Retained Customers When Ford Cars Are Gone.

[akirby]

2 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

That "DNA" is the combination of boxer engine,

 

99% of Subaru buyers don't know what that means nor do they care.  

 

They have built up a loyal following with outdoorsy types thanks to the outback primarily and the outdoors image.  Bronco may steal some sales but probably not a lot.  Fusion Active will be a better competitor.

[rperez817]

4 hours ago, akirby said:

Bronco may steal some sales but probably not a lot.  Fusion Active will be a better competitor.

 

Yes sir akirby. While Fusion Active will be a better competitor, Ford marketers should avoid making direct comparisons to Subaru Outback or try to woo Subaru customers. Other brands such as Audi, Buick, and Volkswagen tried that without much success. Ford's marketing message should instead focus on Fusion Active's own merits.

Edited July 15, 2020 by rperez817

[atomcat68]

5 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

 

Maybe Ford can do cats? LOL

 

(I have both ? ) 

Most cats hate being in cars and would yowl and hiss. You want them in your competitor's cars.

[grbeck]

14 hours ago, atomcat68 said:

Most cats hate being in cars and would yowl and hiss. You want them in your competitor's cars.

 

You're lucky if that is all that the cat does while in the car.

 

My friend made the mistake of taking his cat to the vet without putting it in the kitty carrier.

 

The cat hid under the passenger seat and promptly did his business there. You can imagine how hard it is to get cat urine scent out of carpeting...

[akirby]

22 minutes ago, grbeck said:

 

You're lucky if that is all that the cat does while in the car.

 

My friend made the mistake of taking his cat to the vet without putting it in the kitty carrier.

 

The cat hid under the passenger seat and promptly did his business there. You can imagine how hard it is to get cat urine scent out of carpeting...

Could be worse.  A coworker’s relative hit a small deer.  Thought it was dead.  Put it in the cab of his truck.  It woke up and completely trashed the truck interior.  When asked why he didn’t put it in the truck bed he had no answer....

[atomcat68]

1 hour ago, grbeck said:

 

You're lucky if that is all that the cat does while in the car.

 

My friend made the mistake of taking his cat to the vet without putting it in the kitty carrier.

 

The cat hid under the passenger seat and promptly did his business there. You can imagine how hard it is to get cat urine scent out of carpeting...

I had a cat pee, poop and puke at the same time in its cat carrier as I was backing out of the driveway. I had to wash the cat and you must know how much the cat liked that...

Edited July 15, 2020 by atomcat68

[fuzzymoomoo]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

Could be worse.  A coworker’s relative hit a small deer.  Thought it was dead.  Put it in the cab of his truck.  It woke up and completely trashed the truck interior.  When asked why he didn’t put it in the truck bed he had no answer....

 

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by fuzzymoomoo

[silvrsvt]

22 minutes ago, atomcat68 said:

I had a cat pee, poop and puke at the same time in its cat carrier as I was backing out of the driveway. I had to wash the cat and you must know how much the cat liked that...

Vets that come to your house are a godsend for situations like this. I had one when I was living in MD. I wish I had one now, but I really like the Vet I go to now. 

[jpd80]

I nearly had a wedged tail eagle fly in through the front  passenger window,

It as taking off by the side of the road and struck the A  pillar, holy crap...

I get a cold shiver thinking about that beak and talons  going to work on the pair of us...

Edited July 15, 2020 by jpd80

[jpd80]

Ford  still managed to build over 17,000 Fusions last month and about 2,000 MKZ

so clearly not hating cars so much that they stifle production, decent to the last.

[FordBuyer]

9 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Ford  still managed to build over 17,000 Fusions last month and about 2,000 MKZ

so clearly not hating cars so much that they stifle production, decent to the last.

 

Well, both Kia/Hyundai just introduced new mid sized sedans as did VW with Passat. Someone is buying them. I like the new Passat......simple and elegant with no pretensions unlike the Korean twins. The Passat is like old Jean's that you love to wear. Both Fusion and MKZ still look good. 

[rmc523]

8 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

 

Well, both Kia/Hyundai just introduced new mid sized sedans as did VW with Passat. Someone is buying them. I like the new Passat......simple and elegant with no pretensions unlike the Korean twins. The Passat is like old Jean's that you love to wear. Both Fusion and MKZ still look good. 

 

The "new" Passat looks the same as the old one.

[jpd80]

3 hours ago, FordBuyer said:

 

Well, both Kia/Hyundai just introduced new mid sized sedans as did VW with Passat. Someone is buying them. I like the new Passat......simple and elegant with no pretensions unlike the Korean twins. The Passat is like old Jean's that you love to wear. Both Fusion and MKZ still look good. 

