Interesting facts on the Mondeo

[silvrsvt]

I saw this on Autoweek's preview of the Paris Autoshow, in reguards to the upcoming Mondeo

 

When it reaches dealers next spring, the Mondeo will enter a tough market -- sales of upper-medium cars are declining as customers migrate to SUVs, minivans and crossovers. But Ford hopes to maintain Mondeo sales by offering features normally seen on premium cars. Ford plans to build 200,000 Mondeos a year at its Genk, Belgium, factory. Last year it built 175,946 Mondeos, compared with 349,625 in 2001, the car's first full year on the market following its 2000 launch.

 

So it looks like the CD3 cars will outsell the Mondeo with no problems in their first year of production...

[Joe771476]

Thanks for the info!

[Kris Kolman]

Not a surprise... The whole CD market in Europe has shrunk to ~half of it's former self. It's never been as big as the family car market here, as "joe public" in Europe normally buys a Focus sized car. And it now being killed as there's been a huge big movement to small SUVs and MPVs (Escape and Mazda5 type utilities).

[630land]

Shows again that the 'EuroFord mafia' is wrong that 'Ford should sell the Mondeo here with Fusion'. Would lose mucho $$ for Ford and any buyer would lose resale worse than a Taurus. Can you say "Merkur" or "X Type", or even "Contour"?

 

Shrinking segment over there, crowded segment here. Also, the Mondeo uses Volvo S80 platform, so just go to a Volvo store if one is 'dying' for a Euro spec Ford.

[Biker16]

I saw this on Autoweek's preview of the Paris Autoshow, in reguards to the upcoming Mondeo

So it looks like the CD3 cars will outsell the Mondeo with no problems in their first year of production...

they also have the galaxy, S-max, freelander, and S80, V70. if you are going to include all CD3 cars you should include all EUCD cars.

 

 

 

But the fusion won't outsell the mondeo will it?

 

plus as averyone here knows the Focus is the mainstream car everwhere else, and they sold ~600,000.

 

what did you learn on your trip to europe?

Edited September 29, 2006 by Biker16

[pcsario]

Shows again that the 'EuroFord mafia' is wrong that 'Ford should sell the Mondeo here with Fusion'. Would lose mucho $$ for Ford and any buyer would lose resale worse than a Taurus. Can you say "Merkur" or "X Type", or even "Contour"?

 

Shrinking segment over there, crowded segment here. Also, the Mondeo uses Volvo S80 platform, so just go to a Volvo store if one is 'dying' for a Euro spec Ford.

LOL... wtf?

 

200K units = 1 car, one line. Can still compete or surpass products released after its debut (and yes that includes the Mazda6).

 

Less than 300K units = 3 cars, 3 brands, 3 lineups. "Strongest" seller fails to even beat the almost half a decade old Accord and barely competes with Hyundai's midsize, oh and even the Lincoln feels like a joke next to the FORD.

 

The outgoing Mondeo is on its SIXTH year, and it almost beat the all new Fusion in '06.

 

Using this as an arguement to defend the Fusion, or Ford's NA decisions, is just retarded.

 

That number only refers to the EUCD based Mondeo, but that plant will also build the EUCD Galaxy, and the EUCD S-Max (additional to the 200K Mondeos), and most likely will also build Ford's EUCD crossover based on the Iosis-X. (the Focus SUV isn't based on it). All of this in one plant. (Not counting EUCD Volvo's or LR's)

 

Which, again, means this proves nothing towards anyone's case.

 

Really pointless thread, IMO.

 

You cannot bash or minimize the Mondeo, saying "Too cramped for americans, the size sucks, bla bla bla I love Ford NA, mediocrity rules & I hate the EuroFord mafia bla bla bla", while praising the Fusion, since they're pretty much interchangeable dimension-wise. The all new Mondeo is even bigger than the old model, if anything it's the Fusion that will feel small and cramped next to it.

 

Mondeo in '00

Fusion as its replacement in '06 (could've even been a reskin/reengineering job)

 

I will never understand the reason behind all these contradictory defenses. Keep defending what Ford NA did, they already proved all of the people who praised the Mondeo were right, by building a car that's pretty much a rehash in spirit of a six year old car. (Only surpassed the Mondeo on exterior design, which again, by 2000 standards didn't look half bad - what were you driving back then?)

