Ford CEO pushing speed to shake up automaker

[jpd80]

Sure, the hip room sufferes in the Flex but, we're getting lost on details

so here's a summary of the figures I can find..

 

Galaxy's figures are......(LINK)

3rd row leg room.................34.9" (887 mm)

3rd row Shoulder room.......53.5" (1359mm).

 

Flex figures are......(LINK)

3rd row leg room.................33.0"

3rd row Shoulder room.......50.8"

3rd Row Hip room...............41.1"

 

Freestyle figures are......(LINK)

3rd row leg room.................33.0"

3rd row Shoulder room.......50.8"

3rd Row Hip room...............45.9"

 

Given the evidence of the pictures below, I'd be willing to admit that the

3rd row hip room in 7 seat Edge and Galaxy is about the same as Flex...

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by jpd80

[fordmantpw]

Ive never been in a Flex, but I once rode in the 3rd row of a Freestyle for a 3 hr trip. It wasnt uncomfortable. Sufficient shoulder, hip and leg room.

 

I'm 5'-10", and I think I could handle a 3 hour trip in the Flex. The middle row slides forward, giving plenty of room. We also have the buckets in the middle row, which gives the rear seat passengers the option to stretch out further.

[rmc523]

 

Are those tray tables in the back of the front seats?

[bzcat]

 

Are those tray tables in the back of the front seats?

 

Looks like it

 

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by bzcat

[akirby]

Do you have to return them to their locked upright positions before parking?

[blksn8k2]

Do you have to return them to their locked upright positions before parking?

 

The doors won't unlock unless you do.

[blksn8k2]

 

The Chinese are just as dependent on us as we might be (in your eyes) to them. There isn't going to be a whole sale shift of cars being made in China, logistically it doesn't make any sense to do so...thats why larger items like Stoves, washers and dryers etc are still made in the US...it makes no sense to ship them via container ship.

 

Believe it or not, in many cases the cost of the product is so much lower than US made products that it actually does make economic sense to buy it elsewhere and pay the shipping costs, regardless of physical size. Where it doesn't make sense is when the quality and safety of the product and your company's reputation become the guiding factors.

 

Having spent a fair amount of time in the pressure vessel industry (designing steam generating equipment) my experience with Chinese manufacturing has been that they cannot be trusted to produce quality especially when safety becomes an issue. While their steels and alloys claim to be equivalent to what the rest of the modern world produces in reality they are not. Most countries will not accept Chinese materials in products that require structural integrity, like a high pressure boiler. Too many instances of failures and no accountability. Their attitude seems to be that if its good enough for the Chinese market it doesn't matter what your standards are. If they deem that following your standards is too expensive they are not going to adhere to them and they couldn't care less about the consequences or what that means to your company's reputation. In most cases its not their name on the product anyway.

 

I have no doubt that their attitude is slowly being forced to change but I would still be hesitant to rely on Chinese quality, especially when my family's safety is in question.

[J-150]

They're not the same.

No, they are not. But being very similar vehicles on the same platform, one can extrapolate the experience of one to the other.

[silvrsvt]

 

Believe it or not, in many cases the cost of the product is so much lower than US made products that it actually does make economic sense to buy it elsewhere and pay the shipping costs, regardless of physical size. Where it doesn't make sense is when the quality and safety of the product and your company's reputation become the guiding factors.

 

Having spent a fair amount of time in the pressure vessel industry (designing steam generating equipment) my experience with Chinese manufacturing has been that they cannot be trusted to produce quality especially when safety becomes an issue. While their steels and alloys claim to be equivalent to what the rest of the modern world produces in reality they are not. Most countries will not accept Chinese materials in products that require structural integrity, like a high pressure boiler. Too many instances of failures and no accountability. Their attitude seems to be that if its good enough for the Chinese market it doesn't matter what your standards are. If they deem that following your standards is too expensive they are not going to adhere to them and they couldn't care less about the consequences or what that means to your company's reputation. In most cases its not their name on the product anyway.

