Retained Customers When Ford Cars Are Gone.

[CKNSLS]

On 7/6/2020 at 6:41 AM, silvrsvt said:

 

As much as this might pain some people, the Escape is the replacement for the CV for that demographic. 

 

 

Yep-and that's exactly what wrong with it. A vehicle made to appeal to at least two groups of previous car buyers....and it really doesn't do it well.

[FordBuyer]

4 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

It's not so much about opportunity cost but more about maximised return with least number of builds.

 

The issue now is that Ford looks at it's production in terms of return from more expensive vehicles,

they would sooner see a plant like Louisville go back to one shift than add Focus production there

as that would drop return per vehicle which directly affects Ford's goal of maximizing return. 

 

Or add a third shift again at Louisville and make the new Bronco Sport there. I still remember the long delays to dealers of the Fusion when it first went to Mexico. I hope that mess is not repeated. I thought of waiting for the Bronco Sport instead of buying the Escape, but then wondered if a hybrid version would ever get built and the delays in transit from  Mexico a la Fusion. 

[akirby]

2 hours ago, FordBuyer said:

 

I wouldn't classify Ford as a "boutique" brand like Porsche, but it's no longer a full line manufacturer anymore either which comes with risk. The risk is slowly becoming irrelevant as a major auto manufacturer. And the limited segments you are in grow stagnant for whatever reason  you are in big trouble. Kind of like having an investment portfolio too limited in scope. Hopefully the segments Ford plays in will remain strong and grow for decades. Ford is betting its future on it. 

So when exactly did Ford stop manufacturing Fiesta, Focus, Fusion (Mondeo) and Taurus?

 

There is a huge difference in what Ford did in the past and what they’re doing now.  They have the platform for modern cars that can easily be built alongside the new utilities if needed.  C2 Focus is done and C2 Fusion/Mondeo are in development.  C6 is available if needed.

 

 

[jpd80]

2 minutes ago, akirby said:

So when exactly did Ford stop manufacturing Fiesta, Focus, Fusion (Mondeo) and Taurus?

 

There is a huge difference in what Ford did in the past and what they’re doing now.  They have the platform for modern cars that can easily be built alongside the new utilities if needed.  C2 Focus is done and C2 Fusion/Mondeo are in development.  C6 is available if needed.

 

 

Correct, priority one has to be getting those new utilities to market, diversity with those is everything,

fill those customer orders and then see what's left, car segments may well become hybrid only or BEV.

[silvrsvt]

21 hours ago, CKNSLS said:

 

 

Yep-and that's exactly what wrong with it. A vehicle made to appeal to at least two groups of previous car buyers....and it really doesn't do it well.

 

No-your reading into it. The small SUV/CUV market is bought mostly by the 55+ crowd...that includes all brands. 
 

[akirby]

21 hours ago, akirby said:

So when exactly did Ford stop manufacturing Fiesta, Focus, Fusion (Mondeo) and Taurus?

 

 

@FordBuyer   Still waiting for an answer.

[rperez817]

51 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

The small SUV/CUV market is bought mostly by the 55+ crowd...that includes all brands.

 

Not just small SUV/CUV. People 55+ represented a little over half of all new car buyers overall in the U.S. in 2017 (all passenger car and light truck segments). Numbers are probably similar today.

[bzcat]

On 7/7/2020 at 10:55 AM, FordBuyer said:

I easily understand the reason for Ford ending most of its sedans, but in no way do I understand the reason for getting rid or out of the sedan segment altogether. The sedan market is still huge and will remain so for a long time.

 

Ford made a big mistake with such a mild refresh of the Fusion and then made it worse with jettisoning the brand. Hackett should be fired for that one decision alone. No way would have Mulally dumped the Fusion/MKZ. No way with its 250,000 + sales/year. Ford spent years and billions building the Fusion brand, and the just dumped it.

 

They have done that countless times so that many customers will just stay away from Ford unless its F-Series or Mustang. Any other Ford nameplate can be gone just like that. Ford has a history of just ending the nameplate instead of actually answering customer complaints and improving it. So bye bye Fusion....a great looking sedan that had the potential to compete with anyone and did. Sad ending along with the MKZ. And two more hybrid nameplates gone.

 

The mild Fusion refresh was a Mark Fields decision.

 

And I don't think Ford is going to dump Fusion. The name will be used on a CUV. 

 

Ford's original plan was to continue selling Focus imported from China and ride the sedan market wave as it recedes to niche status. But then the political climate changed and Ford decided to just give up.

[Blue Oval Guide]

3 hours ago, bzcat said:

 

The mild Fusion refresh was a Mark Fields decision.

 

And I don't think Ford is going to dump Fusion. The name will be used on a CUV. 

 

Ford's original plan was to continue selling Focus imported from China and ride the sedan market wave as it recedes to niche status. But then the political climate changed and Ford decided to just give up.

