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Full year Profits Plunge $3.6B, Slower Sales/Pension


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58 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

There are lots of people who have new Explorers and Aviators that don't have issues-my sister has one and no issues so far. I've seen random people on the internet chime in when these gloom and doom articles are posted saying I don't have any issues with mine........

 

Very true.  I continue to be amazed at the armchair auto reviewers on this forum, who have never set foot into a certain vehicle, but are quick to condemn it because "they read on the internet it's a bad car."  I wonder if they realize how foolish they sound.

 

We're buying a new vehicle later this year.  I've added the Explorer to my test drive list.  The more I look at this vehicle, the more I like it.

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4 minutes ago, mackinaw said:

 

Very true.  I continue to be amazed at the armchair auto reviewers on this forum, who have never set foot into a certain vehicle, but are quick to condemn it because "they read on the internet it's a bad car."  I wonder if they realize how foolish they sound.

 

We're buying a new vehicle later this year.  I've added the Explorer to my test drive list.  The more I look at this vehicle, the more I like it.

No matter how many times you tell some folks that Ford has overcome early production problems and covering others with recalls,

they are stuck in September 2019 and just won't move on. It's like the guy that went on like a broken record about broken Triton spark plugs

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10 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

No matter how many times you tell some folks that Ford has overcome early production problems and covering others with recalls,

they are stuck in September 2019 and just won't move on. It's like the guy that went on like a broken record about broken Triton spark plugs

Between the broken spark plugs and the old blown out spark plugs it’s exhausting. I can’t tell you how many countless vehicles that were well maintained in which I worked on didn’t have those problems because they were well maintained by quality technicians. Could those designs been better? For sure, but they haven’t been in production since 2002 and 2008. Time to let it go.  
But bad news sells and people like to hold on to the bad.

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2 hours ago, sullynd said:

Remember how Ford for a number of years launched vehicles with old power trains, then updated at the MCE? 2005 Mustang, First Gen Fusion, 500, etc. Is Ford biting off more than they can chew? (Though I guess Explorer isn’t too different powertrain-wise)

Nitpicking a little, but the 2005 Mustang had new engines.  That was the first year that the Mustang had the 3V 4.6 V8 and the 4.0 V6.  They were available in other vehicles in prior years, but they had unique tuning for the Mustang.   So, the engines were new to the Mustang line in 2005. 

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2 hours ago, fordtech1 said:

Between the broken spark plugs and the old blown out spark plugs it’s exhausting. I can’t tell you how many countless vehicles that were well maintained in which I worked on didn’t have those problems because they were well maintained by quality technicians. Could those designs been better? For sure, but they haven’t been in production since 2002 and 2008. Time to let it go.  
But bad news sells and people like to hold on to the bad.

I just read a comment today about bad spark plugs... Right or wrong, the internet has a long memory. 

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Ford Zone Managers have been on the road this week doing the regular wholesale allocation meetings with Dealers for March/April production. They're showing Dealers a photo of the updated interior trim for the 2020 Explorer XLT's with black interiors that will include more satin finish aluminum in the center stack, etc. to brighten up the interior and give it more definition along with the headliner being changed from black to grey. The change will go into production in about 2 months.   

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3 hours ago, ice-capades said:

Ford Zone Managers have been on the road this week doing the regular wholesale allocation meetings with Dealers for March/April production. They're showing Dealers a photo of the updated interior trim for the 2020 Explorer XLT's with black interiors that will include more satin finish aluminum in the center stack, etc. to brighten up the interior and give it more definition along with the headliner being changed from black to grey. The change will go into production in about 2 months.   

 

That certainly sounds like an improvement!:happyfeet:

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4 hours ago, ice-capades said:

Ford Zone Managers have been on the road this week doing the regular wholesale allocation meetings with Dealers for March/April production. They're showing Dealers a photo of the updated interior trim for the 2020 Explorer XLT's with black interiors that will include more satin finish aluminum in the center stack, etc. to brighten up the interior and give it more definition along with the headliner being changed from black to grey. The change will go into production in about 2 months.   

That sounds a lot  like the "Sport Appearance Package". There are pictures on the Media section of Ford's Website.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/multimedia.album.0.15.ford-automotive-products:fna~us~crossovers-suvs~explorer.all.album.html

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4 hours ago, ice-capades said:

They're showing Dealers a photo of the updated interior trim for the 2020 Explorer XLT's with black interiors that will include more satin finish aluminum in the center stack, etc. to brighten up the interior and give it more definition along with the headliner being changed from black to grey. The change will go into production in about 2 months.   

 

Thanks for sharing ice-capades sir. That's good news that Ford is doing a small but meaningful emergency refresh on the worst of the 2020 Explorer interior designs.

 

Hopefully 2021 model year will bring additional improvements to Explorer.

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53 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

At least Ford appears to be responding more quickly than in the past.

 

Still sounds to me like they just didn't have enough time to do the Explorer interior the way they wanted to.  I think they put all their effort into Aviator.

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22 hours ago, akirby said:


Honda and Toyota haven’t done half of what Ford has done with new or heavily revised vehicles and new power trains.   And powertrain development never paused.   The point is this heavy investment is diverting resources that are either causing problems or making problems worse.  It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact that Ford made a business decision.  And sometimes those come back to haunt you.  If the new products coming the next 2 years are as great as we’ve been led to believe then maybe it’s worth it.  It’s definitely frustrating in the meantime.

 

But the comparison has been with what Ford has done over the past decade, and will do over the next few years, as opposed to only looking at what Honda and Toyota have done over the past decade.