 

I have no doubt that their attitude is slowly being forced to change but I would still be hesitant to rely on Chinese quality, especially when my family's safety is in question.

 

But I think the point your missing here is that Ford is going to have the verticalization of producing the Focus in China more or less controlled..this isn't going to be some third party slapping cars together for them for the US market.

 

If it was a Chinese designed and built product, I'd might have an issue, but we are getting a product developed in the EU/North America that will be assembled in China for low end models and the EU for higher trim models that meets the requirements of their perspective markets they need to be sold in.

[rmc523]

 

Believe it or not, in many cases the cost of the product is so much lower than US made products that it actually does make economic sense to buy it elsewhere and pay the shipping costs, regardless of physical size. Where it doesn't make sense is when the quality and safety of the product and your company's reputation become the guiding factors.

 

Having spent a fair amount of time in the pressure vessel industry (designing steam generating equipment) my experience with Chinese manufacturing has been that they cannot be trusted to produce quality especially when safety becomes an issue. While their steels and alloys claim to be equivalent to what the rest of the modern world produces in reality they are not. Most countries will not accept Chinese materials in products that require structural integrity, like a high pressure boiler. Too many instances of failures and no accountability. Their attitude seems to be that if its good enough for the Chinese market it doesn't matter what your standards are. If they deem that following your standards is too expensive they are not going to adhere to them and they couldn't care less about the consequences or what that means to your company's reputation. In most cases its not their name on the product anyway.

 

I have no doubt that their attitude is slowly being forced to change but I would still be hesitant to rely on Chinese quality, especially when my family's safety is in question.

 

I can attest to some of this with my job - we make a lot of our products (outdoor furniture) in China, and yes, they seem set in their ways, and have a "good enough" approach; we're having issues with the factory now with all sorts of different problems, many quality related. Now that's not to say American workers are perfect, but the mindset can be quite different sometimes. Silvrsvt's point is a good one as well.

 

 

But I think the point your missing here is that Ford is going to have the verticalization of producing the Focus in China more or less controlled..this isn't going to be some third party slapping cars together for them for the US market.

 

If it was a Chinese designed and built product, I'd might have an issue, but we are getting a product developed in the EU/North America that will be assembled in China for low end models and the EU for higher trim models that meets the requirements of their perspective markets they need to be sold in.

 

I agree with this too. And Envision (at least so far) shows that it can be done.

[blksn8k2]

I hope you guys are right but my experience has been just the opposite. We had quality control in place as well and they would listen to a point but eventually do it their way anyway. The other issue was that we were working with a joint venture Chinese company and I believe due to Chinese government regulations that is difficult if not impossible to avoid. We learned our lesson and no longer rely on Chinese manufacturing. The only saving grace and the reason we got into that situation to being with was that most of our competition had already switched to Chinese manufacturing before we did. It was about the only option at the time to remain competitive. Another problem is the lack of control over proprietary information and company owned designs. If there is one thing they are good at it is getting other peoples designs.

 

We also tried using a joint venture in India with similar results. The most recent attempt has been with a plant in Mexico that the company owns and therefore has better control over but now the issue has become less about quality and more about speed, or lack thereof. Schedules have become a joke.

 

Cheap labor sounds great until it comes back to haunt you and eventually it will.

[tbone]

We sure seem to have a number of Chinese cheerleaders in here. Quality is one thing, but the Chinese ability to extract proprietary information from foreign entities is unprecedented in current times. They're attempting to steal anything they can get their hands on, from agriculture related genetics, tech secrets, manufacturing secrets, military secrets, et al.

 

It amazes me how many companies are willing to sign up and get in bed with the Chinese to enter the market, full well knowing that they are stealing everything that they can from them.

 

I recognize it is a massive market to get into, but I can't imagine that this will not come back to haunt every foreign manufacturer in the future, who is doing business in China, not to mention having an affect on our national security.

Edited July 19, 2017 by tbone

[Sevensecondsuv]

Here I read all this talk about Ford Galaxies and nobody has posted any pictures of the classic 60s Ford FE powered muscle cars. How about some pictures of those?

