Should/Could Ford Compete with GM/DCX in the sports car arena???

Okay Ford GT aside, I'm talking regular production sports car. Is the market to crowded for Ford to produce its own sports car (and I mean real sports car, not a sports coupe (like Mustang) or a sports sedan).

Fords only "sports car" right now is the Mustang and by Ford's own admission is a "musclecar" which is more or less a broad axe in a rapier's arena, for which I'm thankful mind you, but alot of people want more from the car, they want it to evolve beyond its muscle car roots into a proper sports car.

My question then is this, is the market so crowded that thier is only room for Corvette and Viper? (GM and DCX seem to think there is room aplenty in the pony car market with the upcoming Camaro and Challenger), Why can't Ford offer a proper sports car? Or why won;t they offer a proper sports car?

 

The pony car market is much more open because the price of admission to the pony show is 1/3 of the cost of an SRT-10 Viper or Z06/7 Vette. Lots of people can afford a fun $25-30k car, especially given that it can easily be a practical daily driver. Obviously very few people have the excess change to drop on an $80,000 weekend sports car, and even the sticker on the base Vette is too much for most. It would be nice to see a Ford in the mix, but there aren't really that many buyers in a field that is home to some very nice domestic models already.

The other problem is that, quite bluntly, Ford has bigger problems to deal with than a lack of sports cars in its line-up. There aren't any such cars currently close to development, and there really isn't even a suitable platform for a sports car to ride on. This would require Ford to literally design and build this car from the ground up, something they really don't have the time or money to be bothered with right now. If they are able to get their higher-volume cars selling well and make some money in the near future, maybe they would consider building a sports car, but I really don't see that happening within the next 6 or 7 years, at which that point they will have to be careful regarding the 2020 CAFE standards increase.

 

If Ford were in better shape right now we might have been seeing the GR1 in production.

 

They won't even be competing against the new Camaro/Challenger, don't hold your breathe waiting for a new Ford sports car..

 

Low volume, niche cars are not a priority for a company that is in serious financial peril. They did the GT. That proved they have the know-how. But introducing a performance car that could steal sales from the Mustang family at a time when gas prices are going up, fuel economy standards are rising, and when they need to focus on their bread & butter vehicles, wouldn't be a particularly smart move.

 

well ford has always been iffy, the thunderbird was the atempt back in the day, now that name is synonomus with old people and going slow, not a very good name, nothing as exciting as corVETTE, or the VIPER!!! those names grab attention, ford really hasnt lost out but they probably would have gain with coming of a two-seater coupe, the technology is there, but not applied to a vehicle yet, so thats where the problem is.. the can, but they cant, it can be done, but it can flop...the cost.....would not be cheap, and with pressure coming at them from so many angles, the mustang and f-series are the bread and butter for the company, hopfully the new turaus will help them with fleet vehicles, and increase profits, they are releasing lots of high-quality, appealing cars, and im impressed with this new ambition behind the company and how well they are starting to turn things around, maybe the loyal customers will be rewarded in the future with fun-vehicles and a impressive line-up

 

Its the dominate pony car, and I'm sure Ford isn't ready to hand over the title yet. The Terminator was a shot striaght across GM's bow, despite the untimely demise of the F-body cars.

I'm fairly certain Ford will have some sort of response to both Challenger (whom seems to have used the GT500 as a benchmark and is intent on beating it in every catagory) and Camaro, although it will probably be later rather than sooner.

As for holding my breath, I know better. It would probably be a long time (if ever) before we would see a proper sports car from Ford. It only took 100 years to get a proper sports car from them in the first place (T-bird was such a poor sports car at the start that they didn't even call it one, and the original Ford GT street car was produced in such low numbers I dont think anybody even recognizes it apart from its race car brethern).

 

As for stealing sales, it seems to me mustang guys and, if there was such a thing as a Ford sports car guy, would be two different people. Much the same way Vette and Camaro guys are different (or like Viper guys probably wont have to worry about Challenger sales bitting into Viper sales).

