http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../70905004/1065

I like it. Why doesn't Ford North America get these over seas Fords.

 

Can you name a European Ford other than the Focus that's been a success?

The Merkurs - Xr4ti and Scorpio - (European Ford Sierra and Scorpio) failed, the Contour and Mystique (Mondeo) failed, the Cougar (European Ford Cougar) failed.

These cars look good on paper, but are sometimes less than stellar in the marketplace.

 

Merkur Xr4ti cost far more than the quicker and well handling Mustang GT.

Merkur Scorpio, cost far more than a Sable, and at the time, Mercury meant flashy, smooth riding cars.

Contour and Mystique were lampooned for difficult entry into the rear seats due to small rear doors (in addition to small rear seat space).

The Mercury Cougar (which was actually the 3rd generation Ford Probe, and was designed & made here in the US at Flat Rock... not in Europe) was actually successful. Ford killed it off along with the Thunderbird (which was outselling the Monte Carlo) as a way to hone down the number of vehicles they made in an attempt to increase profits even higher.

The Ford Capri of the 1970s, and the original Ford Fiesta as well as the Ford Festiva of the 90s both did very well. The Euro Capri gave way to the domestic one when Ford went to the Fox bodied Mustangs, and the Festiva-Fiesta died out as soon as fuel prices went down.

 

Points taken, but you have to admit that there was really nothing wrong with the Xr4ti or Scorpio other than the fact that they didn't meet U.S. tastes. Countour and Mystique were partially the same thing.

Cougar was designed for Europe and was based on Mondeo regardless of the fact that it was built and sold here, too. It might have been a modest success, but were they really selling that many? Seemed as if enthusiasm waned after the first couple of yers.

Capri was a modest success, but I wouldn't say it lit the 70s on fire compared to Japanese cars in the same segment.

I'll give you the Festiva and the Fiesta, but they were succesful because they were cheap, got good gas mileage and were moderately reliable. I doubt the phrase "I have GOT to have that" was ever uttered toward them.

 

Because some ******** in Ford NA, for some godforsaken reason, see the overseas Ford vehicles as a "threat" to their own.

 

I like Toyota's and VW's aggressive styling the best. But here are some other possible choices.












There is an interesting trend in wheels. (spokes breaking into two) Which we may see on some upcoming cars.

 

Cougar did pretty well. It handily outsold the Mystique and ran about 50% of the sales pace of the popular Sable sedan. But justifying an entire program that sells 50K per year in the US, and perhaps another 25K outside North America is hard next to a Mustang program that sold consistantly over 165K. In typical coupe fashion, sales went soft after a few years.

Over 500,000 Capris were sold in the US between 1970 and 1977.

The Merkur cars suffered the same fate at Mercury that the Catera and then the CTS (in the very begining) suffered at Cadillac. Strong dealer resistence, and entrenched attitudes as to what they think their buyers want. Pricing, and probally the most confusing name ever put on a coupe sold in America didn't help.

 

You're kind of agreeing with my point here. The point I'm trying to make is that these cars don't necessarily fit
American tastes or were unsuccesful for one reason or another. If you can't justify the car, is it a "success"?

Over 2 million Vegas were sold in the same time period and nearly that many Mustang IIs were sold in 1974. I do however, have to concede that I thought that the Nissan Z cars outsold Capri when in actuality they sold around 350k in the 1970 to 77 period. All I can say to that is that while my uncle actually had a 1973 Capri, Z cars were much more common in the Kansasa City area than Capris were. However, my personal recollections are a poor substitution for statistics.

But I didn't say that these were bad cars, I said that they weren't successful - and regardless of reason that's the point I was trying to make.

 

http://jalopnik.com/photogallery/FordKugaProdG/

New pictures. This is a good looking mini SUV

 

I think that would sell like hotcakes here, what with America's love for SUVs and the current fuel problem.

 

At a glance, I think the Kuga is ugly. It will therefore not get any more of my attention.

 

That's what the Tribute should be. Or tweak the sheetmetal and make it a CX5.

 

Regarding the past failed imports....

Keep this in mind - the economy was much different back then, and so was the content of domestic offerings.

Right now, we don't have the range of fuel-efficient cars that Europe has because our gas prices have not been at $5/gallon for the last several years. Europeans have been pushed harder for much longer than we have in the fuel economy game. They have had more time to study, design, build, and improve economical vehicles. Only in the last couple yaers have we been hit with $3/gal gasoline and started to look at other forms of motivation.

Not so 10-20 years ago. guionM mentioned the more powerful and better-handling Mustang GT over the Merkur XR4Ti. TRUE. We would rather have the V8 and fat tires for $11k than the turbo-4. But that was then - gas was $1.15/gal and we Americans love our V8s. How many are looking at 4s and 6s today as opposed to V8's? How many turbo-4s are Ford, Dodge, and Chryslr offering compared to what Europe has?

My point is, the competition was different in the past, as was the economy. Today, the more efficient powerplants and drivelines that Europe has had for years is MUCH more desireable here in the US. Styling-wise, I think the US fell behind in car design due to the concentration on SUVs and trucks. Cars and crossovers are still much better looking from Europe and Asia, but I think we rule in the truck/SUV segment. No truck in the world looks as good as the new C/K-series and new F-series - the Tundra grill makes it look "sad", the Titan loks stodgy and "stuck together", Europe has no trucks (only box vans) and we won't even go into trucks you see in the middle east and Asia.

So, as I have been saying for years now - we need to see some of the technology and platforms that Europe and Australia have been developing brought to our own lineups. I'm not all out for simply "importing the vehicles", but at least develop the platforms to be manufactured here and sold here. They have some really terrific cars out there and we are fools to ignore them and live in our little bubble or even go through the development curve again on our own when it's already been done elsewhere.

 

The Mustang GT in no way handled half as well as the XR4Ti. The Mustang SVO with its 4 wheel discs and factory KONI suspension was another matter. The GT's suspension was junk.

 

i sat in an astra at the autoshow. even the newer small european cars are not any better than what we have. it was no better than the cobalt in quality.