Those brands need to keep cars going for now  because they don't have

anywhere near Ford and GM's strong presence in trucks and utilities.

[bzcat]

On 7/18/2020 at 1:17 PM, jpd80 said:

Those brands need to keep cars going for now  because they don't have

anywhere near Ford and GM's strong presence in trucks and utilities.

 

VW and Hyundai-Kia both outsell Ford in SUVs by a huge margin on worldwide basis. They are still selling sedans because they managed to figured out how to walk and chew gum at the same time ?

 

But seriously... VWoA just gave the US spec Passat a minimal facelift... like the one Mark Fields gave Fusion 3 years ago so they are probably not going to attempt to gain any market share in the midsize sedan market. Hyundai has had an amazing decade of success and they are doing everything just right, there is no doubt about that.

 

Ford's problem is not that they are ending Fusion sedan. It was always that they were too slow to bring out new products. Ford was right about the worldwide shift to utilities but VW, Hyundai, Renault-Nissan, Honda, GM, and Toyota are introducing new utilities around the world almost every month. Ford will probably do ok next year when Bronco and Bronco Sport start delivery in North America but I worry that Ford has not learned its lesson and is still moving too slow to bring out products to fill all the holes. EcoSport replacement has no date. There is no plan to localize Puma in China and South America. Where is the Escape coupe and Escape 7 seat? I could go on...

 

And another big problem is that Ford's emerging market strategy is a complete mess. All those people buying their first CUV in South America, India, Southeast Asia, China... they are not that interested in a 8 years old EcoSport. Ford has nothing to offer them. I thought the deal with Mahindra will quickly lead to a bunch of new 4 meter CUVs for India and cheap models for South America... so far nothing. I thought the same thing about Ford Zotye JV in China that will lead to a bunch of new low cost CUVs to compete with GM's hugely popular Baojun and Wuling brands (which are also exported to other Asian and South America markets as Chevy CUV). Again, nothing.

Edited July 20, 2020 by bzcat

[jpd80]

I was talking purely about the North American market but in response,

Ranger is Ford's profit engine in Asia and South America, far more than

than any low priced subcompact or compact would ever give and with

that, Ford will also be manufacturing T6 Amarok in South America and

South Africa, maybe China too.

 

It is disappointing that Ford hasn't kicked on with its affordable Territory

utility in markets outside of  China, there was a real chance of gaining sales

traction but yes, Ford's Brazilian designed Ecosport didn't set the world on fire,

Shoulda let Ford Aust....err Ford IMG go design a few smarter vehicles.

 

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by jpd80

[rperez817]

7 hours ago, bzcat said:

It was always that they were too slow to bring out new products.

 

Well said bzcat sir. Product planning & development has been a major weakness at Ford for decades, and still is. Too much money in, too little in the way of competitive products out. Hopefully Jim Hackett's fitness initiatives combined with the automotive industry's shift to 100% electric vehicles will give Ford a fresh start with product product planning & development.

 

 

[Trailhiker]

 

Ford will make more money selling Bronco accessories than it did selling Focus and Fusions.

[ice-capades]

7 hours ago, bzcat said:

 

VW and Hyundai-Kia both outsell Ford in SUVs by a huge margin on worldwide basis. They are still selling sedans because they managed to figured out how to walk and chew gum at the same time ?

 

But seriously... VWoA just gave the US spec Passat a minimal facelift... like the one Mark Fields gave Fusion 3 years ago so they are probably not going to attempt to gain any market share in the midsize sedan market. Hyundai has had an amazing decade of success and they are doing everything just right, there is no doubt about that.

 

Ford's problem is not that they are ending Fusion sedan. It was always that they were too slow to bring out new products. Ford was right about the worldwide shift to utilities but VW, Hyundai, Renault-Nissan, Honda, GM, and Toyota are introducing new utilities around the world almost every month. Ford will probably do ok next year when Bronco and Bronco Sport start delivery in North America but I worry that Ford has not learned its lesson and is still moving too slow to bring out products to fill all the holes. EcoSport replacement has no date. There is no plan to localize Puma in China and South America. Where is the Escape coupe and Escape 7 seat? I could go on...

 

And another big problem is that Ford's emerging market strategy is a complete mess. All those people buying their first CUV in South America, India, Southeast Asia, China... they are not that interested in a 8 years old EcoSport. Ford has nothing to offer them. I thought the deal with Mahindra will quickly lead to a bunch of new 4 meter CUVs for India and cheap models for South America... so far nothing. I thought the same thing about Ford Zotye JV in China that will lead to a bunch of new low cost CUVs to compete with GM's hugely popular Baojun and Wuling brands (which are also exported to other Asian and South America markets as Chevy CUV). Again, nothing.

