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Goodbye Continental


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  • 3 months later...

The post mortems should include the fact that 40,000 people expressed interest in the Continental when it was introduced.  But the marketing types thought they would cream the launch by restricting content, requiring unwanted features and driving up the prices to maximize profits.  I, like many others at the introduction, decided to pass because I couldn't configure the vehicle the way I wanted.  Consequently, only 15,000 were sold.  I know they will defend their strategy by claiming complexity cost required simplified option content, market trends and customer focus groups liked big wheels and skinny tires but it drove customers away.  Now it is gone!  So sad, could have been a big winner.

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dfs, I agree the "marketing types" mess up a lot of potential purchases.  I passed on a new SHO as it wasn't available with a light interior.  My 2016 Navigator is a lowly "Select" as my preferred blue paint wasn't offered on the plusher "Reserve".  The 2018 Black Label Navigators weren't offered with an 8-passenger option, just the swanky/less practical 2nd row Captain's Chairs.  I understand entertaining multiple combinations can cost money, but not offering choices costs sales.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Following up on my "what's wrong with Ford" question. I took a look at the coupe/sedan offerings in the marketplace as of today. I didn't count performance cars since Ford still sells the Mustang:

 

Number of models offered:

Cadillac: 2

Buick: 0

Chevy: 4

Chrysler: 1

Dodge: 2

Toyota: 6

Lexus: 4

Honda: 4

Acura: 3

Subaru: 2

Mitsubishi: 1

Hyundai: 4

Kia: 5

Mercedes: 5

BMW: 7

Porsche: 1

Audi: 6

 

That's 57 choices of cars. I guess Ford is in worse shape than any other maker in the industry in abandoning the sedan market first. I'm sure a few more dominos will fall but obviously the coupe/sedan market is very much alive.

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39 minutes ago, MKZMark said:

Following up on my "what's wrong with Ford" question. I took a look at the coupe/sedan offerings in the marketplace as of today. I didn't count performance cars since Ford still sells the Mustang:

 

Number of models offered:

Cadillac: 2

Buick: 0

Chevy: 4

Chrysler: 1

Dodge: 2

Toyota: 6

Lexus: 4

Honda: 4

Acura: 3

Subaru: 2

Mitsubishi: 1

Hyundai: 4

Kia: 5

Mercedes: 5

BMW: 7

Porsche: 1

Audi: 6

 

That's 57 choices of cars. I guess Ford is in worse shape than any other maker in the industry in abandoning the sedan market first. I'm sure a few more dominos will fall but obviously the coupe/sedan market is very much alive.


Chevy Sonic and Impala are both dead, and Malibu and Spark are both not long for this world. 

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49 minutes ago, MKZMark said:

That's 57 choices of cars. I guess Ford is in worse shape than any other maker in the industry in abandoning the sedan market first. I'm sure a few more dominos will fall but obviously the coupe/sedan market is very much alive.

 

Why do we have to explain this over and over and over and over?   Ford could easily continue making and selling cars but they would have to cancel the new projects like Mach-E, BEV Transit and F150, Bronco, Bronco Sport, Maverick, other BEVs, etc.   It's prioritization of limited resources and Ford has a lot of new projects that they believe will yield better returns than the shrinking and highly competitive commoditized sedan market.

 

If they just cancelled the cars and didn't replace them with anything else then that would be room for criticism.

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5 minutes ago, MKZMark said:

Why are Ford's resources limited to making SUVs when most other makes aren't? That's what I'm asking.


Short answer: the entire lineup is/was old and needs to be refreshed. You don't start with the products that don't make any money, you start with the most profitable ones and work down from there. I'm willing to bet won't see any pet projects come down the line for a while. 

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8 minutes ago, MKZMark said:

Why are Ford's resources limited to making SUVs when most other makes aren't? That's what I'm asking.

 

Well they don't just make SUVs now.  They also make mustangs and full sized vans and over 1 million pickups a year.  Not to mention all the European and Asia Pacific vehicles.