 

 

No matter how you want to spin it, when it comes to the Fusion and the Mondeo, Ford NA just ends up looking retarded (see their "I love wasting money!!" philosophy: 2005 Focus + 3-year-run 2008 Focus, instead of C1 Focus all along)

Edited September 29, 2006 by pcsario

[630land]

Maybe Euro Ford fans think this, but average buyers couldn't care less. Buyers want reliability, value, and room/utility. Are not going to pay extra 'cuz it's European'. Will it last long time? Parts won't cost $$$

 

Mondeo sales are trending down, anyway. 200K units? Is that something to crow about?

 

Those that want 'handling in the twisies'' will get a Beemer or a sports car.

 

I can see that in a few years, some will still whine about no C1 and no Mondeo. Well, move to EUR, or get a Mazda/Volvo.

[silvrsvt]

what did you learn on your trip to europe?

 

That the main reason people want European products is just because they can't get them here.

 

I wasn't totally blown away by what Ford has in the UK vs what we have in the States. To tell you the truth I was slightly disappointed by what I saw, since Ford of EU is held up in such high regard on internet message boards. But then again I should have known better since I did live in Europe for just over 2 years and I saw first hand how cars live everyday in Germany and not just the highend models that everyone sees on the internet at car shows and drools over. Then again your additues change when you see a $60K+ BMW 7-series being used as a Taxi too

 

Personally, I think European products (and other world products that you can't get in the USA) are way over rated, just because you can't get them here. If you dealt/lived with them everyday, you wouldn't be impressed either...

[Watchdevil]

Ford has not yet figured out yet that they need to develop cars for a world market and not continent specific markets. Ford still has three basic entities, North American, European and Australian. European nor Australian Fords are offered in the US while few NA Fords are being sent those markets to fill in gaps such as the Explorer and Escape... And even the Escape is being built in Japan for the Asian market while Europe has dropped the US exported model. South of the US and in places like the Middle East they take US vehicles as well as a mix of Ford vehicles designed in Europe and the US.

 

The Germans and Japanese have figured out how to sell basically the same designs to all the world with only slight modifications specific to each continent. For instance VW sells the Golf, Beetle, Jetta and Passat virtually intact to the US consumers without developing totally different cars for the US market. There has always been acceptance in the US for imported vehicles, but when we export our mainstream vehicles they don't seem to get the same acceptance.

 

Ford just suffers from being too vast and diverse... It needs to be a lean company that can adjust to consumer demands and maximize it resources. Unfortumately, that means shutting down outdated inflexible plants not producing competitve product. It also means sharing resources with other Ford operations in the world. It's a shame for employees building the Taurus, Crown Vic, Freestar, Ranger, RWD Lincolns and Thunderbirds. These are all vehicle segments that would be selling strong now if they were updated, but instead consumers are looking elsewhere to newer and updated products. Even GM had the sense to redesign it's cars even though some of them are on older platforms. But that is the consequence when Ford mismanages and neglects vehicle segments just being content to keep producing vehicles until they are outdated, antiquated and no one wants them anymore while focusing only on the truck and SUV market and wasting money building expensive limited production RWD platforms such as the LS, Thunderbird and GT. Ford had no insight, forsight and no stratigic plan and direction for so many years. The only thing Ford has done right is the Mustang, Trucks and SUV's... It's amazing to me that what Ford did right in the 1980's they cant seem to do right now. Ford got lost in the sedan market after the 96 Taurus came out... It went to hell ever since.

[RichardJensen]

Ford has not yet figured out yet that they need to develop cars for a world market

There is no such thing.

 

Ford needs global architectures, with cars customized for local markets, and is transitioning to them as we speak.

 

It could've been done more quickly, but when you consider that Ford NA hadn't even bought into the concept of shared architectures IN NA, among NA brands and offerings, as recently as '99, it's a wonder (from a certain standpoint) that it's even happened at all.

 

Had Europe adopted CD3, and had Ford NA adopted C1, things would look quite a bit different on the 'shared architectures' front.

Edited September 29, 2006 by RichardJensen

[630land]

One size doesn't fit all. Why have Mondeo clash with Fusion, 500, and even Focus here?

 

But, a flexible platform can [will?] be used for the next generation Fusion and Mondeo. GM has their Epsilon car already, shared with Opel and NA brands.

[Edstock]

"GM has their Epsilon car already, shared with Opel and NA brands."

 

Ah yes, Epsileptcy: the cure for torque-steer.