 

Well said as rperez817 mentioned. Ford rarely introduces something new to the market and normally plays catch-up to the competition which then takes years to earn a sizeable share of sales. Ford may have been ahead of the curve with the shift away from sedans but Dealers are now left with the dated EcoSport which is very difficult for Dealers to sell. Ford may be ending Fusion production in the next week or so but there's enough inventory in stock to last almost 2 years. CEO Fields was a disaster for Ford and cut everything to the bone regarding product development thinking that he could boost the stock price. We all saw how that played out.    

 

19 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

 

Well said bzcat sir. Product planning & development has been a major weakness at Ford for decades, and still is. Too much money in, too little in the way of competitive products out. Hopefully Jim Hackett's fitness initiatives combined with the automotive industry's shift to 100% electric vehicles will give Ford a fresh start with product product planning & development.

 

If Ford was as dedicated to product development with other models as it is with the F-150, Mustang and the new Bronco and Bronco Sport, Ford would be unstoppable. Yes, it takes money to do it which is exactly why Alan Mulally convinced Ford to drop Mercury and sell off Austin Martin, Volvo, Jaguar, etc. and concentrate on its core brands Ford and Lincoln, even though he wanted to kill off Lincoln too. Alan Mulally showed them all what needed to be done but when he left, Fields and those in Dearborn resorted to their old school practices. 

 

We'll have to wait to see the results but it certainly appears that they have a hit on their hands with the new Bronco and the Bronco Sport to a lesser degree. Then it's a matter of seeing what follows.  

[Nickp]

1 hour ago, Trailhiker said:

 

Ford will make more money selling Bronco accessories than it did selling Focus and Fusions.

A friend told me that there is a wheel option for the F-150 that is more profitable than a focus or fiesta was.

[silvrsvt]

6 minutes ago, Nickp said:

A friend told me that there is a wheel option for the F-150 that is more profitable than a focus or fiesta was.

 

The issue is that you have a fixed cost you need to cover in materials/manpower when building a car. Those two products don't have much headroom price wise to cover that.

 

A base F-150 most likely pays for itself and adding any options to it is just pure profit.

 

 

[fuzzymoomoo]

2 hours ago, Trailhiker said:

 

Ford will make more money selling Bronco accessories than it did selling Focus and Fusions.

They’re predicting F-series type profits. I was told that by someone in plant management last week. 

[Rodrigo]

 

7 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Estaba hablando exclusivamente del mercado norteamericano pero en respuesta,

Ranger es el motor de ganancias de Ford en Asia y Sudamérica, mucho más que

de lo que cualquier subcompacto o compacto de bajo precio daría y con

eso, Ford también fabricará T6 Amarok en Sudamérica y

Sudáfrica, tal vez China también.

 

Es decepcionante que Ford no haya comenzado con su territorio asequible

Utilidad en mercados fuera de China, había una posibilidad real de ganar ventas

tracción, pero sí, el Ecosport diseñado por Ford en Brasil no prendió fuego al mundo,

Debería dejar que Ford Aust ... err Ford IMG vaya a diseñar algunos vehículos más inteligentes.

 

 

 

 

hi JPD; there will be no Amarok T6 in South America, regards!

(sorry is on a page in Spanish)

 

https://autoblog.com.ar/2020/06/10/proyecto-cyclone-ford-y-vw-anunciaron-que-sudafrica-sera-el-unico-pais-que-fabricara-la-nueva-amarok-ii/

 

https://autoblog.com.ar/2020/04/05/adios-al-proyecto-cyclone-en-argentina/

Edited July 20, 2020 by Rodrigo

[akirby]

34 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

They’re predicting F-series type profits. I was told that by someone in plant management last week. 

No reason to think otherwise at this point.  It’s a premium product in high demand with only one real competitor.

[fuzzymoomoo]

12 minutes ago, akirby said:

No reason to think otherwise at this point.  It’s a premium product in high demand with only one real competitor.

I heard some numbers too but I don't want to get into it. Let's just say I've never been in a better situation in the 7 years I've worked for this company. 

[silvrsvt]

7 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

I heard some numbers too but I don't want to get into it. Let's just say I've never been in a better situation in the 7 years I've worked for this company. 

 

Job security at time like this is a wonderful thing...I'm in the process of switching over to work for the government myself and I already have 4 years I can use for retirement LOL