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Ford CEO Jim Farley Says Focus, Fusion Had To Die For Bronco And Maverick To Exist


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16 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

Listening to that interview with Jim, he sounds like such a down to earth guy and he really truly loves cars.

 Farley is a marketing Guy through and through.

No one should believe that the only way to deliver new products is to cancel existing products. This seems exclusive to Ford. 

Edited by Biker16
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Ford chooses to run the minimum number of plants

so that decision makes sense….

 

was interesting that for a time CD4 products were

built at FRAP both an overflow plant and then the Continental

 

Not saying they should be doing that but it’s interesting 

how Ford’s decision making flipped in just a few short years.

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1 hour ago, Biker16 said:

No one should believe that the only way to deliver new products is to cancel existing products. This seems exclusive to Ford. 

 

While it is not the case that the only way to deliver new products is to cancel existing products, making decisions on what new products to introduce and what if any existing products to cancel is basic economics. It's not exclusive to Ford. 

 

Remember the definition of economics?

 

Economics is the study of the use of scarce resources which have alternative uses.

 

So while Ford has been particularly aggressive in cancelling existing products (most of which were anonymous unibody garbage), every automaker has to contend with scarce resources and alternative uses - economics in other words. The automotive industry isn't like the Garden of Eden where everything was available in unlimited abundance. 

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4 hours ago, fordmantpw said:

Listening to that interview with Jim, he sounds like such a down to earth guy and he really truly loves cars.


Just watched him race a mustang at Circuit de la Sarthe (LeMans) a couple years ago.

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19 hours ago, fordmantpw said:

You really don't understand how a business works, do you?

 

14 hours ago, akirby said:

Not a frickin' clue.  Kinda like GM in 2006.

You guys really don't get it. If Ford would just drop this evil concept of profits, then we could have it all. Sunshine and lollipops for everyone. If you would just get an education and shed your ignorance, then you would clearly see that Marxism always provides the answers.

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Every mfr does this to some extent.  Budgets are pretty much a zero sum game - to add over here requires cuts elsewhere.  It may not be as obvious as killing a high volume model but it's happening.  GM and Toyota have always been volume driven.  More models, more brands, more factory space, more employees.  This gives them more flexibility to shift things around but at the expense of higher fixed overhead.  Ford is much more conservative with less fixed overhead and lower volume.  

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Farley is not wrong about Fusion and Focus had to die to make way for Bronco and Maverick - that was the "how" question. But that doesn't answer the "why" question.

 

Why is Ford the only car company that needed to kill a product to fund another?

 

Why is Ford not able to build on existing model/resources and update a product like other car companies?

 

etc.

 

Ford also killed Edge to fund the GE development which ended in no product and a big write off. 

 

And we see the same thing repeating now... How is Ford funding UEV development? Kill Escape... But why?

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49 minutes ago, bzcat said:

And we see the same thing repeating now... How is Ford funding UEV development? Kill Escape... But why?

 

The Escape died because they needed the factory and I'm guessing the UEV will yield a "replacement" in some form in a few years. 

 

As for the gap, well I guess they decided that the Bronco Sport was a better option for the time being? 

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1 hour ago, bzcat said:

Why is Ford the only car company that needed to kill a product to fund another?

 

Why is Ford not able to build on existing model/resources and update a product like other car companies?


1.) Ford isn’t the only car company to do that, but the reason why Ford needed to is that it’s more resource constrained than its competitors 

 

2.) Inefficient processes, a total lack of long term thinking, and a company culture in which finger pointing, back stabbing, and an every person for themselves mentality dominate, especially among the big shots

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2 hours ago, bzcat said:

Why is Ford the only car company that needed to kill a product to fund another?

 

Why is Ford not able to build on existing model/resources and update a product like other car companies?

 

GM killed off development of all of their hybrids in order to fund development of EV's. 

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2 hours ago, mackinaw said:

 

GM killed off development of all of their hybrids in order to fund development of EV's. 


But did they ever really have hybrids in development?  They always shunned them in the past.

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4 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

The Escape died because they needed the factory and I'm guessing the UEV will yield a "replacement" in some form in a few years. 

 

As for the gap, well I guess they decided that the Bronco Sport was a better option for the time being? 


Farley said Escape isn't dead so we'll either see a new crossover built in Hermosillo or a partnership with Nissan.

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36 minutes ago, akirby said:


But did they ever really have hybrids in development?  They always shunned them in the past.

 

Not really sure.  They had the Chevy Volt, an EREV, back in 2010.  They could have further developed that technology, but Mary Barra made an executive decision to go 100% EV's.  Now they're playing catchup. 

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52 minutes ago, akirby said:


Can't find it now but he said something like if you liked Escape you'll be happy or something to that effect.

At least Mexico has the option of importing Kuga from Europe without significant tariffs…

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7 hours ago, jpd80 said:

At least Mexico has the option of importing Kuga from Europe without significant tariffs…

 

I thought Kuga was dead also.

 

With rumors of Bronco Sport being i ported from Spain and TTP I'm thinking they may be moving Maverick to TTP (or replacing it with a new one) which frees up Hermosillo to make c2/c3 hybrid crossovers.   Nautilus, Corsair and a new Edge and/or Escape would be nice.

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