So why would people buy the fusion over the focus? I really haven't even payed enough attention to tell the difference between the two. Like I said, I'm biased. I drive a Tahoe and the wife a suburban. If she wants a new SUV, gonna be GM. If she wanted a small economical car, ford GM and Chrysler are all out. If they made good midsized or compact vehicles then I would maybe consider. They don't and I know everybody in my old dealership service departments that I would consult with before shopping. Reliability for the first 3 years doesn't mean anything because it's still under warranty. But a lot of people hang on to their cars a lot longer than that.

 

I remember production issues, but those were a while ago.
Like I have said in one of my previous posts, two local Ford dealerships have 10-15 Focuses in stock each. When I test drove the Focus salesman told me that they can't keep Fusions and Escapes in stock, they sell them right away.
We were waiting for my credit report so we were talking about cars in general.

Focus production is back on track now ... yet sales were down by 20% in November.
No production issues anymore, dealerships have enough units in stock.

 

Just out of my curiosity, if you were looking for a compact and/or mid-size car what would you buy?

 

Not sure. Honda or Nissan would be considered first for a smaller car. Maybe GM for a midsized, not really sure. If I knew that I wouldn't have it more than 3 years, I would check out the Germans maybe. No ford yet.

 

What Cobra?

There are more than a few well heeled Camaro nutswingers out there who would definetly take the ZL1 over the vette. Those folk aside, the ZL1 is still an appealing package since it offers an easy path to much greater power. 600+ hp is only a tune and pulley away for the ZL1, for the regular vette and Z06, your talking the full boogey on the base vette to even get near the ZL1's power (heads, cam, full exhaust, tune, intake) or a cam, full exhaust and a tune on the Z06.

So you talking several thousand dollars on the base vette which puts it over the MSRP of a base ZL1 or your talking 70 grand plus a coupla thousand more to get the same level of power.

Granted the vetter has better aero, is lighter and lower but thats still not enough to trump the 580hp powerplant in the ZL1 for alot of people. Especially somebody looking for the hot new car on the block (remeber the Corvette is old news as well).

 

I had my concerns over Ford's cars, but my Fusion is almost 4 years old and it's been a very reliable car. No issues at all.
If I ever buy GM it would be a Buick Regal GS or GMC Acadia, but that's pretty much it. Too bad they killed Pontiac, I was hoping that a G8 will be my next car.

My fiance is a huge fan of Nissan Juke so we might get one next year.

For myself, there are few Lexus models that I like, but that's pretty much it.

I would buy a German car only for when I'm in Serbia, they're actually really good there.

 

Define back on track. I worked in automotive manufacturing, and for a time directly with the supply chain, and I can promise you the notion that a manufacturing problem resolved at the source in the middle of October would be completely resolved along the entire chain by the beginning of December would induce giggles at the facility. It doesn't work like that.

How many days supply on hand do they have? (they need at least about 20-25k units to compete with the best sellers in the segment....more like 30-35k to really go for the 20k units per month this segment demands) What does the product mix on hand look like? Did production constraints and the following ramp up cause an odd mixture of cars, and how long will that take to resolve, and if so how heavily skewed are those numbers toward or away from the best sellers? Are cars properly distributed and, if not, how badly is that mix skewed?

Nah, 'what the salesman told you' means absolutely nothing unless you spoke to about half of the salesman on the Eastern seaboard, and even then it probably wouldn't mean much. People on the web think Ford fixes a supply constraint issue today and that the problem goes away tomorrow, or next week, or even next month; because they don't know better. As mentioned above, it doesn't work like that.

I once watched a bad rivet cause a Pacific Rim manufacturer meaningful supply and product mix issues for over four months, and that issue was resolved in just under a month at the facility once recognized.

 

I really liked the Acadia. After talking to my old shop, no way in hell would I buy one. Terrible reliability. Always have at least 3 in the shop without a engine or trans in them. G8 should have been a winner. Too bad GM didn't do a Chevy version. Buick has some good looking vehicles and I trust their drivetrains. The fusion may be a good car but there is nothing there to get excited to look at.

 

Barely any cars these days have anything exciting in them.
Heck, people consider Mazda 3 to be really sporty and exciting, but I just hated how it drove. I would rather have my 10 year old Golf diesel.

