Ford's Audacious Plan to Save $25 Billion: Cut Every Car Except These Two Models

[melensdad]

That would be the 2018 Ecoboost, it now has start/stop and being direct injection twin turbo has instant full power.

I hate start/stop and will never own anything with it...

I first used Start/Stop technology on rental cars in Europe many years ago. It was odd. But it works.

I see a lot of people who rabidly object to it.

Got vehicles now that have Start/Stop sitting in my garage. Got vehicles that don't have it. There is a button on mine that switches it off. I never bother to switch it off. When I come to a stop I can lighten up the pressure on my foot and the engine will never stop, even when sitting at full stop. Press the pedal a bit harder and it will stop. So you learn how to drive with it, use it when you want it, and don't when you don't want it. Or switch it off completely if that is what you want.

I will say it saves fuel, more than I would have ever guessed. And the engine is running before I get my foot from the brake pedal to the accelerator pedal.

I'm not really a fan of the technology but nor am I a detractor. I just don't understand why so many who don't have it object to it.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

They definitely aren't the only ones. Being a Mitsubishi owner I like to keep up with them online and check out the new models. Even they are down to just 2 car models in the US and one of them, the Lancer is in it's final year.

 

[eldirector]

So, Ford is going back to their roots?

Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.

There are hundreds of car models from dozens of manufacturers, just here in the US. Add in the REST of the world, and there are thousands/hundreds. Focusing on what you do well, and what sells, and cornering that market, isn't a terrible practice. Let everyone else flail around trying to make a buck.

 

[avboiler11]

Fiesta is hugely popular in Europe, but is just 'too small' to sell very well here.

Focus OTOH...that's a pretty decent compact, especially in hatchback form, and they seem to be EVERYWHERE. Guess Ford is banking on the popularity of stuff the EcoSport.

GM probably isn't too far from killing off some of their small cars, too; Cruze sales have plummeted.

 

[SMiller]

I first used Start/Stop technology on rental cars in Europe many years ago. It was odd. But it works.

I see a lot of people who rabidly object to it.

Got vehicles now that have Start/Stop sitting in my garage. Got vehicles that don't have it. There is a button on mine that switches it off. I never bother to switch it off. When I come to a stop I can lighten up the pressure on my foot and the engine will never stop, even when sitting at full stop. Press the pedal a bit harder and it will stop. So you learn how to drive with it, use it when you want it, and don't when you don't want it. Or switch it off completely if that is what you want.

I will say it saves fuel, more than I would have ever guessed. And the engine is running before I get my foot from the brake pedal to the accelerator pedal.

I'm not really a fan of the technology but nor am I a detractor. I just don't understand why so many who don't have it object to it.

Get back to use in 300,000 miles, direct injection and twin turbo do not go well with start/stop...

 

[HoughMade]

Isn't Ford the smart American car company that didn't have to be govt motors?

Except for the billions in Dept. of Energy loans that few people seem to remember....

Ford applied for and received $5.9 billion in June 2009 (the same month GM filed for bankruptcy) to help pay for investments in more fuel-efficient engines, hybrids and electric cars and also to convert two truck plants to production of cars.

But the fact that the DOE loan came with very specific strings tied to building fuel-efficient cars in the U.S. leaves some with a bad taste, given that Ford still owes the government $3.5 billion and isn't scheduled to pay it off until 2022.

Interesting history when taken together with the announcement of reducing cars in N. America.

More context- Ford took $5.9 billion under this program. GM and Chrysler got none. GM took way more than that in TARP funds, but to say Ford wasn't at the government trough is just wrong. In addition to the Dept. of Energy program, Ford got assistance from other non TARP gvt. sources including

As it stands now, it looks like Ford owes more monet to the govt. right now than GM does.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joannm...ore-moving-small-cars-to-mexico/#6135b3535e37

https://www.drivingthenation.com/wi...less-money-to-the-govt-than-ford-or-chrysler/

https://www.thebalance.com/auto-industry-bailout-gm-ford-chrysler-3305670

 

[dvd1955]

This kind of sucks in my opinion. My wife "has" to have a minivan and it "has" to be a Toyota. Current one has 232k and is a 2006. She wants to get a newer one and give this one to my daughter that just had a baby. I think, okay, no problem. Well, yes, problem. Ford and GM stopped making minivans, so anybody that wants one has a much smaller list of suppliers to buy from, which drives up the costs and lowers the availability of used ones (we won't buy new).