[Biker16]

Maybe Euro Ford fans think this, but average buyers couldn't care less. Buyers want reliability, value, and room/utility. Are not going to pay extra 'cuz it's European'. Will it last long time? Parts won't cost $$$

 

Mondeo sales are trending down, anyway. 200K units? Is that something to crow about?

 

Those that want 'handling in the twisies'' will get a Beemer or a sports car.

 

I can see that in a few years, some will still whine about no C1 and no Mondeo. Well, move to EUR, or get a Mazda/Volvo.

why would you want an average buyer? ????

 

think about it, they will pay the least for the least.

 

the buyer we should want is the buyer willing to pay a premium for, high quality cars. not buyers that want 3000$ on the hood to walk into the dealership.

 

The situation is hodna and toyota, buyers have a higher median income, they take better care of thier cars, and they pay more for thier cars. They seem to have a better grasp of what "value" is. Value to them is not price/features, but a more complex idea of haveing what they want at a fair price. These are the buyers that buy cars In both boomtimes and recessions. they make more money, and they spend more money, they also buy imports. Ford must conquer this buyer or ford will continue to lose maket share.

 

the Fusion is parity, the Mondeo is supremecy. You can have both, nissan does it with the Maxima/Altima.

 

You idiots cheering the CD3 forget that nissan sold 255,000 altimas plus 75,000 maximas. You have lost this argument. :happy feet:

 

your are happy selling 100,000 All-New fusions and Nissan selling 154,000 altimas (in the last year of it's desgn cycle) you are blind. ther is so much more work to be done.

 

 

THREE-HUNDRED-SIXTY-NINE-THOUSAND Honda Accords were sold in 2005. 369,000+ accords sold.

 

you are absolutly f'n clueless

 

You say no to the mondeo when it can only help us, bcause honda Sold 2.5 times as many accords as Ford sold fusions.

 

The Camry sold 3.0 times as ford sold fusions.

 

Why would hate the idea of car that would sell, why? I can't understand, people ask for new product, but they are not asking for enough product to revtalize this company.

[RichardJensen]

the Fusion is parity, the Mondeo is supremecy

Uh huh. I would like to see some hard numbers, some market research back that up, before I went anywhere with it.

 

Time and again, I'm not opposed to any Ford move that has been sufficiently researched, and which has a defensible business case behind it.

 

I am fundamentally opposed to ramming product through a calcified organizational structure because somebody at the top of the pile thinks it's a good idea.

 

---

 

Also, in the Altima/Maxima comparison, you neglect the Five Hundred, which happens to sit right about where the Maxima does, price wise, and which is far from the sales disaster that it is alleged to be on this board.

[Biker16]

Uh huh. I would like to see some hard numbers, some market research back that up, before I went anywhere with it.

 

Time and again, I'm not opposed to any Ford move that has been sufficiently researched, and which has a defensible business case behind it.

 

I am fundamentally opposed to ramming product through a calcified organizational structure because somebody at the top of the pile thinks it's a good idea.

 

---

 

Also, in the Altima/Maxima comparison, you neglect the Five Hundred, which happens to sit right about where the Maxima does, price wise, and which is far from the sales disaster that it is alleged to be on this board.

richard you know there is no way we ill have any research done, on BON. whati do have is a Feeling that fords don't reach across the aisle, where the imports have grown. The mondeo would do that better than the Fusin does.

 

 

The altima is actually larger than the more expensive Maxima. the maxima is a midsized car like the mondeo, with premium aspirations, the 500 is a Solid "D" car, they people don't cross shop the maxima with the 500. they go after 2 different markets. same price but different goals.

[RichardJensen]

whati do have is a Feeling that fords don't reach across the aisle, where the imports have grown. The mondeo would do that better than the Fusin does.

Now we get down to what people, in general, associate with the Ford brand.

 

The audience Ford needs to target must meet two qualifications: 1) There must be enough buyers from this demographic to sustain Ford's marketshare, 2) They must be inclined to purchase Ford products.

 

Now you can slice the U.S. market any number of ways, and come up with a group of potential buyers with 'lifestyle' traits in common.

 

The next requirement is to design and build vehicles that this target audience responds to--and you continually readjust the definitions of your target audience, and you continually readjust your products to meet these customers' preferences.

 

Ultimately, you let your target audience determine what you put on the market.

