http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/25/o...ocus-rs-plans/

 

300HP and AWD...

 

Stuff like this has to drive you nuts. "A business case couldn't be made". Come on. People want performance cars. You build that thing and people will buy it. Bring it to the US and they'll DEFINITELY buy it.

I've got your sound business case.....right here.

 

True, but if Ford doesn't make money on them, what's the point of building them?

I was recently reading an article on Thunderbolt and article said that Ford was losing over $2,000 on each Thunderbolt sold. Sure, it was a great car, but what did Ford get from Thunderbolt? Then only lost money.

 

You talking about the Fairlane Thunderbolt?

 

Yep.

Are there any other Thunderbolts from Ford?

 

Not that I know of, though you got my hopes up when you mentioned it. I didn't expect anyone to mention a forty year old car, so I assumed you knew of something new.

 

I just wanted to give an example that, no matter how great the car is, the company will not produce it if they're gonna lose money on it.

 

Same reason ProDrive never put the P2 in production. The costs of building up an infrastructure to manufacture and distribute would have far exceed any realistic profit forecast from the P2. Of course, now that they have AM's infrastructure to use, things may change...

 

My guess is that the RS Focus' demise owes a great deal to the death of future Volvo R cars plans. Without an S40R model the Focus RS would have to sink or swim on it's own engine wise, and that certainly hurt the business case.

 

So far over 40 years of positive press..

One of the most popular toy cars is the Thunderbolt, after all these years, nobody gives a **** about the Fairlanes that came with a straight six, if only Ford realized what these kinds of vehicles do for the company.

It's not that there isn't a buiness case, it's that Ford has no business sense.

 

I didn't say anything bad about Thunderbolt, I just said that Ford lost money on them.

 

I know dude..

 

Ford Europe do not currently offer a AWD drivetrain, so kitting out a production line to do this would have been prohibitively expensive. I think that we may well see a revamped ST, although it will probaly use the 215hp lump and be 2wd.

Ford Europe and Ford USA do not talk to each other very well, and as such, the European division looks after itself. With the cost of fuel in Europe being as high as it is (roughly double the USA cost), the potential demand for a 300hp car is not sufficient enough.

I fully beleive the exec who said "A business case could not be made", as it can't.

 

It's back . . . . .

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/secret_...sid=818&page=1

 

That's all well and good, but the U.S. market won't be getting one - again. The MkIII had BETTER have that version available for the U.S. - the scores of WRX/STI's and Lancer Evolutions I see all over the place should be proof enough there is a market for these kinds of cars.

 

28000 L price... ouch. i know that the conversion rate doens't quite work out for the rpice of a vehicle selling here. but still thats pretty expensive.