Just on the jacked up Mustang, the blow back from research was absolutely savage.
I don’t know whether they were targeting the wrong group or people have a defined image of what Mustang is as a heritage name…
I think it's mostly the rear on both of them for sure. The sedan is bold, and definitely won't be to everyone's liking, I just admire the unique approach. It would look a lot better with a more conventional sedan fastback roofline rather than the wagon like shape it has going on. I'd also prefer it if it had some sort of prominent shoulder line instead of the slab sides it has now. But it has potential imo.
I agree on the suv, the decision to terminate the side glass so far forward makes the ass look bulky and disproportionate, the taillight also isn't gonna be liked by most people.
It would depend on how that hybrid system is optimized, it would be polarizing for sure. But imagine a performance oriented hybrid for the 5.0, or 2.3, because engineers were apparently working on both. A hybrid 5.0 would be an absolute rocket, and the instance responsiveness from an electric motor would more than make up for the lack of low end torque the 5.0 has. A 2.3 would be a super practical, economical sports coupe with close to V8 levels of power.
Imagine these hybrids are AWD, jack them up slightly, give them some rally looking fog lights, flared fenders, and bigger tires and BAM! There's your mustang raptor, a lucrative new mustang variant that could use the powertrain from a street oriented mustang hybrid to keep the price down.
Just my opinion,
If you have followed Ford for any time, it will be blindingly apparent that
doing less or not changing things saves a ton of money. So this is why
I believe that it will keep things as they are now and lobby the government
for a review of CAFE targets like was done under Trump’s first term.
While some of what you have said makes a lot of sense, the reality is that
the business case is probably not there for entirely new engines to take
the place of existing V6 Ecoboost engines.
The real answer the whole industry is waiting for is better more efficient,
lower cost batteries but until that happens, companies like Ford have to
dig deep and sell as many high profit F Series as possible to fund all of
the future research and development work. Yes, keep targeting vehicles
that can feature hybrids and PHEVs but don’t go overboard…
This afternoon's updated gas prices in Hamden, CT (New Haven)
$2.99 Regular (Cash) @ Gulf (Reduced Regular Grade Only - Lowest Price in 2+ Years)
$3.09 Regular (Cash) @ Citgo (No Change)
That Sedan/Saloon is awful-it looks like someone stepped on a Lambo and added two extra doors to it.
The SUV looks decent till you get past the D pillar and its just a mess. Seems like Honda's designers can't design an attractive Crossover style vehicle because the previous ones (the old crosstour/ZDX) they've done have been just as awful as this.
And the reason for that is CAFE Footprint too...they'd make no money on a Civic sized Civic because it have to get 40-50MPG
Yet another reason why cars are getting bigger/more expensive.