 

This is the test Ford would have to put the Mondeo through: Would the 'Lust4Life' customers that Ford is directing their brand toward be interested in a Euro-spec car? My gut instinct is that the answer is no. These customers want distinctively 'American' cars, which is one of the reasons why Ford is pushing "Dave", Horbury's nickname for the Edge and Fusion grilles.

 

---

 

The product/capacity driven approach to selling cars is being abandoned at Ford. Fields is absolutely committed to marketplace driven product decisions, and I tend to think the market would not respond favorably to a vehicle that does not look as distinctive as the Fusion, and which handles better with higher quality interior materials.

Edited September 30, 2006 by RichardJensen

[Biker16]

Now we get down to what people, in general, associate with the Ford brand.

 

The audience Ford needs to target must meet two qualifications: 1) There must be enough buyers from this demographic to sustain Ford's marketshare, 2) They must be inclined to purchase Ford products.

 

Now you can slice the U.S. market any number of ways, and come up with a group of potential buyers with 'lifestyle' traits in common.

 

The next requirement is to design and build vehicles that this target audience responds to--and you continually readjust the definitions of your target audience, and you continually readjust your products to meet these customers' preferences.

 

Ultimately, you let your target audience determine what you put on the market.

 

This is the test Ford would have to put the Mondeo through: Would the 'Lust4Life' customers that Ford is directing their brand toward be interested in a Euro-spec car? My gut instinct is that the answer is no. These customers want distinctively 'American' cars, which is one of the reasons why Ford is pushing "Dave", Horbury's nickname for the Edge and Fusion grilles.

 

---

 

The product/capacity driven approach to selling cars is being abandoned at Ford. Fields is absolutely committed to marketplace driven product decisions, and I tend to think the market would not respond favorably to a vehicle that does not look as distinctive as the Fusion, and which handles better with higher quality interior materials.

 

 

Your gut doesn't tell us anything about What anyone but you will buy. There is noarguement that you will get your fusion, the doubt is will ford Give me and my people what we want.

 

you must become as flexible as our plants are. Ford can't sell as many fusions as toyota does camry. your logic allows for no growth of volume, as our legacy product are rightly retired, we nothing to fill the gaps in volume. thus The way forward partI and partII.

you have to fill your plants with product or close them. you perfer to close I think we should leverage our global assets and our over capasity and give people a differnt Ford product. unless you prefer to continue to bang your head against walls, and compete on price. I see no reason why ford wouldn't offer the EUCD quartet here. It can only increase volume and move our ASP up. If made here they can make a profit at medium volumes.

 

of couse If I don't have Market study saying that I am right but neither do you.

 

cheers.

Edited September 30, 2006 by Biker16

[RichardJensen]

Your gut doesn't tell us anything about What anyone but you will buy. There is noarguement that you will get your fusion, the doubt is will ford Give me and my people what we want.

My gut is not just based on my own preferences, in fact, I would prefer "Euro" Fords, for myself. I had a Contour, and I loved it. However, I can see who Ford is trying to reach with the brand now, and these do not seem to be the kind of people that are going to pay a price premium for an innocuous-looking car with slightly better interior appointments, and somewhat improved handling.

 

The larger question about 'you' and 'your people' is, are there enough of you, willing to buy a product from Ford? Because if Ford drops the "Lust4Life" crowd for the Euro-phile crowd, there has to be enough to keep them in business.

 

In short, Ford cannot sell both the Fusion and the Mondeo. It dilutes the brand--it diminishes what the brand means to buyers.

 

You mentioned that Nissan sells both the Altima and the Maxima. You can also find any number of arguments why this was a bad idea. Maxima sales have steadily declined since the new Altima came out. In 1999 Nissan sold 130k Maximas, last year 75k.

 

The Maxima is arguably the better looking and more refined model, yet consumers have repeatedly voted, with their wallets, and have made the Altima more popular. Nissan is probably okay with this. I'm guessing that the Altima has a better profit margin.

[Edgey]

We will start seeing common architectures rather than common vehicles. GM is a good example of how to adapt global technology for different markets/brands. It's something that Ford is in a good position to do but hasn't been stable enough to execute. Sometimes a turnaround plan means you have to make decisions for the short-term before you can start executing a long-term strategy. Witness seperate CD3 and EUCD architectures. It takes time and a bigger initial investment to unify operations. Ford needed product so they had to tap something they could use quickly and the last thing Ford NA wanted to be concerned with was figuring out how to do this globally.

