That's the way I read Alan Mulally..... quote:

"He pointed to Ford of Europe's new Mondeo sedan, which was recently featured in the James Bond movie, "Casino Royale."

"Why aren't we driving that here?" he asked. "Hello! It's a great car."


Other bits from Ford:
* 70% of it's lineup will be new or refreshed by the end of next year.
* It's entire product line will be new or restyled by 2010 (Ford's Panther cars, anyone?)
* Ford will begin redesigning or reskinning their key vehicles every 2-2 1/2 years.
* Ford Focus here will soon be the same as is sold in Europe, save tuning and equptment.
* Ford won't be matching their competitors vehicle for vehicle, but will focus on markets where they can grow profits.

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs...TO01/701130370

No word on the next Falcon yet.

Proudpony?

 

Taurus anyone?
Very intersting tidbit there.

 

Hey, Mr. Mulally. I can answer that, the weenies that preceded you were little more than a bunch of [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] and [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Man I hope Mulally can do for Ford what he did for Boeing. The mere thought of having to read all the egomanical posts on this site about Fords demise will cause me to preemptively gouge my eyes out and ram my empty sockest onto hot sauce bottles till they shatter. Although on the plus side I will be able to sell all this Ford stuff I have at premium price in oh say 50 years.

 

They'd better get crackin' since they basically put the whole company up as collateral to finance the way forward.

 

The current Mondeo is a SMASH HIT in Englnd, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, and all over Europe. It is a VERY nice car with great styling and interior. Doesn't take a genious to see that it has potential.

One neat tidbit... not only will Ford be introducing new or doing major overhauls on 10 units for the US market by 2010, but they just showed all 10 units to 17,000 of their internal employees earlier this month - meaning they already have them done or d@mned-near so!
You can get a peek at them all under covers in the BoldMoves #30 video clip - but none are uncovered at any time. The Mustang is there, and the production Fairlane is there. There is a sleek wagon or ute in the front (which I HOPE is the Aussie version with a steering wheel on the left!), and what appears to be the next Fusion based on size/profile.
Anyways, I think 99% of the population would be amazed just how busy Ford has been in the past 12 months - they are ready to pull the trigger on a lot of models, I just hope they have "all the goods and a bottle of moon"!

Stunned silence on the Falcon issue since Dec.

I think they are more interested in the Mondeo than the Falcon, and I'm not sure why.
The two cars overlap terribly, especially when youalready have a Fusion on the lots. I can't see them wasting the resources to import both.

I guess if it were me, I'd opt for the Falcon over the Mondeo.
Falcon is far more differetiated from the "mundane" things we have here already, and the Fusion could "morph" into a US Mondeo in a single major restyling anyways.

Sad thing is, I really like both cars, and honestly they are both better than the current FiveHundred/Fusion offerings we have anyways IMO.

I know Ford is digging deep into Australia's engine program for ideas and good parts... maybe Alan can convince them to go back and reconsider the Falcon for US sales as a Mercury Montego or... <gulp> Marauder?
Hey - it would make a GREAT fit, and it would silence those who claim Mercury is a re-badged Ford?!?!

I have been asked to go back to England later this month to complete another job that is underway, and assume Project Manager role in an automation expansion there this spring. If I take it, it will give me a chance to pick into the Focus and Mondeo a little more.

I'll start poking around next week and see what floats up.

 

Yeah thats what I was thinking. Fusion and Mondeo?

 

So, they're making it look the same, but still leaving out the parts that make it a success in Europe?

If only Toyota could be this incompetent. :blah:

 

The Focus is currently on 2 different chassis. That will change.

As far as things like suspension tune, I can completely understand this, as will anyone who has visited just about any European country. One of the great things about their astronomical gas taxes is they have roads that make ours feel unpaved by comparison, and don't have to be repaved or patched up after every winter. As a result, suspensions can be tuned quite a bit stiffer than they can be here. That may not be a big issue with specific performance cars, but becomes a deal killer when we are talking about the other 90% of the car buying public.

You really can't take a standard family Euro car without any changes and expect it to sell here. Styling, likely. Everything else, not as likely.

 

Well, it's comforting when the new boss has a grasp of the obvious.

 

The panther cars will be getting new sheetmetal in 2009.....and is loooonnnnnggggg overdue. Its nice to see Ford not pull the plug on this one, since it was up in the air a few months ago.
Even though I am not a fan of the Crown Vic for police work, maybe they can finally get some good reliable power under the hood of the new car. The 3V 4.6 would be nice.

 

European highways are indeed as smooth as a pool table. Most urban roads in Europe, though, feel like they were last paved a few centuries ago (many were), and are in no way smoother than most of our "bad" roads. I'm convinced that European cars get their typically firm suspension characteristics soley because Euro drivers aren't wimps, and not because of any difference in roads.

Bringing over the Mondeo several years ago would have been a smart move. Now, with the Fusion earning so much good press, and the similar dimensions of the two cars, I don't see the logic in bringing over the Euro car, no matter how good it is. Now, the Falcon - there's a no-brainer.

 

I think if they load up the Mondeo and price/market it as a competitor to VW or Saab, there wouldn't really be much overlap.

Similar to Aura and Malibu, except they would be in the same dealerships.

 

I was aware. Just more evidence of their complete incompetence IMO.

Cause selling european cars here has almost destroyed BMW and Mercedes, right?

Yes, Im aware of the differences between an $18k car (say, a focus or equivalent) and a $30-40k car (BMW 3 series), but still, saying that Americans cant appreciate a car that can actually be fun to drive is complete horse-manure.

Not a rip on you at all guion, but Im really freaking tired of that particular excuse.

 

They could kill the Milan and badge it as a Mercury, it even fits with their ridiculous same letter naming scheme. That would give Mercury some much needed product diffrentiation and help position it as an import fighter, which is what Mercury, not Lincoln, needs to be doing. My 0.02.

 

Agreed.

I'd say VW and low end Audis would be a better examples since we're talking about affordable mid-priced cars. You have to admit that buyers of Golfs are probally far more performance and chassis oriented than the buyer of a US Focus, or even a non-SS Cobalt. A Passat buyer is far more demanding than a Malibu or Impala buyer. Probally even more demanding than a Accord or Camry buyer as well. But Passats aren't quite selling the same quanity as Camrys, Impalas, or Malibus, even discounting fleet buyers.

No offense taken. However, like I said above, Americans do actually favor softer suspensions. Think of the type of car your mother would buy as a daily driver or sister would buy as her 1st car. Top of the list is going to be value, easy to drive, over euro-spec suspension tuning. Not that anyone wants a car that feels like a marshmellow. Being on an enthusiast site tends to skew the norm. We favor more performance, more handling, and are willing to sacrifice more.

The road issue is actually true, and is factual. car makers do tune cars differently between here & there to compensate (there are exceptions, but the norm there is far stiffer than the norm here). Sure, you can go to a urban area and find the occasional crappy or brick lined roads. But as a whole, take a drive on even a new rough concrete surfaced, rain-grooved, barely matched expansion seemed freeway here, and compare that to a smooth asphalt covered version in Australia, or what seems to be the norm in most all of Europe, and there is a big difference. Even on main city streets.