I saw one yesterday and can't fathom why anybody would buy that thing. A toaster has more personality.   

It's the definition of anonymous blob.

We've been through this.  Part of their new process is looking for old problems and fixing them now rather than waiting for a nhtsa investigation.  Another big chunk is repeat recalls because the quick fix didn't work.  A lot of the new ones are found quickly with small numbers.  It will get better over time but will appear worse for another year or two.   If they do the root cause analysis correctly it will show them that squeezing suppliers too hard is a big part of the problem and hopefully they're working on it.  The problem is the supplier cost is with procurement and warranty claims are somewhere else.  Procurement needs to answer to the product and warranty teams.

The recalls are two pronged in my view. There are still engineering and production issues but they are getting better about finding them sooner and resolving. The number of vehicles per recall has come down significantly. The other thing to consider is Ford had to pay a $165M civil penalty to NHTSA in 2024 for delaying a recall of rearview cameras. Part of the deal was they have regular audits with NHTSA and a third party oversight for four years. Whereas Toyota or Honda can issue a special service campaign, aka we will fix this issue when you come in for service, Ford is not allowed to do that until the four years are complete. Every little thing is a full recall.    I think this spanking from NHTSA is more likely to drive fundamental engineering changes at Ford than anything else. 

Borg is exactly the person you give intentionally bad information to just to see where leaks are coming from. Take anything he says with a grain of salt

These articles come out every few months but the recalls, even on new models don’t seem to stop.

Look at it. A consumer has to really want one to buy one. It is not a 'passion' product. 

We're in agreement that it all comes down to execution. If it just ends up being a jelly bean with rally lights and FWD, I'm gonna be disappointed.    But if this new hatchback, likely a fiesta revival, has the boxy retro fun styling that the reno 5 has, maybe a throwback to the gen 1 boxy fiesta, with sporty lines, wheel arches, decent power for the size, and really fun handling, I'll be all over it. 

Ya cheeky little bugga 😆.    Nah I mean the rally racing applies to passenger cars strategy. The icons strategy is really solid, but I think Ford is realizing they need to look at icons that go just beyond bronco, mustang, raptor, and trucks.    Those are super solid pillars, but there's room to grow behind that. If you're looking at how to make your passenger cars special without branding everything a mustang or bronco, leaning into your established rally racing heritage for additional credability and inspiration is a smart place to start. 

Well Porsche charges $14k for paint to sample on 911s (300+ colors) but I doubt many will pay that on a $60k truck.  Just add a wrap for the white part for a grand or so