 

There's been mention of Ford keeping the Fusion name due to the brand equity, but the same can be said for Focus and Taurus as they had a lot of name recognition too - Ford has dropped name plates without issue for decades.

If Maverick and Courier are coming back, not sure where Fusion fits in?  Word around Dearborn is that the Edge is on the verge of distinction too, although that might just be a union negotiating tactic.

[rperez817]

4 hours ago, bzcat said:

And I don't think Ford is going to dump Fusion. The name will be used on a CUV.

 

The first production car with the Ford Fusion nameplate was a crossover style vehicle.

Edited July 9, 2020 by rperez817

[fuzzymoomoo]

13 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

 

The first production car with the Ford Fusion nameplate was a crossover style vehicle.

Man, Europe has some weird looking vehicles 

[Harley Lover]

7 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Man, Europe has some weird looking vehicles 

 

We have no room to talk (same era):

Edited July 9, 2020 by Harley Lover

[fuzzymoomoo]

1 hour ago, Harley Lover said:

 

We have no room to talk (same era):

Touché 

[twintornados]

10 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

The first production car with the Ford Fusion nameplate was a crossover style vehicle.

 

It was also called Maverick in an earlier form

 

[silvrsvt]

1 hour ago, twintornados said:

It was also called Maverick in an earlier form

 

 

The Maverick (rebadged Nissan Terrano II) was roughly the size of an Escape...even though it pre-dated it by quite a bit. The Fusion was a Fiesta sized product. 

 

When I was deployed to Bosnia back in the mid 1990s, the United Defense (FMC at the time) contact team that was supporting us in the field had a Maverick they used to get to the different outposts we had set up there. They had to get us a part that was part of the hull on a Bradley that was damaged when one of the transmission prop shafts broke loose from the final drive. It had to be welded to the hull, which was aluminum. 

[grbeck]

13 hours ago, Blue Oval Guide said:

 

There's been mention of Ford keeping the Fusion name due to the brand equity, but the same can be said for Focus and Taurus as they had a lot of name recognition too - Ford has dropped name plates without issue for decades.

If Maverick and Courier are coming back, not sure where Fusion fits in?  Word around Dearborn is that the Edge is on the verge of distinction too, although that might just be a union negotiating tactic.

 

In the case of the Fusion, I've read it was the dealers who strongly objected to abandoning the name. They claimed that the Fusion name has a lot of equity. 

 

Sadly, the Focus name was tarnished by the transmission debacle. 

[akirby]

We used to get a lot of Europeans over at FordFusionForum.com asking about their Fusion.

[bzcat]

The original Euro Fusion was a great idea but about a decade before its time. It's basically what Kia Soul or Hyundai Venue is today. Too bad Ford didn't stick with it and went for B-Max as replacement just when the MPV market imploded. 

[jpd80]

Unfortunately, Ford's product delivery became dreadfully out of step with Europe'smarket  changes

they just didn't react quickly enough to the huge shift in buyer preference for utilities.

[CKNSLS]

On 7/9/2020 at 5:32 AM, fuzzymoomoo said:

Touché 

 

You could have easily referenced the 3 rd generation Taurus. "The oval disaster".......

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Taurus_(third_generation)#/media/File:96-97_Ford_Taurus.jpg

[fuzzymoomoo]

32 minutes ago, CKNSLS said:

 

You could have easily referenced the 3 rd generation Taurus. "The oval disaster".......

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Taurus_(third_generation)#/media/File:96-97_Ford_Taurus.jpg

I like to forget that thing existed

[Bob Rosadini]

2 hours ago, CKNSLS said:

 

You could have easily referenced the 3 rd generation Taurus. "The oval disaster".......

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Taurus_(third_generation)#/media/File:96-97_Ford_Taurus.jpg

Ugh/barf- I  believe I  read that Sir Trotman looked at the initial design and said..."Make it more Ovoid"

[jpd80]

9 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Ugh/barf- I  believe I  read that Sir Trotman looked at the initial design and said..."Make it more Ovoid"

They forced the same lunacy on Falcon too.

Edited July 11, 2020 by jpd80

[atomcat68]

On the flip side, I leased a 96 Taurus v8 SHO and bought a 99 Mercury Sable and liked them both. The Taurus was downright ugly and I liked the way the Sable looked much better, but both cars felt substantial. They had quality details that many other cars didn't have and felt like they should cost much more money than they did. Then they restyled them in 2000 and made them look much better, but cheapened them to rental cars.

[ehaase]

The 96 Taurus was ugly, but I feel it was a solidly engineered car because I frequently saw them on the roads until a few years ago.  Many seemed to last 20 years or longer. I agree the 2000 and later was cheapened, though slightly more cargo space and better looking.