But look at what they were offering just last year:

 

5 trucks and vans, 9 utilities (including Lincoln), Mustang, Fusion and Continental.  That's 17 vehicles - probably more than anyone except GM and Toyota.

And that doesn't include Focus and Fiesta which are still sold in Europe or any of the other non-US models around the world.

 

Now look at what was in development as entirely new vehicles at the same time:

Bronco.  Bronco Sport.  Mach-E.   Maverick.  2 midsized BEVs.  A lincoln flagship BEV.  BEV F150.  BEV Transit.  Hybrid F150.  Hybrid Mustang.  PHEV Escape and Corsair.

All that in addition to normal updates on all the existing models.   And there are several new things we don't even know about.

 

That's a lot for any company and a lot more new vehicles than most of those other companies are working on right now.   

 

Focus was cancelled to make way for Ranger and Bronco at MAP.   Fusion/MKZ was cancelled to make way for Bronco Sport, Maverick and a few other new vehicles.   Fiesta and Ecosport made way for Mach-E and other BEVs.    And it's not just the factory space but all the engineering/design/marketing/testing/etc. to support them.

 

Cars do not represent a high ROI and profit margin compared to the other new things they're working on, so they were deprioritized.   It's that simple.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I took advantage of the incentives offered on the last of the Continentals.  Very happy with my choice.  With 500 miles on the clock, took a trip to the mountains and got 26.4 MPG.  Coming back and averaged 29.1 MPG.  Finally, they allowed us to buy what we wanted, 18” wheels and Nav.

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22 hours ago, dfs said:

I took advantage of the incentives offered on the last of the Continentals.  Very happy with my choice.  With 500 miles on the clock, took a trip to the mountains and got 26.4 MPG.  Coming back and averaged 29.1 MPG.  Finally, they allowed us to buy what we wanted, 18” wheels and Nav.

Congrats on the new ride.  I was tempted to get a Coni but my back demanded a vehicle higher off the ground.  Enjoy.

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9 hours ago, Footballfan said:

Any word on which if any vehicle is going to replace Continental's place at Flat Rock?

 

The biggest problem at Flat Rock is the same as it's been for years... the physical limitations with the facility because of the height restrictions. Unless Ford decides to completely restructure the plant which would be a major expense financially and timewise, I think Flat Rock will continue with Mustang production alone until they find the right product that can be assembled on the old Continental line. That and serving as a hub where specialty work or repairs can be performed for vehicles produced at other plants. 

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9 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:


Nope. For now, nothing. That could change, it could not. I'm leaning towards it not changing but things change every day so it's hard to say. 

I was hoping Ford would make the Fusion Active at the plant, but I have not heard anything about that vehicle in the last few months. 

 

1 hour ago, ice-capades said:

 

The biggest problem at Flat Rock is the same as it's been for years... the physical limitations with the facility because of the height restrictions. Unless Ford decides to completely restructure the plant which would be a major expense financially and timewise, I think Flat Rock will continue with Mustang production alone until they find the right product that can be assembled on the old Continental line. That and serving as a hub where specialty work or repairs can be performed for vehicles produced at other plants. 

It doesn't help when Ford kept giving then pulling investments in paint shops and EVs at the plant.  Well I guess wasting $750 million on old train stations is more important ?

 

If Ford were smart, perhaps they could do with Flat Rock and the Mustang what GM did with Bowling Green and the Corvette.  Have a Mustang Museum and optional on-site delivery.  

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1 hour ago, Footballfan said:

If Ford were smart, perhaps they could do with Flat Rock and the Mustang what GM did with Bowling Green and the Corvette.  Have a Mustang Museum and optional on-site delivery.  

 

It probably wasn't an option as long as Mazda was part of the plant but it would have been great if they at least offered plant tours after Ford took over the plant considering Mustang's iconic status. 

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1 minute ago, ice-capades said:

 

It probably wasn't an option as long as Mazda was part of the plant but it would have been great if they at least offered plant tours after Ford took over the plant considering Mustang's iconic status. 


When I was there there was a couple of GT350 buyers that somehow were able to come in and watch their cars going through final assembly. 

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