6 years (after LS in '99)? It wasn't lack of plan, it was because of sudden change of plan.

 

Sad, Sad, story.

Edited March 18, 2007 by 03 LS

[MKII]

You're right. It was overly simplistic. However, I haven't seen Ford make similar mistakes on any car launched within the last 3 years, therefore I will reiterate the assertion that it's old news.

 

Ford isn't doing stupid crap like this anymore, therefore it's like "lesson learned.... moving on..."

 

Hmm, C170 for MY2008

[RichardJensen]

Hmm, C170 for MY2008

So, how is C170 for MY2008 similar to DEW98?

[pcsario]

You are right, the Fuck Us is worse.

[Hemiman]

A bit of revisionist, isn't it. Lincoln HAD a plan!

 

At the time, Lincoln was still in PAG, under the guidance of Wolfgang Reitzle. Lincoln was supposed to go up market, not down. DEW98, rather, a revised (means upgraded, not cheapened) DEW98 was supposed to be the bases of several "world class" Lincoln sedans. One of them (ever heard of "Silent Bang"?) was to be a LS430 "fighter" (AM's favorite car, remember?), one other, like Akirby mentioned, a 3-series competitor.

 

Had Lincoln stayed on that course, the upgraded DEW98 would have been its perfect platform. Then, everything changed overnight. Instead of going global and up market, Lincoln came back to Ford NA, and is relagated to what Mercury would have been in the original plan (That's why all of sudden LS became too expensive). Instead, GM stole the idea and ran with it. They pumped money, much more than Lincoln's $2B budget, into Caddy, trying to move it up market, and eventually had (somewhat) success with its Sigma. What Caddy is now, was what Lincoln was supposed to be. Why do you think Lincoln had not had a new car in 6 years (after LS in '99)? It wasn't lack of plan, it was because of sudden change of plan.

 

Sad, Sad, story.

 

 

Sad Sad story indeed. The pinnicle of "Stupid Ford Tricks"

[silvrsvt]

Sad Sad story indeed. The pinnicle of "Stupid Ford Tricks"

 

 

Well dumping all that money into the Firestone Tire Debacle that was going on at the time seriously fucked Ford up, in addition to a whole bunch of stupid moves on Ford's part during that time.

[wescoent]

A bit of revisionist, isn't it. Lincoln HAD a plan!

 

At the time, Lincoln was still in PAG, under the guidance of Wolfgang Reitzle. Lincoln was supposed to go up market, not down. DEW98, rather, a revised (means upgraded, not cheapened) DEW98 was supposed to be the bases of several "world class" Lincoln sedans. One of them (ever heard of "Silent Bang"?) was to be a LS430 "fighter" (AM's favorite car, remember?), one other, like Akirby mentioned, a 3-series competitor.

 

Had Lincoln stayed on that course, the upgraded DEW98 would have been its perfect platform. Then, everything changed overnight. Instead of going global and up market, Lincoln came back to Ford NA, and is relagated to what Mercury would have been in the original plan (That's why all of sudden LS became too expensive). Instead, GM stole the idea and ran with it. They pumped money, much more than Lincoln's $2B budget, into Caddy, trying to move it up market, and eventually had (somewhat) success with its Sigma. What Caddy is now, was what Lincoln was supposed to be. Why do you think Lincoln had not had a new car in 6 years (after LS in '99)? It wasn't lack of plan, it was because of sudden change of plan.

 

Sad, Sad, story.

 

Close. The actually plan also included starving Mercury of product with the intention of killing off the brand entirely. This would have resulted in far lower sales volume for LM dealers (due to a dead Merc and a lower volume Lincoln). That plan would have also failed, as Cadillac's plan has, and they would have probably gone back to Ford-based Lincolns anyway, just as the next generation of Cadillacs will be rebadged Chevies.

[LincolnFan]

I think Lincoln's movement is so far so good, they're re-establishing their name. IF Lincoln can get higher profits I am sure it will get a unique platform.

 

Lincoln might be able to surprass Infinity with the crap they have now, but they're going to need much more than that to go head-to-head with Caddy.