 

The next Focus will be C2 based but it probably will not resemble the European model and will likely come out a year or two later. The problem arises if a new architecture is needed in one market before its needed in another. It may be cost prohibitive to keep one car in line with another if the economies of scale are different. The Focus is in a far more compeitive market in Europe than the US, so dramatic and frequent change is neccessary to keep up. The same isn't true in the US so you will once again end up with a Focus a generation behind Europe.

[RichardJensen]

your logic allows for no growth of volume

And in a mature market place, you secure the volume you have, before you attempt to broaden your reach.

 

Look at it this way:

 

Ford is making world class product in Europe: Better product than they have made in years.

 

And yet their market share is slowly declining (as it is stateside), and they're having to heavily incentivize to retain volume.

 

Why?

 

Because they haven't connected with their customers. They haven't defined who, in German, Spain, France, Italy, Great Britain, etc., is their target audience, and furthermore, they've made no particular effort to reach out to them.

 

Ford's British, French, German, and Italian websites are almost identical, and their marketing campaign is similarly anonymous. Ford needs to "BE" German, to the German market, etc. They need to identify their target German customer and offer him/her packages and products that he/she wants. Ditto UK, Spain, Italy, France, etc.

 

-------------------

 

Ford of Europe is proof that your approach is missing something. Ford doesn't have a "lifestyle" marketing system in place in Europe and, IMO, that is why they're struggling, despite having the best lineup they've had since the early 80s.

 

--------------------

 

And yes, the hard truth is, you shutter plants, rather than adding product that does not meet your audience's expectations. Say you've got someone that just LOVES the Fusion, they drive by their local Ford dealer and see the strange (and definitely NOT Fusion-esque) Focus S-Max. Does this reinforce their feelings about their Fusion, and Ford, or does it detract from them?

 

Repeat the scenario: They see the new Edge, the new Super Duty, etc.

 

Does the Edge resonate? Yes. Does the Super Duty? Kind of. Does the S-Max? No, not on your life. It does not match the Ford NA 'vision', and Ford, above all else, has to keep that vision pure. That 'vision', that 'image' is what you want people to buy.

 

Sure, they're buying a car, but you want them to buy your car because they've already bought your IMAGE. If they don't buy your image, that's one less reason for them to come back.

 

So, yeah, you cut capacity, rather than build cars that detract from your image.

 

of couse If I don't have Market study saying that I am right but neither do you.

The market study doesn't say whether I'm right, or whether you're right.

 

It says what customers want.

 

It's all about the customers. It's not about using studies to justify one argument or another. As soon as you start trying to 'prove' stuff with market studies, you erode their value. You get the results you're looking for, and if you want to prove your point, you can certainly cook up a survey that says just that.

 

GM is a good example of how to adapt global technology for different markets/brands.

Uh. Not really. They've done this with Epsilon and Delta, both some time after Ford did it with CDW and C170.

 

GM learned from Ford's mistakes.

 

Ford didn't.

 

Ford only needs to look at what was right, and what was wrong with C170 and CDW, to learn what to do with C2 and EUCD.

 

Also, EUCD exists because Ford allowed FoE and PAG to carry their point and build their own architecture. Restructuring had nothing to do with it, nor did a scarcity of resources, nor did a question of timing. CD3 was ready for FoE/PAG, and they opted not to use it.

 

Re: product timing....

 

Ford's decision to hold of NA Bs until 2009 is part of a concerted, worldwide effort to get B, C, and CD architectures on a universal timeline.

 

Ford NA may get C2 a year after EU, it is likely--given the global reach of C1, that a 2 year world wide rollout will take place (heck Ford spent most of a year rolling out the new F150). However Ford will not let NA Focus fall behind EU Focus again. It's too expensive.

 

Ditto EUCD, the Fusion will move to EUCD2 about the time that EUCD2 is launched. This may mean that Ford pulls ahead EUCD2, to avoid letting the Fusion/Edge get too long in the tooth on CD3.

 

You will see, going forward, about a 2 year 'rollout' for new products on a new architecture.

 

You will not see NA carrying old architectures while EU moves on.

[turbo_diesel_focus]

Well the Mondeo has always had a good reputation in Europe, but a few things it needs to address.. Its Taxi image!! Many Mondeos are used as Taxis and rep cars, the new one needs to be as good as Ford says it is.

