http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/22/n...d-t-the-states

I just don't get it. GM finally decides to give us Americans the Holden Commodore as the Pontiac G8, is giving us the Opel Astra as a rebadged Saturn, AND is giving their main market the goodies from Europe and Australia that many car geeks are lusting after, and Ford doesn't follow suit? ProTip to Mulally: that warmed-over Focus and warmed over Five Hundred... ERRR, Taurus won't win people over. Give us the Euro Focus, Mondeo, Falcon and Fiesta ASAP. 2012 won't cut it, especially when GM is doing it NOW. Get on the ball NOW, or else I'll trade in my fantasies of a new Mustang for a 2009 Camaro, or my fantasies of a Euro Focus for a Saturn Astra (especially if the turbo hatch version gets imported), or a Falcon for a Pontiac G8. 'Cmon, Ford, you can't be THAT braindead, can you?

 

I dont think ive ever seen that many different emoticons in one post, but I definitely agree with you. Fords got a huge opportunity right now, their reliability is better than its been in years (maybe ever?), theyve got a lineup of truck engines due out relatively soon that should take them right to the top of the hill (power wise), and theyve already got sporty versions of a lot of their cars fully developed and selling in other markets that could be adapted for norht america t minimal cost. Since when was north america not a place for enthusiast cars?

 

Dang. I think the Falcon would have been a big hit in North America. I just don't get it. Ford moves too slowly in my opinion. I don't know what else to say.

edit: pictures added.

 

Ford and Chevy are both getting it wrong, with one only choosing the better of the available wrong answers. Ford Ford the answer is to completely revamp and fix Ford here at home and to begin designing and building truly great American Ford products again here in America. Importing cars or even their designs from Australia or Europe wont even provide a decent quick fix. Once North America is properly sorted the rest of the global lineup would then easily fall into place around it in any areas where it might need to.

For those destined to say it...yes, I know all the obstacles they face to accomplish this. But to put it bluntly if they can't fix the part of Ford that really is Ford, their core North American operations, then as I've stated several times before they may as well close up shop now and save themselves and us a lot of needless drama.

 

I have ceased to be at all surprised anymore at Ford's (N.A.) shortsightedness and general product planning and development ineptitude. For so long, Ford was in a food-coma like thrall from reaping in profits from trucks and SUVs, that they basically let the rest of the car line wither on the vine. Now that gas prices have pushed ever higher and the home equity ATM machine has plummeted with the housing crises, Ford has precious few truly desirable cars. The Aussie Falcon, at least in lieu of a decent and comparable N.A. designed and built car, would have filled the gap the GM is now doing so with the G8 (and inevitable Chevy and Buick models) and that Chrysler's had filled with their LM cars for some years now.

 

Sorry guys, but the idea of just importing the Falcon (even Orion) has soured to me alot recently. Ford needs successful, profitable cars and can't afford to field even a great car as a loss-leader. The key to Ford's success in the future is to use locally-developed cars on global platforms. You save R&D, you get uniform gear across your global product range, and you use those savings to make the cars they best thye can be in their market.

As for the sore lack of a RWD sedan here, look on the bright side: This could be good news for the Interceptor. The new Hunstman platform under development in Oz is almost guaranteed to be the starting point for the next Mustang. So if they're not just going to import a rebadged Falcon, they have the opportunity to build the Interceptor using Huntsman instead. We'd be sharing the same running gear, but in a car designed and built here for our tastes.

 

Hopefully, Mulally will fast track this, and quickly. A 2012 sell date would just be way behind the ball, especially considering that GM will have Zeta platform cars out within the next year, when the G8 goes on sale. Then, over the next two years or so, the Zeta will underpin the next Camaro, and possibly the next Chevy Impala and the next Pontiac GTO. Oh, and Bob Lutz teased the possibility of bringing over the Holden Commodore Ute as a GMC...
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/19/b...t-will-happen/
'Cmon, GM is about to lap Ford on the future outlook. What's it going to take to Ford into fast tracking the Huntsman project? 2012 would be too little, too late...

 

While I certainly won't argue that GM's ahead, bear in mind that the G8's just a rebadged 2-year-old car imported from Oz. GM's not setting any records getting the Camaro ('09) to market, we're not even to concept stage on a supposedly 2010 Impala yet, and we haven't heard snit about a GTO. So I'm not holding my breath that GM will have some huge, imposing RWD lineup years before Huntsman products start rolling.

 

And as you alluded to in your earlier post above GM has experienced some cost issues with Zeta. It's great that GM has cars like this coming, but if they cannot make money on them it is all for nothing.

 

You have a point there, but at least GM has Zeta cars out now and in the pipeline. What have we heard about the Huntsman lineup now? Nothing, just a bunch of rumors and hopes. Will the Huntsman form the basis of the next Mustang? Will the Interceptor reach production? Ford just has a bunch of questions as GM found their own answers. At least a few statements on something would be nice instead of uncertainty.

 

I agree that however they do it, Ford has to start showing us exiting near-future products, and they need to do it soon.

GM is debuting a new Malibu, a hot new CTS, and a forthcoming G8...with the Camaro coming soon.

Ford on the other hand is debuting a hot looking Lincoln MKR and a cool-looking Interceptor. Oh no, wait, those aren't cars that are debuting, those are concepts that are unlikely to ever be built, certainly not without being at leat 50% "dumbed down."

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ford needs to get out of the business of building concept cars and start building actual cars.

 

I'm having trouble imagining a Ford in 2012 with debacle's like the 08 Focus, and the endless delays, and the total lack of any exciting class leading product coming our way.

 

Ford Edge, i think that is a class leader.

 

I'm not sure it's the class leader, but it's definitely competitive.

The interior dash design and materials still have that "cheap" feel. They should imbue it with the new design and materials that the Flex is getting and go for a consistent brand aesthetic and quality.

I do agree that on the outside, however, the Edge is in the top tier of CUV designs.