As I understand it the Maverick Utility was scrapped just before design lock in
when Ford thought it could cover the market ok with just the Pickup…
I could be wrong in this but the Utility is an “easy” derivative off more than
50% of the existing body structure…
I’m personally not interested in the affordable vehicles, but I do believe they’re important for Ford and for my kids. I’m still a firm believer that if you have a positive experience with a car purchase, the probability of you giving the first shot to that particular brand as higher. I’m not suggesting they need to lose money on them, but they need to figure out a way to produce a desirable entry level vehicle they can make money on.
Nope that’s not it at all. It’s looking at it from a business perspective not a consumer perspective. If you have finite resources the question is how much profit can you generate from those resources. If you’re able to sell 300k vehicles from one plant at $4K net profit each why build 300k vehicles that only yield $1k net profit each? Now maybe if you have excess capacity you can justify lower profit vehicles to fill in. Or if you can’t sell enough of the higher margin vehicles. The imports get by with cheap cars because they have global volume, lower production costs and they’ve amortized the shit out of their car platforms by making minimal changes over several decades. So where they can make a 3% net margin on a $24k car, Ford loses money. Partially due to legacy labor costs but also due to poor cost control on the platforms.
Thats why you need products like Maverick and BS where they don’t have to compete solely on price so they can maintain margins even at lower price points. But to just throw a cheap car out that is viewed as a commodity and only sells on price is silly.
Interesting how Farley in that interview indicated if/when they brought sedans back, they would be wildly different than current offerings. He mentioned how sedans are a great option for EVs due to their areo benefits, so maybe they're planning something there. A Ford sedan with futuristic styling inspired by the gen 1 Tarus or something could make for an interesting offering. Would certainly be attention grabbing, especially with 80s nostalgia booming.
At long last, my 2024 Nautilus has shipped today. Today also just happens to be my birthday!
Based upon this timing, my dealer expects to have it in mid-August.
That seems to be the model Stellantis is going with, but I think Farley is correct that you need a wide range of models from affordable to expensive. Remember affordable models can be quite profitable. You need volume if you want to remain a relevant player in the market or you just end up with jokes like the Dodge Hornet.
I understand that people on this message board are not interested in affordable vehicles. Most of you can pay cash for an $80-100k vehicle and are happy to do so, but if you look at demand for attractive vehicles $35k and under it's high right now. The lots are full of very expensive full sized trucks and the affordable vehicles are flying off of them. A proper mix is important.