 

A true apples-to-apples comparison would be what both have done over the past decade, and will do over the next 5-7 years. No doubt Ford has critical new vehicles that will be launched over the next 1-2 years, but so does Honda (new Civic and CR-V, for example). Honda and Toyota aren't exactly sitting still.

 

As for the spending on new technology - from what I've read, every car maker except FCA has been spending heavily on new technology to meet government mandates both here and overseas. (And FCA's lack of spending was a big motivation for the merger with PSA Groupe.)

 

I want Ford to succeed, but there is no doubt that the company jumped the rails during the Fields years.

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20 hours ago, kyle said:

 

I don't think this is an accurate comparison since Toyota and to a lesser extent also have a huge global presence and I would be willing to wager, many more vehicle line ups across the board. You may be correct in the US, but I would not think that would stand up if you look at what Toyota is doing globally versus Ford. 

 

Since we are in the NA market-it certainly is painful to watch, but somewhat promising with everything they are getting right with Lincoln. Jury is out on Bronco and F150 and the Mustang Mach E. 

 

The jury is out on those 3?

 

5 hours ago, Trailhiker said:

That sounds a lot  like the "Sport Appearance Package". There are pictures on the Media section of Ford's Website.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/multimedia.album.0.15.ford-automotive-products:fna~us~crossovers-suvs~explorer.all.album.html

 

cq5dam.web.881.495.jpeg

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18 hours ago, Trailhiker said:

That sounds a lot  like the "Sport Appearance Package". There are pictures on the Media section of Ford's Website.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/multimedia.album.0.15.ford-automotive-products:fna~us~crossovers-suvs~explorer.all.album.html

 

The XLT interior update is not the XLT Sport Appearance Package which will be added for 2021MY. The XLT interior upgrade will be made and be in production within the next 2 months. 

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On 2/6/2020 at 7:18 PM, silvrsvt said:

 

The problem is the internet is an echo chamber-people who have problems, no matter how small will bitch and complain about the car. If you seen nothing but bitching and complaining about a product, your going to assume that the product is a problem. Yes, the Explorer had a bad/rough launch, but that was nearly 12 months ago. I've been following this shit for over 20 years now and its the same thing again and again. 

 

There are lots of people who have new Explorers and Aviators that don't have issues-my sister has one and no issues so far. I've seen random people on the internet chime in when these gloom and doom articles are posted saying I don't have any issues with mine. 

 

Just as another example-my Wife and sister both had 2010 Escapes-Only difference was my wife's was an XLT and my sister had a Limited-my Sister was at the dealership alot more then my wife's Escape was and the both had roughly the same usage and mileage put on them. 

 

The reality is that Ford identified the issues with the Explorer as a major issue. That's not an "echo chamber":

 



"We fell short of our financial expectations and yours in 2019," Hackett said on an earnings conference call Tuesday. "What is particularly disappointing is the primary reason for that shortfall was our operational execution. This is an area where we typically are effective.

 

"From an execution standpoint, clearly 2019 was below our expectations attributable to the operational challenges we had with the Explorer, for example, higher warranty costs," Stone said.

 

The Explorer arguable cost Joe Hinrichs his job. Enough of the excuse making and excusing of the reality of the failure committed by Ford on the Explorer. As far as I'm concerned, Hackett's tail should have been on the line. It's on his watch that Ford has failed to deliver what he himself promised:

 



Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Hackett told employees 2019 will be the year the 115-year-old automaker turns "the corner toward a really bright future," in an internal memo obtained by The Detroit News.

 

Ford damn well didn't "turn the corner toward a really bright future" and I don't see Hackett paying any measurable price for his failure.

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19 hours ago, rmc523 said:

 

The jury is out on those 3?

 

 

cq5dam.web.881.495.jpeg

 

 

Absolutely!  How many have they sold? How's the quality? I can go on and on-these vehicles could be a great success (likely) or more fuck ups.  Point being no one can say how well they will do in the market with any certainty or for that matter not do. I just am not going to jump on the bandwagon that since Ford has all these upcoming product launches everything will be "great."  

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1 hour ago, Harley Lover said:

 

The reality is that Ford identified the issues with the Explorer as a major issue. That's not an "echo chamber":

 

 

Sigh...guess you miss the part with the launch I mentioned-and problems on the internet get magnified on the internet because people are far more likely to bitch about something-no matter how small. 

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1 hour ago, kyle said:

 

 

Absolutely!  How many have they sold? How's the quality? I can go on and on-these vehicles could be a great success (likely) or more fuck ups.  Point being no one can say how well they will do in the market with any certainty or for that matter not do. I just am not going to jump on the bandwagon that since Ford has all these upcoming product launches everything will be "great."  


Well 1 hasn’t even been shown, 1 isn’t on sale yet and 1 has been the best seller for over 40 years.  They are most likely the 3 vehicles a Ford is least likely to fuck up.

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21 minutes ago, akirby said:


Well 1 hasn’t even been shown, 1 isn’t on sale yet and 1 has been the best seller for over 40 years.  They are most likely the 3 vehicles a Ford is least likely to fuck up.


And the 1 that hasn't been shown is coming from the plant with the best launch team in the company as far as I'm concerned. 

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While Ford is prone to dreadful launches, they are not the end of the world and Ford/Lincoln has recovered from all of them.

By the time the next round of new vehicle launches happen, all will be forgotten and buyers will be lining up for the new

Bronco, baby Bronco and anything else Ford throws at them. Buyers don't live in six months ago land.

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