Ford Model E in 2019

[jpd80]

Michigan assembly is flexible enough to Receive 600 million dollars in investment in 2009 to build the Focus and another 700 million in 2018 to build another product.

So the plant will receive 1.3 billion dollars in investment over 9 years.

 

What happened to Ford's " Ford’s most flexible plant"

Most of that investment was to keep jobs in the USA. at a time when CAFE offsets for large cars were still important.

 

I always wondered about building compacts in the USA.........

 

and flexible plants re still the dreams of hogwash when it cones to having proper product plans,

follow the major buying trends and don't second guess yourself with contingency plans

unless tht's for Lincolns that don't sell too well in Ford plants that are working flat out..

Edited March 18, 2016 by jpd80

[silvrsvt]

 

 

I always wondered about building compacts in the USA.........

 

 

You really don't...for the past 30 years they've either lost money or broken even on them, at least with Ford.

[Biker16]

Nobody is disagreeing with you that Ford's "flexible" plants are as flexible as they should be, so why do you keep ranting about it?

 

Because I care and you and other have insinuated that ford has a capacity problem when it really is a Flexibility problem. building a new plant in mexico will not Address the core issue of Ford's inability to execute a modern Flexible manufacturing strategy. they have the pieces but have not been able to put it together in north america.

[akirby]

It's not going to make a big difference to Ford's bottom line either way as long as they can keep current utilization high and continue rollout of key new products.

[Biker16]

It's not going to make a big difference to Ford's bottom line either way as long as they can keep current utilization high and continue rollout of key new products.

We will never know how different things would have been if things were different. What segments ford cannot enter because of their manufacturing cannot keep up with the market, both in quantity and in quality.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Biker16

[630land]

Oh boo hoo, no "dream Euro cars". If you don't like it, then go across the street.

Can whine all day, but can't "force buyers" into manual trans station wagons.

 

I like my car, but don't expect/demand the whole world to drive what I like.

[Biker16]

Oh boo hoo, no "dream Euro cars". If you don't like it, then go across the street.

Can whine all day, but can't "force buyers" into manual trans station wagons.

 

I like my car, but don't expect/demand the whole world to drive what I like.

 

I think you missed the point.

 

The same Thing applies to the Ranger or Escape even the Explorer, you cannot produce enough because your manufacturing too inflexible to make it work.

[fordmantpw]

Why is everyone shouting in bold?

[akirby]

Sales are great, profits are better and Ford has a lot of new stuff in the pipeline. Get back to me if/when that changes.

 

Ford has proven over and over that it doesn't have to be the first to market to be a market leader.

[RichardJensen]

We will never know how different things would have been if things were different.

 

If you really believed that, we'd see a lot less commentary from you about how Ford screwed up this, that or the other because as you say, there's no way of knowing if Ford screwed up.

Edited March 18, 2016 by RichardJensen

[RichardJensen]

Hmm.

 

This wasn't bold when I posted it. But then my earlier post wasn't bold when I posted that either.

Edited March 18, 2016 by RichardJensen

[Hugh]

Why is everyone shouting in bold?

Loud noises! Loud noises!

Edited March 18, 2016 by Hugh

[akirby]

Testing

[akirby]

I fixed it. I unbolded the last part of post 24.

[jpd80]

 

I think you missed the point.

 

The same Thing applies to the Ranger or Escape even the Explorer, you cannot produce enough because your manufacturing too inflexible to make it work.

I can almost guarantee that Ford wants to avoid multiple manufacturing locations as much as possible regardless of the double speak on flexibility, that's just feel good marketing when you can be sure that Ford accounting screwed down suppliers on on prices and long term supply deals. I doubt ford could vary those supply conditions and even if they did, the cost and disruption of rebalancing lines probably takes away most of the benefit.

 

I doubt that ford really gives a toss about vehicles with ATPs below $25K, they're range fillers but not the main game so throw them over the border and focus on more valuable products for USA plants.

 

Here's a thought, if the four most popular Lincolns could all be built on the one platform at a single plant with appropriate line speed for quality production, then that would be a great way to de clutter a few high volume plants and give Lincoln more control over its production options. That would be preferable to trying to flex all plants

Edited March 19, 2016 by jpd80

[BORG]

I would like to see Lincoln move production to its own lines to avoid the quality crisis and launch delays that happen when trying to make it work alongside Ford. We still see disruptive hiatuses with new car launches and Ford's aging and low-cost manufacturing infrastructure is a long way from the standards of the Germans or Japanese Lincoln is now priced at. Lincoln is ultimately left scrambling to make things work and as a customer I know how difficult it can be to get a new Lincoln order in because of this, although by the time the cars hit my hands I would say they are quality products regardless. Lincoln is on its own unfortunately and can't afford to upgrade manufacturing, but ultimately they are still in their infancy and most customers can't see how messy it is behind the scenes.