[silvrsvt]

Well the Mondeo has always had a good reputation in Europe, but a few things it needs to address.. Its Taxi image!! Many Mondeos are used as Taxis and rep cars, the new one needs to be as good as Ford says it is.

 

 

Sounds like the CV here :P

[Biker16]

And in a mature market place, you secure the volume you have, before you attempt to broaden your reach.

 

Look at it this way:

 

Ford is making world class product in Europe: Better product than they have made in years.

 

And yet their market share is slowly declining (as it is stateside), and they're having to heavily incentivize to retain volume.

 

Why?

 

 

Ford of europe is losing market share? are you sure about that? They still make more money than Ford north america.

 

Ford must get better at selling low volume models.

 

Now we get down to what people, in general, associate with the Ford brand.

 

The audience Ford needs to target must meet two qualifications: 1) There must be enough buyers from this demographic to sustain Ford's marketshare, 2) They must be inclined to purchase Ford products.

 

The pool of customers inclined to buy Ford is shrinking, because of disaturous launches poor quality and a reputaion for being cheap. Ford must begin to conquer the people that are not" inclined to purchase Ford products"

 

How do you do that while making the same old products,

 

I love The New super-duty it is What Ford needs every product it makes to be. IT DOMINATES IT CLASS!!!!! It is not just good enough. and I hate trucks.

 

does the fusion, 500, Focus, or any other car Ford makes Save the mustang do that. HELL NO!!

 

Why can't offer innovative Cars. The Fusion doesn't do anyhitng the Camry or accord can't do for more money.

 

A some point, you have to offer REAL innovation in your cars.

 

The New SD is an example of what Ford products should be.

Edited October 1, 2006 by Biker16

[RichardJensen]

Ford of europe is losing market share? are you sure about that? They still make more money than Ford north america.

 

...

 

The New SD is an example of what Ford products should be.

Yeah. Economic problems in Britain, I believe are taking the blame. After all, that is Ford's 'home' market.

 

Also, I wouldn't call $105 million in profits, off $7.4B in revenue healthy. That's a 1.4% margin.

 

...

 

I wholeheartedly agree regarding the new SD. Next week's blog will be 'Lessons from the Super Duty', it wil be about how customer driven product development has made the SD what it is, and how Ford can start applying those lessons with the Fusion, Five Hundred, Edge, etc.

 

Innovation qua innovation, is a dead end. Innovation that meets customer tastes and preferences is another matter entirely.

 

...

 

One other thing: You say Ford needs to be better at selling low volume products, and yet the Five Hundred and Fusion were, neither of them, expected to ever sell over 150k units a year. This as opposed to the Taurus which Ford once counted on to keep two factories busy.

 

I would say that Ford is definitely learning how to make low volume models. Ford, in the past, may well have been looking at adding Fusion capacity at another plant. Ford today is going to keep the CD3 sedans in Hermosillo, and nowhere else.

[Biker16]

Yeah. Economic problems in Britain, I believe are taking the blame. After all, that is Ford's 'home' market.

 

Also, I wouldn't call $105 million in profits, off $7.4B in revenue healthy. That's a 1.4% margin.

 

...

 

I wholeheartedly agree regarding the new SD. Next week's blog will be 'Lessons from the Super Duty', it wil be about how customer driven product development has made the SD what it is, and how Ford can start applying those lessons with the Fusion, Five Hundred, Edge, etc.

 

Innovation qua innovation, is a dead end. Innovation that meets customer tastes and preferences is another matter entirely.

 

...

 

One other thing: You say Ford needs to be better at selling low volume products, and yet the Five Hundred and Fusion were, neither of them, expected to ever sell over 150k units a year. This as opposed to the Taurus which Ford once counted on to keep two factories busy.

 

I would say that Ford is definitely learning how to make low volume models. Ford, in the past, may well have been looking at adding Fusion capacity at another plant. Ford today is going to keep the CD3 sedans in Hermosillo, and nowhere else.

 

 

I am aggressive, Ok.

 

the question with mondoe is not will it sell here, we have more than 3000(?) ford dealers and a good product, We could sell these cars. The questions is can we sell enough at a high enough price to make a profit.

 

We don't know for sure.

 

I do know Ford's record for sell vehicle with less than 50k units is really bad.

why don't we have a Fusion Coupe? Fusion wagon? this would add volume and a more profitable mix to the mix.

 

A problem is that it takes to much money because of Ford's Bueacracy to develop these product cost effectively.