COME ON SVT!
11/2/05, 10:47 PM
#42
Post *****
Join Date: May 13, 2004
Location: Berkeley/Redwood City, CA
Posts: 18,613
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
2 Posts
lol james.. that is one HUUUUUDE wing lol. dont let them ricerboyz get a hold of those..
a more expanded SVT lineup would be nice, but lets not get carried away. an explorer? i dont think so. same with the freestyle.
dont get me wrong, they sound cool, but who, aside from extreme enthusiasts like ourselves, would ever want a V10 in their explorer? or a 550hp WAGON?
as cool as i think they would be, such things would not sell well. i imagine and work done to produce such cars would be in vain, as they just would not sell as well. who cares that chrylser has SRT slapped on ever flippin thing? what happened to exclusivity?
its late, and my post prolly makes very little sense, bubt i just dont see the point in investing millions developing crazy hi-po cars that are not going to sell. sure every company needs a few halo cars, like the GT and shelby GT500 etc, but lets face it, it aint the 60s no more and average people are not going to shell out for extremly specific niche cars.... unfortunately..
but to counteract all the rationality i just spit out above, lets see a V10 ranger with AWD? oh man... i'd want that truck lol
a more expanded SVT lineup would be nice, but lets not get carried away. an explorer? i dont think so. same with the freestyle.
dont get me wrong, they sound cool, but who, aside from extreme enthusiasts like ourselves, would ever want a V10 in their explorer? or a 550hp WAGON?
as cool as i think they would be, such things would not sell well. i imagine and work done to produce such cars would be in vain, as they just would not sell as well. who cares that chrylser has SRT slapped on ever flippin thing? what happened to exclusivity?
its late, and my post prolly makes very little sense, bubt i just dont see the point in investing millions developing crazy hi-po cars that are not going to sell. sure every company needs a few halo cars, like the GT and shelby GT500 etc, but lets face it, it aint the 60s no more and average people are not going to shell out for extremly specific niche cars.... unfortunately..
but to counteract all the rationality i just spit out above, lets see a V10 ranger with AWD? oh man... i'd want that truck lol
11/4/05, 10:40 AM
#44
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: July 2, 2004
Location: Fairfield CT
Posts: 643
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Before giving SVT all these high-perf nich market vehicle ideas, you might want to inform Ford they need to MAKE MONEY first.
1) Slash union wages
2) Lobby for lower health care costs
3) Dissolve Pensions (why does working for x years entitle you to ANYTHING when you retire?)
4) Build a car (like the fusion) that the masses will buy, and at the same time, doesnt have 2 inch wide panel gaps. Sell it at a profit, not a loss.
5) Do this for about 3 yrs, and show some money flowing in, so your investors come back and you aren't just waiting for Toyota to buy you out.
Then...you can develop niche market cars.
Why can DCX make all these great cars? Because they MAKE MONEY. They had to sell their souls to the Germans to do it, but they have the cash.
Ford Europe has proven that under favorable conditions, Ford can produce multiple class leading cars. But with costs what they are in they US, it just aint gonna happen unless somethign changes. It would be sad to see another great american company fall.
1) Slash union wages
2) Lobby for lower health care costs
3) Dissolve Pensions (why does working for x years entitle you to ANYTHING when you retire?)
4) Build a car (like the fusion) that the masses will buy, and at the same time, doesnt have 2 inch wide panel gaps. Sell it at a profit, not a loss.
5) Do this for about 3 yrs, and show some money flowing in, so your investors come back and you aren't just waiting for Toyota to buy you out.
Then...you can develop niche market cars.
Why can DCX make all these great cars? Because they MAKE MONEY. They had to sell their souls to the Germans to do it, but they have the cash.
Ford Europe has proven that under favorable conditions, Ford can produce multiple class leading cars. But with costs what they are in they US, it just aint gonna happen unless somethign changes. It would be sad to see another great american company fall.
11/5/05, 08:51 PM
#46
Mach 1 Member
Yeah, you might think dodge has it going on until you look at the picture of the Ram SRT and see the front bumper is crooked. Gotta love that dodge quality!!
11/7/05, 08:10 AM
#47
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: July 2, 2004
Location: Fairfield CT
Posts: 643
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally posted by 05MustangFanII@November 5, 2005, 8:06 PM
O.o; Did you just suggest Ford -not- pay retirees their retire funds, and cut medical costs to worked who are working with HEAVY MACHINERY?
O.o; Did you just suggest Ford -not- pay retirees their retire funds, and cut medical costs to worked who are working with HEAVY MACHINERY?
