Oh, I fully agree with you that we run a very real possibility of the GRWD platform being postponed, either initially or indefinitely. My main point was that if so, we wouldn't suffer too much, IMHO, because the S197 is so good to begin with. (Yes, there is room for improvement - there is always room for improvement.)

And I actually salute all the Fox Mustang buyers without whom we would no longer even have a Mustang! I still recall the anger I felt when Ford announced that the Mustang was to be replaced by the Probe! No more Mustangs? Sacrilege!

I tried to do my part with the SN95s, buying 3 of 'em while anxiously awaiting the '05. (Actually waited & now have an '06 GT, which I absolutely love.)

Gonna be tough, though, with the 10/11 updates. The 05-09 interior has always been a weak spot for me, which looks to be corrected and then some for '10. And if the new powertrains come out for '11, the choice between keeping and trading will become very difficult.

Because now I have the Mustang I could be satisfied with the rest of my life, after a long 30 year wait (if I could drive a 5-speed the rest of my life, that is. The way my left leg is wearing out, though, I'll likely need to give up a clutch in the next 5 years, anyway. Come on automated manual!!)

 

Man, a hybrid 650hp GT500 would be nice. I am already 14 years old, almost old enough to drive...

 

Yeaaah Aaron, pushing 40 is really getting up there alright. Just wait until you hit 50

 

No buyers remorse here, that's for sure. Although the 2010, will no doubt be a real winner. I have no intentions of giving up my current 05 GT, until at least 2014

 

That's what I mean. The current Mustang is so good that there is no real urgency to go out and buy the newest model. One can happily wait until Ford offers the right mix of styling updates, powertrain updates, and/or option updates to satisfy one's specific desires.

This hasn't been the case with the Mustang for a long, long time...

 

You guys do not think the 5.0 will be tempting? This could be Ford's best engine when it comes to HP in a long time. Who knows what can happen by 2014.

 

I was just told that Ford is calling back 1000+ workers, to their truck plants. With gas now under $2.00 per gallon, guys want their trucks! I think we are pretty safe with the new 5.0L on the way!

 

Under $2.00? What state you live in? I just paid $2.49 Here in Western NY.

 

We will see how good it really is when the competition rolls in to town. I agree the styling is fine, but this car is underpowered.

 

What competition? Chrysler is a dead man walking, and the Camaro won't ever arrive unless Congress agrees to bail out GM.

 

Sure, I'd love to have the new 5.0. But as for myself personally, my current 05 GT already has everything I want. And the last thing I need, is starting from scratch with car payments all over again.

That being said, all I'll need to do, is add either a SC or twin turbo. And I'll be pushing 400HP anyhow, plus it's a whole lot cheaper than trading up for another car.


Btw: which part of Western New York are you from ? I'm originally from Gasport myself.


"Lets go Buffalo"

 

Supposedly the Congress, and the Bushwacker are working on an agreement to get a bail out deal for both GM, and Ford. But If they can't get a deal done before Obama takes office. Obama has already stated that he wants to get a bail out agreement done !

 

It'll have to happen before Obama takes office. Bush is reluctant, but I suspect that neither does he want to be remembered as "The President Who Killed General Motors," on top of all his other mistakes.

Meanwhile, it's all over for Chrysler. Even Nissan/Renault only wanted 20% of it...and that was last month!

It really is the end game for the American auto industry.

 

Only for the "traditional" auto industry. The other automakers building cars in the U.S. are doing quite well (under the economic circumstances). At least, in comparison with the not-so-big-anymore 3.

Unfortunately, the underlying causes are so in-grained - from the top-heavy corporate structure, through design by committee, to the legacy pension and health care burden, and many more - that it may take the ultimate demise of Chrysler, Ford, and GM as we know them for the "American" auto industry to truly rebound. They are simply not structured to complete effectively in the modern economic environment.

Not that I am an advocate of their demise; far from it! As I tried to explain to my wife last night when she cheered the incipient collapse of GM, if such a thing were to occur the ripple effect through the US economy would be truly cataclysmic. So many jobs, so much economic activity is tied to GM alone that its total collapse would make the current banking and mortgage crisis look like a speed bump in comparison.

The flip side is that taxpayer bail-out would also be economically painful, at best. We're hurting now worse than any time in the past 40 years, and the more bailouts we undertake (the government doesn't bail anyone out - the taxpayers do) the longer the real recovery will take.

What the "American" automakers need to do, IMO, is to restructure as closely as they can to the current models used by Toyota, Honda, BMW, et. al. Would take a lot of union concessions (not an advocate of disbanding the unions, either, but suggest they may want to take a hard look at their contribution to the current situation), trimming middle & upper management, capping executive compensation or actually tying executive performance to profitability, somehow restructuring current pension and benefit obligations, and more. I think the first U.S. auto manufacturer to crack the code would be the most likely to thrive, let alone survive.

It's a balancing act...

 

Who knows where it will all lead--no one can predict what the domestic automobile industry's situation will be like on November 12th, 2009, just twelve months from now.

In fact, no one can confidently predict whether there will even BE a domestic automobile industry just twelve months from now.

Luckily for GM, there's still time to rename the Camaro to "Welfaro" if a government buy-out is necessary to keep GM from bankruptcy! See--there IS a silver lining around every dark cloud...

The Milan could become the "MyLoan", the G8 the "G-Man", yada yada yada.

Post some others!

Greg "Eights" Ates

 

The Challenger and Camaro will hit market in full force. Even if both GM and Chrysler where to go under, another automaker would purchase the companies and produce these cars. There is no way all this development money for a huge number of cars would go to waste. It takes a long time for a company to totally perish.

Don't know if you realize this but Ford isn't doing much better than GM and Chrysler. If your theory is correct we won't see the 10' Mustang for a long time either!

 

Don't bet your life on it. No-one is stepping in to pick up Chrysler or partner with GM. I suspect Chrysler is finished, though Jeep may find a home. The Camaro's only chance to see real production is a US government bailout. As to wasted development money...who cares? Development money goes to waste all the time.

Ford has more cash on hand, and managed to secure enough credit before the financial crisis hit to operate well into 2010. So we will definitely see the '10 Mustang. After that, it could get dicey...though if GM gets a bailout (VERY likely) so will Ford.

As a privately-held company now, I'm not sure Chrysler will be afforded the same consideration by the Congress...and it may be too far gone anyway.

 

 

$1.89 a gallon here for over a week now.

 

Exactly well put indeed, as the government will never allow Ford and GM to be purchased by non-domestic automakers, such as Nissan and Toyota.

But let's not also forget, that not only are the domestic big 3 affected by the current economic meltdown, but so is Toyota, Nissan, and BMW as well.

That being said, I feel pretty confident will see a U.S Govt. bailout for both GM and Ford, before Obama takes office in January !