 

Ok, we'll wait until 2012 and we'll compare numbers then. I'm sure sale of Focus is still gonna be down.
Because history keeps repeating. Pretty much every European car that the Big 3 sold in the USA failed. Merkur failed in the 1980s, Contour failed in the 1990s and I'm sure same thing will happen now.
Same thing happened at GM.
Heck, the entire Saturn failed when they decided to sell re-badged Opels.

 

You may well be right, in many ways I'm a skeptic when it comes to the totality of the one Ford mission. That said, I do want to give the Focus a fair trial before we hang it as a failure.

 

I meant Gt 500 , not Cobra Shelby. The Camaro does have insane stock hp and yes its cheaper than a Z06. But one can buy a vette for the same price as the Camaro ZL1. People who by vettes are different sports car people. Its the name Vette, Its the prestige of owning a Corvette. There not looking for the fastest car , vette owners are looking for the name and prestige of owning a vette. Its the heritage of the iconic vette. Its like Porsche, there are faster cars than it but its a status symbol in our society about Porsche, Corvette, Lotus, etc.

The Camaro will always be known for being the poor mans Corvette. I don't care how much hp they give it.To GM Musscle car enthusiasts its no Vette. I have no clue on what demographics GM is trying to sell this ZL1 Camaro too. Most people in there 20's and 30's don't have 54k plus to spend on a vehicle. Many can afford 30k and that's where GM should of stuck with the Camaro.

I don't believe a Corvette fan is going to buy the Camaro over the Vette just because the Camaro is faster. If it was really about just speed then one could by a Camaro SS for around 32k. Get a super charger for around 7k. That's 39k total and your new SS is now pumping out over 626 hp. More than the stock ZL1 Camaro and 15 k cheaper. Why buy the ZL1 for 54k when one could spend 39 to 40k for a Camaro that is just as fast as the ZL1.

 

I don't think that the Camaro will be faster. Not sure if GM will let that fly. Maybe for a special limited run of them but not for long. The Camaro can't beat the Flagship. Vette sales will drop if that happens. The vette owners want the baddest car they can afford.

 

Amen, that's my thought. There ain't know way the Camaro is going to be the leader in GM sports cars over the iconic Vette. Don't get me wrong the Camaro is what it is. The Camaro is the sports car people buy because those people can't afford a vette. And the people who can afford a 60k car ain't buying the Camaro, they buying the Vette. I can't see where GM was coming from when they built the ZL1. Who do they think is really gonna spend 60k for a Camaro. You know, there is a saying around my line of work. You can dress a terd up, Clean a terd up, but bottom line, its still a terd.

 

I don't think it's all about the horsepower.

Corvette still looks like a super-car while Camaro ... doesn't. A lot of people buy Corvette simply because of that.

 

The ZL1 was designed to steal the Boss and Shelby clientele. Not to take anything from the Vette. The grand national was killed because it smoked the vette.

 

I agree with both thoughts. Remember, Ford was built on racing! When you have all your ducks in a line, so to speak,then the competition challenges you, how can you lose? I hope Ford NEVER relinquishes its position to GM or Chrysler EVER again! If vehicle cost is the answer, FINE! They are worth it! I'd rather spend 50,000 on durable equipment than waste 40,000 on their junk!

 

Yep, exactly. They buy the Vette because its a Vette. Most people I see with newer Vettes appear to in the late 40's, 50's and 60's. Their not looking to track race. Im sure their are a few out there who want to track race but majority of older males are not racing their vette.

 

[QUOTE="AlsCobra"]

The ZL1 was designed to steal the Boss and Shelby clientele. Not to take anything from the Vette. The grand national was killed because it smoked the vette.[/QUOTiE]

I agree but I don't even think its going to steal clientele from the Boss and Shelby. I think Mustang enthusiasts will stick with Mustang. The GM enthusiasts will stick with GM sports cars and majority of Camaro buyers will stick with the SS or sixer . For those who are willing to spend 60k plus majority will stick to there Vette. I can't understand what GM was thinking. The Gt500 is Fords top sports car like the Vette. That's like Ford making a Probe faster than a Shelby. Its a Probe.

 

And because a new front wheel drive Regal came out in 1988.

It would be impossible to make a Grand National out of this ...