Medical costs are too high in this country across the board. Big companies need to lobby congress to get involved in regulating that. And yes, as I did suggest Ford stop paying retirement funds. That is an assinine work practice put into place by unions who have a strangle hold on the labor market. Why does working entitle you to a salary when you retire? I don't get a salary when i retire.
It's a ridiculous argument anyway. Ford WILL go out of business if things dont change. So will GM. So UAW can either give up some benefeits and keep their jobs, or lose their jobs alltogether. Noone is in a hurry to hire auto workers right now, so if I were them, I'd be taking door 1.
11/7/05, 09:30 AM
#48
TMS Post # 1,000,000
Serbian Steamer
Serbian Steamer
Join Date: January 30, 2004
Location: Wisconsin / Serbia
Posts: 12,630
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally posted by SVTJayC@November 7, 2005, 9:13 AM
Ford WILL go out of business if things dont change. So will GM. So UAW can either give up some benefeits and keep their jobs, or lose their jobs alltogether. Noone is in a hurry to hire auto workers right now, so if I were them, I'd be taking door 1.
Ford WILL go out of business if things dont change. So will GM. So UAW can either give up some benefeits and keep their jobs, or lose their jobs alltogether. Noone is in a hurry to hire auto workers right now, so if I were them, I'd be taking door 1.
11/7/05, 11:10 AM
#49
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: July 2, 2004
Location: Fairfield CT
Posts: 643
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
you keep thinking that. a company can only lose hundred of millions of dollars in so many quarters. combined with their junk credit status, the money to bail them out wont come from banks. At $8, their stock is in the hands of daytraders now.
Ford isnt in quite the mess that GM is in, but they aren't far off.
"Introducing the new Toyota Camaro!"
At least the T-Tops won't leak now.
Ford isnt in quite the mess that GM is in, but they aren't far off.
"Introducing the new Toyota Camaro!"
At least the T-Tops won't leak now.
11/7/05, 08:41 PM
#51
Cobra R Member
Join Date: March 18, 2004
Posts: 1,502
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
hehehe, burn!!
I don't actually know much about this... but i thought people receive a pension after years of paying into a pension fund off of every pay check. Call it communism, but a lot of people simply would not have the means to support themselves after they're retired, I'm thinking especially the types of people who are working on an assembly line.
Retirement costs should be balanced by lower wages, since money is coming out of the pay checks to fund the pensions. But there's a problem when the workforce now is less than it used to be, meaning that the current smaller workforce has to support the larger previous workforce that are going into retirement. Obviously the automaker can't actually cut the wages of the current workforce that much, so the money for the pensions ends up actually coming out of the pockets of the company.
Really what should've gone down is that when all these retiring guys were working, they should've been contributing more to the retirement fund, ford wasn't preparing properly.
As for health care... ya you guys should definitely check out what we've got going up north. I can't believe what it would be like to hesitate going to a doctor to check something out because it would cost too much.
I don't actually know much about this... but i thought people receive a pension after years of paying into a pension fund off of every pay check. Call it communism, but a lot of people simply would not have the means to support themselves after they're retired, I'm thinking especially the types of people who are working on an assembly line.
Retirement costs should be balanced by lower wages, since money is coming out of the pay checks to fund the pensions. But there's a problem when the workforce now is less than it used to be, meaning that the current smaller workforce has to support the larger previous workforce that are going into retirement. Obviously the automaker can't actually cut the wages of the current workforce that much, so the money for the pensions ends up actually coming out of the pockets of the company.
Really what should've gone down is that when all these retiring guys were working, they should've been contributing more to the retirement fund, ford wasn't preparing properly.
As for health care... ya you guys should definitely check out what we've got going up north. I can't believe what it would be like to hesitate going to a doctor to check something out because it would cost too much.
11/8/05, 08:30 AM
#52
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: July 2, 2004
Location: Fairfield CT
Posts: 643
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally posted by 05MustangFanII@November 7, 2005, 5:01 PM
Are you just bitter because you own a Contour...?
Are you just bitter because you own a Contour...?
AHAHAHA, this coming from a 6 hole mustang owner means a lot. Usually my "contour" can only stick to smoking cars like yours on an auto-x course. In your case, it could even light you up at the drag strip. Now THAT, is sad. When you get the scratch together to buy the V8, you let me know. Until then, you and your hertz-mobile should stay away from ragging on someone elses car.
11/8/05, 08:37 AM
#53
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: July 2, 2004
Location: Fairfield CT
Posts: 643
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally posted by mustang_sallad@November 7, 2005, 9:44 PM
hehehe, burn!!