Edited July 19, 2017 by Sevensecondsuv

[SoonerLS]

Here I read all this talk about Ford Galaxies and nobody has posted any pictures of the classic 60s Ford FE powered muscle cars. How about some pictures of those?

I'd post mine, but PhotoSuckit decided they wanted to become money-grubbing whores after turning their product into garbage...

[fuzzymoomoo]

I'd post mine, but PhotoSuckit decided they wanted to become money-grubbing whores after turning their product into garbage...

imgur.com or Flickr.com my friend Edited July 19, 2017 by fuzzymoomoo

[MKX1960]

Here I read all this talk about Ford Galaxies and nobody has posted any pictures of the classic 60s Ford FE powered muscle cars. How about some pictures of those?

I was going to and say that's why the Galaxy name won't fly here. The haters will have a field day with that, much like with the Continental.

[jpd80]

Here I read all this talk about Ford Galaxies and nobody has posted any pictures of the classic 60s Ford FE powered muscle cars. How about some pictures of those?

There's a big difference between the Euro Galaxy MPV and the American Galaxie we all remember.

As said above, I think Ford would have reservations about using the Galaxy name in North America..

[jasonj80]

There's a big difference between the Euro Galaxy MPV and the American Galaxie we all remember.

As said above, I think Ford would have reservations about using the Galaxy name in North America..

I don't; fanboys would be scream for 3 months, the majority of the car buying public wouldn't care. They know mentions of the Galaxy as an old Ford car their grandparents had, it has brand awareness. If anything It would give them a massive amount of free PR as it shows they are reintroducing a new model that would be a cross between a Minivan and a Crossover and not a large old sedan/coupe that no one wants.

 

Ford could launch a new Galaxy Full sized sedan/coupe with RWD and a V8 with optional stick -- exactly what all the fanboy's want and they might sell 1000 more than what Chevy did with the SS.

 

 

[jpd80]

The spelling is different....Galaxy versus Galaxie.

[ehaase]

Very irritating when people call the great 1959 to 1974 big Ford - Galaxy. It's Galaxie, Galaxie, Galaxie. 1959 Fairlane 500 Galaxie. 1960 Galaxie. The Galaxie 500 debuted in 1962. I think the Galaxie 500 XL also debuted in 1962 or 1963. Then the 1965 Galaxie 500 LTD, which became LTD itself in 1967.

[jasonj80]

The spelling is different....Galaxy versus Galaxie.

 

 

Very irritating when people call the great 1959 to 1974 big Ford - Galaxy. It's Galaxie, Galaxie, Galaxie. 1959 Fairlane 500 Galaxie. 1960 Galaxie. The Galaxie 500 debuted in 1962. I think the Galaxie 500 XL also debuted in 1962 or 1963. Then the 1965 Galaxie 500 LTD, which became LTD itself in 1967.

It may be irritating but to the actual 99+% of the new car buying world, they do not care; which is who Ford needs to care about.

Edited July 20, 2017 by jasonj80

[jpd80]

And I'd put it to you that using the Galaxy /Galaxie name in Nth America is not part of Ford's strategy. in the first place.

The Euro Galaxy MPV is not required and the use of Heritage names has been limited to Continental for Lincoln.

Edited July 20, 2017 by jpd80

[J-150]

 

 

It may be irritating but to the actual 99+% of the new car buying world, they do not care; which is who Ford needs to care about.

Tell that to the GTO

[silvrsvt]

Tell that to the GTO

 

The GTO was a 2 door car that had styling from the 1990s sold in a market that wanted CUVs and sedans. It was barely advertised and was pretty much overpriced for what it was.

 

Just shows you that retro not done right will land like a turd in the market place.

[rmc523]

 

The GTO was a 2 door car that had styling from the 1990s sold in a market that wanted CUVs and sedans. It was barely advertised and was pretty much overpriced for what it was.

 

Just shows you that retro not done right will land like a turd in the market place.

 

I wouldn't even call it retro at all....not even an attempt at it aside from dredging up the GTO name.