 

[Tactically Fat]

This kind of sucks in my opinion. My wife "has" to have a minivan and it "has" to be a Toyota. Current one has 232k and is a 2006. She wants to get a newer one and give this one to my daughter that just had a baby. I think, okay, no problem. Well, yes, problem. Ford and GM stopped making minivans, so anybody that wants one has a much smaller list of suppliers to buy from, which drives up the costs and lowers the availability of used ones (we won't buy new).

Dodge, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, and Kia are the skins in the mini-van game. Unless you want to count the Mini-mini Ford Transit. If you guys are empty nesters - may be worth a look.

For MY money, we're going to look first at Kia and then Honda to replace our current Kia Sedona.

 

[avboiler11]

Except for the billions in Dept. of Energy loans that few people seem to remember....

https://www.energy.gov/lpo/ford

Not quite the same thing as a "bailout" from bankruptcy proceedings, though...

 

[HoughMade]

https://www.energy.gov/lpo/ford

Not quite the same thing as a "bailout" from bankruptcy proceedings, though...

Edited above to include more information.

Ford owes the gvt. a considerable amount still. GM does not.

Kinda apples and oranges, but the gvt. hasn't owned a piece of GM for several years.

GM got no handouts. They got loans which had to be and were repaid. Where the hard-to-account-for analysis comes in is the gvt. bought a chunk of GM and resold it. That's not a "handout", really, and not a loan, but the gvt. lost money on the deal. How much will be debated forever.

 

[Rookie]

FCA is going the same route. All of the small cars have been discontinued.

 

[melensdad]

Get back to use in 300,000 miles, direct injection and twin turbo do not go well with start/stop...

I'll see what I can do. One has almost 150,000 miles on it and the other just topped 75,000 miles. So far both are trouble free.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Get back to use in 300,000 miles, direct injection and twin turbo do not go well with start/stop...

What's the issue with direct injection and start/stop? Twin turbo, I assume you mean the heat/cool cycle. In the conditions start/stop would be cycling the engine unless you're racing stop light to stop light, how hot are the turbos getting? I've also read that synthetic oil doesn't coke in hot turbos like conventional oil does, the reason that you needed to let turbos cool before shutting off the engine 'back in the day'.

 

[Tactically Fat]

FCA is going the same route. All of the small cars have been discontinued.

How many years until all the 500s are D/C'd?

There are gonna be a lot of really unhappy mechanics out there if FCA does away with a lot of their lineup.

 

[HoughMade]

What's the issue with direct injection and start/stop? Twin turbo, I assume you mean the heat/cool cycle. In the conditions start/stop would be cycling the engine unless you're racing stop light to stop light, how hot are the turbos getting?...

I think the bigger part of why it is not an issue is that in a start/stop situation, they aren't normally stopped long enough to cool down much.

 

[Rookie]

How many years until all the 500s are D/C'd?

There are gonna be a lot of really unhappy mechanics out there if FCA does away with a lot of their lineup.

I think the FIAT line is staying, but the Chrysler/Dodge line is gone. Not certain though.

 

[MarkC]

Consider what happened to Saturn a few years ago. The division changed from a couple of reliable, well-built models and created a SUV, a larger SUV, larger sedans, and a sporty convertible. Once they got away from focusing on what they did well they became no different from the other GM divisions, and quality (and sales) suffered.

Find what you do well, and stay with it.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I think the bigger part of why it is not an issue is that in a start/stop situation, they aren't normally stopped long enough to cool down much.

Maybe, I'm just asking. I don't know diddly about DI or why it'd be a problem. I've had two turbo vehicles, never had a DI.*

I don't think, if I have I didn't know it.

 

[MarkC]

I think the bigger part of why it is not an issue is that in a start/stop situation, they aren't normally stopped long enough to cool down much.

While my German car was at its second home (Autobahn, the European-specific repair shop) we had a rental Chevrolet that was start/stop. It took some getting used to, but it was bearable. Like most people, it takes me a bit to get used to a major change.

 

[HoughMade]

Consider what happened to Saturn a few years ago. The division changed from a couple of reliable, well-built models and created a SUV, a larger SUV, larger sedans, and a sporty convertible. Once they got away from focusing on what they did well they became no different from the other GM divisions, and quality (and sales) suffered.

Find what you do well, and stay with it.

A 1996 Saturn SW1 serves as my kid's runabout car...and will be spending a second summer in Kentucky with my son. Reliable, easy to maintain, cheap on gas....no rust...that shows.