I don't actually know much about this... but i thought people receive a As for health care... ya you guys should definitely check out what we've got going up north. I can't believe what it would be like to hesitate going to a doctor to check something out because it would cost too much.
hehehe, burn!!
I don't actually know much about this... but i thought people receive a As for health care... ya you guys should definitely check out what we've got going up north. I can't believe what it would be like to hesitate going to a doctor to check something out because it would cost too much.
No thanks. Im happy with what we have here. Jobs. Mooching off the gov't to solve all your problems and paying 60% income tax to do it, is just so passe'
Your Dr.'s may be free up there, but if you were a GOOD Dr. in the top of your field, where would you go? To a place where the govt made the decisions on what you could do/charge, or the free market? yup, me too.
Having the gov't act to limit frivolous lawsuits and corruption to lower costs is one thing. Having the gov't tell me what i can charge, where i can practice, etc is another. We don't do the socialist thing here.
I don't 100% trust the gov't to process my tax forums correctly, the last thing I want beaurocrats doing is taking care of my health.
eace: 
11/20/05, 04:59 PM
#57
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: January 30, 2004
Posts: 501
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Found this in the Cleveland Plain Dealer today, page F11
Ford considering racier Fusion version
The SVT performance group of Ford Motor Co. is considering a racier version of the midsize Fusion sedan.
"It would seem like a logical extension," said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's director of advanced product creation.
"But we have to look at the future, to see how Fusion overlaps with Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr and to see how we are doing with factory capacity."
Thai-Tang said that Ford probably wouldn't bring out a Fusion SVT until a few years into the Fusion's life cycle, when initial demand for the standard vehicle has tapered off.
Ford considering racier Fusion version
The SVT performance group of Ford Motor Co. is considering a racier version of the midsize Fusion sedan.
"It would seem like a logical extension," said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's director of advanced product creation.
"But we have to look at the future, to see how Fusion overlaps with Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr and to see how we are doing with factory capacity."
Thai-Tang said that Ford probably wouldn't bring out a Fusion SVT until a few years into the Fusion's life cycle, when initial demand for the standard vehicle has tapered off.
11/21/05, 08:48 AM
#58
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: July 2, 2004
Location: Fairfield CT
Posts: 643
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ha, a few YEARS until initial demand has tapered...that's a tad optimisitc for an underpowered 4 dr sedan, don't ya think? Especially when Mazda offers a higher quality version of the same car for the same price.
11/21/05, 09:47 AM
#59
Cobra R Member
Join Date: March 18, 2004
Posts: 1,502
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
ya... a few years, that's a while. Well i guess we'll be getting awd and hybrid maybe next year? And then the Fusion GT the year after that? And then SVT?? I dunno, i thought it was pretty sweet how like a year after the mustang came out, we started hearing about a crazy 500hp svt stang, giving us the top dog stang as pretty much the first variation. I dunno, I would say put out the SVT now, so that the regular car banks off this relation to a super sedan... maybe save the Fusion GT for when interest starts to wayne... (sp??!)
I don't think demand is gonna taper as fast as you say though, Jay. Its a pretty cool looking car, and I really can't see how 221hp is under powered for a car like this. Our standards for power have gotten ridiculous over the last 5 or so years. Either way, the Fusion has more power than the V6 camry, the sonata, the malibu... and if this thing gets the 35 next year, it'll put it in the same range as the Altima and the Accord V6's.
An SVT fusion'll be sweet and i'm sure we'll see it some time in the next couple years. But the base fusion is gonna sell well for a while. In the mean time ford should spend its money on other cars that need it more, like the 500, the focus. They could use an SVT focus more than a fusion at this point.
I don't think demand is gonna taper as fast as you say though, Jay. Its a pretty cool looking car, and I really can't see how 221hp is under powered for a car like this. Our standards for power have gotten ridiculous over the last 5 or so years. Either way, the Fusion has more power than the V6 camry, the sonata, the malibu... and if this thing gets the 35 next year, it'll put it in the same range as the Altima and the Accord V6's.
An SVT fusion'll be sweet and i'm sure we'll see it some time in the next couple years. But the base fusion is gonna sell well for a while. In the mean time ford should spend its money on other cars that need it more, like the 500, the focus. They could use an SVT focus more than a fusion at this point.
11/21/05, 01:12 PM
#60
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: July 2, 2004
Location: Fairfield CT
Posts: 643
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I dunno. I can't see Ford being able to juggle performance, build quality, and price, and compete with Nissan/Honda/Toyota. It is a nice looking car, but that's all. It's using a 12 yr old engine that was underpowered 3 yrs ago, and is now on its last gasp. What is the motivation to buy one now vs waiting?