In today’s fast-paced product development world, staying competitive means constantly improving design and manufacturing. Munro Associates helps companies do exactly that using its design-first approach and proprietary Lean Design® methodology—reducing cost while improving efficiency, performance, and quality. An outside perspective can uncover opportunities internal teams may miss due to “group think.” Munro’s engineers challenge assumptions and analyze products from the ground up to identify hidden complexity and cost drivers. A great example is the Ford Mustang Mach-E frunk. By questioning the original design—filled with extra covers, fasteners, and brackets—Munro developed a simpler, more cost-effective solution that demonstrates the power of Lean Design.    

Remember that Farley has been CEO since 2020.  Not every OEM made the same decisions regarding the EV’s.  The Lightning was somewhat successful and market/government pressure can be unpredictable for sure.  But this isn’t a “Monday morning quarterback” situation when the same CEO continues to make public statements about regretful decisions.  

Say what?

That price includes VAT or Value Added Tax =~20% Thats close to 28,000k before VAT Its best to use French pricing to compare to USD, the UK is pricey.  The base gas Puma is €22,000 including 20% VAT = 0.8*22,000 = €17,600  before VAT or $20,173 USD The Puma EV works out to €28,800 including 20% VAT = 0.8*28,000 = €22,400  before VAT or $25,674 USD 22-28k USD isn't a bad price. The issue I'd imagine is Ford's Accounting system inability to book the profit where it should be.  I.E. FoE Marks up the cost of EU assembled vehicles to generate revenue, instead of selling the vehicle at cost to another Ford entity  Ford Comparison: the Mach-E sells for €43,100

Hey now 😛   I'd like to think that EREV would set off some people that is more of an EV then an ICE product....but there are lots of stupid people out there. 

VW and Wall Street

Bring back the Excursion with 6.7 diesel.   Canyonero….

Currently, only about a quarter of GT Mustangs in inventory are manuals, no manual being offered in the 2.3 Ecoboost version   Overall, it’s about one eighth of Mustang sales or just over 12%.

Remember, Jim Hackett hit the ground running when Fields was fired in 2017, Lightning was a direction from the top (make this happen) and it was in quick time. After covid, Ford’s battery costs blew right out and made the long range very expensive.   Jim Farley could not have done things differently because he had an expectant Bill Ford encouraging him and Ford execs to ramp up production but in the end, they never got that deep into forward ordering and production volume never hit ramp up targets anyway.

Remember the Lightning was introduced in 2021 meaning it was developed in 2020 or earlier.  Think bad to the EV frenzy of several years back where every OEM was trying to be the next Tesla.  Getting your EV out first was essential, if you wanted to impress Wall Street.  So decisions were made.  It's easy to play a Monday Morning Quarterback now that several years have gone by.