Edited March 19, 2016 by BORG

[akirby]

There were some rumors a few months ago that they were trying to put Lincolns together in FRAP. Continental, MKZ and MKX are all on CD4 so that would be pretty easy. Not sure about MKC and Navigator.

[fuzzymoomoo]

There were some rumors a few months ago that they were trying to put Lincolns together in FRAP. Continental, MKZ and MKX are all on CD4 so that would be pretty easy. Not sure about MKC and Navigator.

FRAP isn't building CUVs or SUVs any time soon, if ever. It's going to take a lot of work (possibly gutting entire sections of the plant) to have enough height clearance in many areas.

[SoonerLS]

FRAP isn't building CUVs or SUVs any time soon, if ever. It's going to take a lot of work (possibly gutting entire sections of the plant) to have enough height clearance in many areas.

Are you talking about changing line equipment, or doing structural work to the building? We know Ford isn't afraid of the former, as that sounds pretty much like what they did to DTP and KCAP for the F150 changeover...

[fuzzymoomoo]

Are you talking about changing line equipment, or doing structural work to the building? We know Ford isn't afraid of the former, as that sounds pretty much like what they did to DTP and KCAP for the F150 changeover...

A little bit of both.

[jpd80]

I would like to see Lincoln move production to its own lines to avoid the quality crisis and launch delays that happen when trying to make it work alongside Ford. We still see disruptive hiatuses with new car launches and Ford's aging and low-cost manufacturing infrastructure is a long way from the standards of the Germans or Japanese Lincoln is now priced at. Lincoln is ultimately left scrambling to make things work and as a customer I know how difficult it can be to get a new Lincoln order in because of this, although by the time the cars hit my hands I would say they are quality products regardless. Lincoln is on its own unfortunately and can't afford to upgrade manufacturing, but ultimately they are still in their infancy and most customers can't see how messy it is behind the scenes.

When you think about it, if MKC was switched to CD4 then the four most popular Lincolns could be built at one plant

with its own pace and product cycle timings. All of those Lincolns bundled together would in turn free up more

production capacity in Ford busiest plants.

Edited March 19, 2016 by jpd80

[AGR]

Is Ford late to the electric game? Probably. But in a time of sub-$2.00/gallon gas, I doubt it matters. Anyway you cut it, electric cars have been an absolute failure in the marketplace. So Ford bringing out the Model E in 2019 isn’t really all that big a deal (though I personally wish it was sooner).

As for the Orion Assembly plant, GM should be congratulated. The plant produces a high-quality product. They set the bar high and Ford’s new Mexico assembly plant will have something to shoot for.

 

I think it is way premature to call EVs a "failure". There are relatively affordable EVs that have roughly 100 miles range, obviously limited to local driving, and the $70K and up Teslas that are long range. The Model S is the bestselling fullsize luxury car in America, outselling the S-Class, 7-Series, et al.

There's at least a half dozen automakers coming out with lower priced long range EVs in the next few years, something that has not previously existed. There is not any precedent to draw on; EV sales have been up despite the low gas prices, unlike hybrids and high fuel economy special models

 

[akirby]

A lot of the "demand" for EVs is simply demand for a cheap vehicle. Take away the gov't rebates and they won't sell nearly as well.

[mustang_sallad]

A lot of the "demand" for EVs is simply demand for a cheap vehicle. Take away the gov't rebates and they won't sell nearly as well.

 

 

That might be true for some of the cheaper EVs, but Tesla's reign at the top of the full size luxury sedan segment does not depend on subsidies. BC eliminated it's $5000 purchase incentive for EVs in 2014, and sure enough, Volt and Leaf sales tanked, but the Model S just kept going.

 

I think it's really interesting that Lincoln has already popped up in this conversation. The EV market share may still be pretty small, but it's already surpassed Lincoln. There might be some on here who've argued that Ford should just pull the plug on Lincoln, but I think most would be disappointed. hey maybe there's an idea, revamp Lincoln to be an all electric luxury brand. The Model S already outsells the MKS by about 4:1! Looks like the Model X is on track to outsell the MKT and Navigator combined as well.

[Harley Lover]

Looks like the Model X is on track to outsell the MKT and Navigator combined as well.

 

Reality check: The Model X has sold a whopping 400 units in January 2016 and 500 units in February 2016. Using your cherry picked examples, MKT/Navi sold 1205 units and 1161 units for the same months. In no known universe would those figures indicate that the Model X is "on track to outsell" the Lincolns.

 

If you compare the Model X to its true Lincoln alternative, the MKX, the comparison is laughable: MKX sold 2052 units and 2375 units for the same months.

 

C'mon.