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Edge/Nautilus production ending?


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2 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:


That was probably part of it, or at least the threat of it was, but the decision to kill cars was made before the Trump administration levied tariffs on China. 


I’ll have to go back and check, but I’m pretty sure Ford planned bringing the Focus active here up until Trump.  Capacity is the issue. Build Focus or Bronco?  Bronco Sport or Fusion?  Mach-E or Fiesta?


Edit: Just the first of many articles when I googled it:

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/264356/no-ford-focus-active-tariffs/

Edited by sullynd
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4 minutes ago, sullynd said:


I’ll have to go back and check, but I’m pretty sure Ford planned bringing the Focus active here up until Trump.  Capacity is the issue. Build Focus or Bronco?  Bronco Sport or Fusion?  Mach-E or Fiesta?


Edit: Just the first of many articles when I googled it:

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/264356/no-ford-focus-active-tariffs/


Right but remember it came out that Focus Active BOMBED in focus groups so it was already pretty much cancelled for us by the time the tariffs came along. 

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2 hours ago, PREMiERdrum said:

Edge and Nautilus aren't going out of production. 

 

Their lifecycles were extended with the switch to - and then from - CD6. Both nameplates have investments coming. 

 

Let the contract get settled and then you'll know more.  

 

They both certainly have a place in the lineup....2 row crossovers that offer more interior space than Escape/Corsair plus significantly more cargo space. 

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Personally, I feel the Edge is still competitive in its class.  Yes it could use some of the recent updates and electronic goodies.  But styling wise, it still looks good.  Personally, I'd look at an Edge seriously because the new Escape is just too Vanilla for me.

 

Now the Escape I think fell flat a bit styling wise.  And bang for the buck, save the Hybrid.  I think Ford was trying to go vanilla with the Escape trying to keep some of the Focus/Fusion buyers when they don't have a choice.  At least until the Bronco Sport shows up.  I just hope Ford has a plan B in the works for the Escape if sales drop off drastically.

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3 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:


Right but remember it came out that Focus Active BOMBED in focus groups so it was already pretty much cancelled for us by the time the tariffs came along. 

 

My opinion on the supposed focus group bombing......and obviously I don't have access to the actual info, so this is a guess.........I think it "bombed" because they presented it to their focus groups as a "crossover", and people saw right through that with it just being a Focus hatch, which led to it bombing in the sense of what they were trying to market it as.  I'm guessing if they had just presented it as what it is - a Focus hatch, it would've done better in the feedback.

 

1 hour ago, Harley Lover said:

Lipstick on the proverbial pig.

 

I don't think it ever was a pig.

Edited by rmc523
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36 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

My opinion on the supposed focus group bombing......and obviously I don't have access to the actual info, so this is a guess.........I think it "bombed" because they presented it to their focus groups as a "crossover", and people saw right through that with it just being a Focus hatch, which led to it bombing in the sense of what they were trying to market it as.  I'm guessing if they had just presented it as what it is - a Focus hatch, it would've done better in the feedback.

 

 

I don't think it ever was a pig.


The biggest problem was it was going to go after the Crosstek outdoor lifestyle market, it didn't have AWD and was also going to be only slightly cheaper than the Escape. There were going after a specific market but didn't make a vehicle compete in that market add the China tension and it was far easier to just scrap it than deal with unknown and  blowback/Trump. Just as Trump wasn't the sole reason the new plant in Mexico was cancelled but was a contributing factor when you're doing your analysis. The last thing Ford wanted was anything that could hurt the profit and perception of the F-150, it didn't want that dragged in a fight that it had no control over the message of. 

You can thank those groups for the Bronco Sport though, they helped solidify what product and where Ford wanted to compete in that lifestyle market in and turned out an amazing product because of it. Escape/Bronco Sport are a much better duo than Focus Active and Escape. 

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Don't let my comments insinuate that I think the Edge is junk.  We LOVE our Edge and I think the interior is just fine (better than my newer Ranger).  I just was not crazy about the new grille.  We are either going to buy this Edge at the end of the lease or purchase/lease a newer one.  It really is perfect sized for our family (the backseat is just perfect)

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1 hour ago, jasonj80 said:


The biggest problem was it was going to go after the Crosstek outdoor lifestyle market, it didn't have AWD and was also going to be only slightly cheaper than the Escape. There were going after a specific market but didn't make a vehicle compete in that market add the China tension and it was far easier to just scrap it than deal with unknown and  blowback/Trump. Just as Trump wasn't the sole reason the new plant in Mexico was cancelled but was a contributing factor when you're doing your analysis. The last thing Ford wanted was anything that could hurt the profit and perception of the F-150, it didn't want that dragged in a fight that it had no control over the message of. 

