Daryll40 Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 Question: I am not an Ford insider but until recently we always had at least 1 in the family. Didn't Ford spent a billion to move Town Car production to the Ontario plant just a few years ago? Why did they do that if they are gonna quit now? Did they make enough in just those few years to recoup that, or was it just necessary to keep the TC rolling until they came up with a replacement (which appears to be the MKT...which might work..or not)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Question: I am not an Ford insider but until recently we always had at least 1 in the family. Didn't Ford spent a billion to move Town Car production to the Ontario plant just a few years ago? Why did they do that if they are gonna quit now? Did they make enough in just those few years to recoup that, or was it just necessary to keep the TC rolling until they came up with a replacement (which appears to be the MKT...which might work..or not)? Ford has decided that a group of BOF vehicles will go and be partially replaced by existing products, they feel that closing down St Paul, STAP and Explorer BOF line will save more money than building replacements at those plants. Instead Ford will offer the new Explorer built at CAP as well as the new PI and PI Ute. Ranger buyers will be split between low cost Fiesta, roomy Transit Connect and V6 F150, any buyers not satisfied with the above products are sadly, out in the cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryll40 Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 Ford has decided that a group of BOF vehicles will go and be partially replaced by existing products, they feel that closing down St Paul, STAP and Explorer BOF line will save more money than building replacements at those plants. Instead Ford will offer the new Explorer built at CAP as well as the new PI and PI Ute. Ranger buyers will be split between low cost Fiesta, roomy Transit Connect and V6 F150, any buyers not satisfied with the above products are sadly, out in the cold. All that's interesting but it didn't answer my question: Why did Ford spend a $B to move TC to STAP just to shut it down in a few years? Was TC that profitable that it justified that much just to keep it going these few years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) All that's interesting but it didn't answer my question: Why did Ford spend a $B to move TC to STAP just to shut it down in a few years? Was TC that profitable that it justified that much just to keep it going these few years? The consolidation actually saved more money than the move cost, keeping the panthers viable. Edited December 30, 2010 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Durden Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 As a former employee at STAP, I can tell you that it was nowhere close to billions to move the Town Car. I believe it was around $100 million, which was recouped in the 4-6 months of production. STAP is a highly profitable plant (even on 1 shift), and the margins on the Panthers are huge. With around $30,000 profit on each Town Car sold, by the time the 3,500 TC rolled off the line, the move would have already been paid for. If it wasn’t for the bottom line on the Panthers, you wouldn’t see half the new models Ford is coming out with right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hee haw Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 As a former employee at STAP, I can tell you that it was nowhere close to billions to move the Town Car. I believe it was around $100 million, which was recouped in the 4-6 months of production. STAP is a highly profitable plant (even on 1 shift), and the margins on the Panthers are huge. With around $30,000 profit on each Town Car sold, by the time the 3,500 TC rolled off the line, the move would have already been paid for. If it wasn’t for the bottom line on the Panthers, you wouldn’t see half the new models Ford is coming out with right now. While the Towncar may make a good profit it is not even close to $30,000. MSRP is just under $50,000 which means car only costs $19,500 to $20,000 sitting in a dealers lot ready for sale and it is sold for list price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topgun Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 While the Towncar may make a good profit it is not even close to $30,000. MSRP is just under $50,000 which means car only costs $19,500 to $20,000 sitting in a dealers lot ready for sale and it is sold for list price. They make good profit on anything they build out here, OPP just ordered 600 Interceptors with a $8,100 reduction on each one ...do the math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryll40 Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 They make good profit on anything they build out here, OPP just ordered 600 Interceptors with a $8,100 reduction on each one ...do the math. If the purpose of killing the PANTHERs is because of gas mileage, I don't get it. The MKT doesn't get much better, if any mileage. What am I missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topgun Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 If the purpose of killing the PANTHERs is because of gas mileage, I don't get it. The MKT doesn't get much better, if any mileage. What am I missing? Politics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allford1 Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Politics. YUP....heres a heads up for everyone...I worked for a corrugated plant and we set production records country wide with equipment that was OLD yet they shut our plant down. Later I saw our old production manager who was a great leader and had an open door policy and was let go by our old company. I asked him personaly why they shut us down when we were so good with old equipment...his responce to me was ...POLITICS...when someone makes a decision high up even when its proven to be wrong...its a done deal no matter what. He fought to keep our plant open and raised such a wave he was let go. SHIT FLOWS DOWN HILL!!!! Plant closed end of story!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rscalzo Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Dealers don't make anywhere near that much on PI. At a price of 20.3K out the door, what could they make? That's why few want to be involved with sales of that type of fleet vehicle. The Charger is 2K less per unit. A large number when you buy multiple units. Now that gas is going back up, fuel mileage is a big deal. Anyone who tells you differently isn't involved in purchasing. That's one reason we bought Escape Hybrids for some admin. use. Around our urban area they do save significant amounts of fuel although if it was worth the eight thousand dollar premium remains to be seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 (edited) As a former employee at STAP, I can tell you that it was nowhere close to billions to move the Town Car. I believe it was around $100 million, which was recouped in the 4-6 months of production. STAP is a highly profitable plant (even on 1 shift), and the margins on the Panthers are huge. With around $30,000 profit on each Town Car sold, by the time the 3,500 TC rolled off the line, the move would have already been paid for. If it wasn't for the bottom line on the Panthers, you wouldn't see half the new models Ford is coming out with right now. If panther is so profitable, why is Ford closing down STAP and using CAP and OAP D3 products to replace them? Answer: STAP plant and jobs were traded away to increase production and Jobs at other plants. 1) By increasing the use of Taurus and Explorer and their dedicated PI variants, Ford saves money developing new CV 2) By increasing the use of Flex and MKT and livery versions of MKT, Ford saves money developing new Town Car 3) By eliminating STAP, Ford reduces production capacity, employee count and internal competition between products. Edited January 3, 2011 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armadamaster Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 As a former employee at STAP, I can tell you that it was nowhere close to billions to move the Town Car. I believe it was around $100 million, which was recouped in the 4-6 months of production. STAP is a highly profitable plant (even on 1 shift), and the margins on the Panthers are huge. With around $30,000 profit on each Town Car sold, by the time the 3,500 TC rolled off the line, the move would have already been paid for. If it wasn’t for the bottom line on the Panthers, you wouldn’t see half the new models Ford is coming out with right now. This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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