 

+1

 

Well from what I've heard, the Camaro and Challenger are both going to have 400ish horsepower V8's for their mid-level cars, while the GT soldiers on with 300 horsepower.

Yea there is the GT500 to play with the top level GM/Dodge cars, but most people can't afford those anyway, and care mostly about the GT level cars. If they've really canceled plans for putting the hurricane/Boss in the Mustang, they are going to pretty much hand over the title. Remember after all the tough talk about the Gen 3 Lightning they canned it and handed over the title to Dodge, so I don't have faith that they'll do the same thing with the Mustang. Although it won't be on the same level, but 400+ horse IRS competition is knocking on their door, and I don't think Ford even cares about answering outside of the 3 car guys still left at the company. There's no coletti anymore sadly..

I sure hope all the rumors are incorrect..

 

Believe what you want to, but you are talking about cars that haven't hit the streets yet.

The original plans for the Camaro may not be what hits the streets. If you follow Autoblog, or MotorTrend or other trade publications, you must have read that the Bowtie boys are worried about making the target market with the new Camaro. It has nothing to do with HP and everything to do with money. Already there is talk of "de-contenting" models of the Camaro to make it a price-point competitor with Mustang.

GM wants to offer an entry level machine (like the base Mustang Coupe) but with the IRS, they couldn't come within $2,000 of the Mustang. 2K is a big number on an entry level car. So a live axle might be their initial offering. With the higher dollar models it may not be as critical. But still GM is concerned that their pony car may be several thousand more than the Mustang. Also along the lines of cutting costs, the initial base offering may go with the 3.9 (pushrod) V6, though they are hoping to have their new (and more sophisticated) 3.5 ready for the launch of the convertible, which may not happen until mid-2009.

GM has a tradition of good street performance (witness the COPO Camaro of 1969). 400-HP obviously impresses you. But if gasoline hits $4 a gallon, it might NOT be the big advantage in the market place you seem to think. In fact if gas goes north of $4/gal, it could be a big negative. Check back to 2002. It wasn't slow performance that killed the Camaro--it was slow sales.

Challenger--better check the trade rags. The platform Chrysler chose is not one well suited to economy. In fact, it looks like there won't be an entry level Challenger, since they couldn't compete price-wise with the current Mustang, or even GM's new Camaro.

You've pointed out the obvious, the GT500 is not a volume mover because of its price. If a $41k MSRP Mustang doesn't sell in volume, what makes you think a Challenger at the $40k mark will be a volume seller? (When you think Challenger, don't think Mustang GT, think 300C, or SRT8, which are at $37-40K at 2007 prices. The new Challenger is being built on the same production line.)

The Dodge faithful have been told (warned) to expect at least a $31k price tag at entry and around $50k for the high-performance editions.
http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/challenger.html

 

I totally agree with all that you posted. It's funny that a lot of people here are so scared of the Camaro and Challenger.

Even if they do have some more powerful versions than the current Mustang GT, so what? The Camaro was more powerful than the Mustang in the past, but it didn't help Camaro sales much did it, seeing how the Camaro has been dead for going on five model years now, and the Mustang marches on?

 

If Ford wanted to do this, I believe they could. There are some remarkably great platforms over at Jag. If they were to design an awesome body on the Jag platform and put a version of the new Boss under the hood, there is no reason they couldn't be right in the heat of the Corvette/Viper show.

Thing about this idea is:
A) It's really far fetched
B) It would be playing in the 70-80K region and generally speaking people interested in Fords don't spend that kind of money on a 2 seat toy
C) Fuel pricing needs to be factored into the realism of the whole idea.

Would be awesome to see what they could come up with, but I don't think we have to worry about seeing anything like this anytime soon. If Ford had 10 years in the black under it's belt, they may want to give it a try, but the timing is just bad.

 

Eh, there's no money in it in the grand scheme of things. From a sales point of view, I'm by far more excited about the upcoming Flex, a truly revolutionary vehicle, then a hi-buck sports car. Nor am I worried about poor quality DCX products or the invisible Camaro. I guess you could say(until recently) Aston Martin was Ford's sports cars.