You can thank those groups for the Bronco Sport though, they helped solidify what product and where Ford wanted to compete in that lifestyle market in and turned out an amazing product because of it. Escape/Bronco Sport are a much better duo than Focus Active and Escape. 

 

That's my point.  We're thinking along the same lines I think - the product wasn't right for what they were trying to target with the image.  For the traditional compact hatch market, it would've been fine.

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52 minutes ago, Anthony said:

Don't let my comments insinuate that I think the Edge is junk.  We LOVE our Edge and I think the interior is just fine (better than my newer Ranger).  I just was not crazy about the new grille.  We are either going to buy this Edge at the end of the lease or purchase/lease a newer one.  It really is perfect sized for our family (the backseat is just perfect)

 

I find that the new grill looks much better in real life than it does in photos.

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8 minutes ago, snooter said:

I seem to remember posting my thoughts on this several years ago..but you know, fanatical blue kool- aid drinkers go rabid quickly....edge was not worth the investment by ford after 2018....

 

There wasn't much investment for 2019.  It still sells great - 2019 sales were 2nd best year ever only 4K less than 2017.  And they're selling a lot of STs which helps with ATPs.

 

The problem is they're having to put too much cash on the hood of the regular models - probably because there weren't enough updates for 2019.

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4 hours ago, akirby said:


Just because the interior is 4 years old doesn’t make it a pig, proverbial or otherwise.  

 

I agree on the Nautilus/MKX front. Its interior is now from the previous Lincoln interior theme, but I quite like it. The large center console provides great storage and I like the way the dash swoops across and then down to the center console. I just wish it had a larger screen, more consistency in materials, and an available head-up display. Like FordBuyer, I feel pretty certain that Ford/Lincoln will retain something in the mid-sized 2-row crossover space once this generation of Edge/Nautilus comes to an end. The question is whether the E/N redesign is still in the works or whether it will end up being replaced with the all-new BEV mid-sized crossover under development. But again, it makes no sense to leave such a glaring hole in the line-up, with nothing between a compact 2-row (Escape/Corsair) and a large 3-row (Explorer/Aviator). Personally, I hope FMC sticks with its original plan to develop both.

Edited by Gurgeh
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17 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Oh that reminds me, any chance you could possibly send me one of those thank you stickers that goes in the windshield? I was going somewhere one day with the family and a truck kicked up a rock and now the Flex needs a new windshield. 

I will see what I can do one of my buddies works in final so I will look into it

Edited by Oacjay98
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8 hours ago, 92merc said:

 Personally, I'd look at an Edge seriously because the new Escape is just too Vanilla for me.

 

Now the Escape I think fell flat a bit styling wise.  And bang for the buck, save the Hybrid.  I think Ford was trying to go vanilla with the Escape trying to keep some of the Focus/Fusion buyers when they don't have a choice.  At least until the Bronco Sport shows up.  I just hope Ford has a plan B in the works for the Escape if sales drop off drastically.

 

I've been seeing more of the 2020 Escape on the roads and it looks far better in person then it does in photos. Autoweek even said it was prob the best looking CUV in its segment.

 

As for sales, I'm thinking Ford is fine with losing some sales with it. Pricing for the Escape has been more or less a shitshow since the C1 based product came out vs content in it. I don't thing Ford was planning on adding in all the extra items that it needed to stay competitive with the competition. 

 

A prime example of this is just looking at the 2017 SEL vs a 2013 Ti model- My wife has a 2017 SEL and its pretty much identical to an entry level 2013 TI outside of the wheels, but yet both the drivers and passenger seats are powered, where as the driver side is only on the 2013 Ti. 

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6 hours ago, akirby said:

 

There wasn't much investment for 2019.  It still sells great - 2019 sales were 2nd best year ever only 4K less than 2017.  And they're selling a lot of STs which helps with ATPs.

 

The problem is they're having to put too much cash on the hood of the regular models - probably because there weren't enough updates for 2019.

 

It's an unfortunate trend with Ford refreshes as of late.  Hopefully this changes soon.  Changing to a rotary dial for the shifter and not doing anything else ain't going to cut it in competitive segments.  Now, if they wanted to shorten the full redesign timeline to say 5 years, you could get away with more minimal changes.  But minimal changes + long lifecycles are not a good recipe.

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5 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

It's an unfortunate trend with Ford refreshes as of late.  Hopefully this changes soon.  Changing to a rotary dial for the shifter and not doing anything else ain't going to cut it in competitive segments.  Now, if they wanted to shorten the full redesign timeline to say 5 years, you could get away with more minimal changes.  But minimal changes + long lifecycles are not a good recipe.


Agreed.  I think they were hoping to have a new CD6 version ready within 2-3 years but that all changed and there were other priorities.

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