jpvbs Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Some individual dealers have "fleet" sales departments, don't they? If the local landscape company needs a new truck or two or ten, they can work with the "fleet" department at the local dealer. And when the owner of the landscape company gets a knew King Ranch, he may buy it through the fleet desk as well. Just because it is fleet doesn't mean they give them away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Our local dealer has a fleet department, and my family has bought from the fleet department head for years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHorse Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Both the local Chevy and Ford dealerships here have pretty sizeable Fleet / Commercial sales departments. Not sure how much product they move but there is always a generous number of standard white work trucks on the lots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Some individual dealers have "fleet" sales departments, don't they? If the local landscape company needs a new truck or two or ten, they can work with the "fleet" department at the local dealer. And when the owner of the landscape company gets a knew King Ranch, he may buy it through the fleet desk as well. Just because it is fleet doesn't mean they give them away.Nobody is saying that they give anything away. It's more like a bulk order discount. No matter how you add it up, there's still a difference in margin. That's all I'm saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpvbs Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Nobody is saying that they give anything away. It's more like a bulk order discount. No matter how you add it up, there's still a difference in margin. That's all I'm saying. I'm just saying not all fleet sales are equal. 10000 Dodge Dart sales to Avis gets them a huge discount. One or two Transits to Bob's plumbing not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan1 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 They'll get the F-150 inventory right just before the Super Duty goes aluminum and loses production sending the media into a frenzy again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) Cover up the difference however you want, there's still a difference in margin Fleet discount versus cash incentives or low cost leasing to retail customers, sometimes the difference gets murky and then you have all the full sized vans and their )$29K MSRP... or the myriad of Super Duty sales that have dominated the HD market in past and recent times.. Edited July 2, 2015 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005Explorer Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Explorer keeps chugging away! Ford is sure getting the most out the D3, which some claimed was a "flop platform" that should have been "killed". Well to be fair if you took the Explorer out of the mix D3 would be flopping pretty hard right now. With that said, I honestly think they could sell even more Explorers if they had the capacity to build them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Well to be fair if you took the Explorer out of the mix D3 would be flopping pretty hard right now. With that said, I honestly think they could sell even more Explorers if they had the capacity to build them. That's why MKS is dying and it's replacement is being built at a different plant (Flat Rock) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 (edited) And if the Taurus also goes there, then that's more Explorer volume, even if they keep the PI sedan around.. Another 5,000/mth of freed up volumecould make an impressive difference..... Edited July 8, 2015 by jpd80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzach Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Well to be fair if you took the Explorer out of the mix D3 would be flopping pretty hard right now. With that said, I honestly think they could sell even more Explorers if they had the capacity to build them. Maybe it was the vehicles built off of the platform that were the problem and not the platform itself so much even with its limitations. Explorer succeeded because it was the right vehicle. The 500 was boring and the freestyle was to Mich a station wagon for some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 That's why MKS is dying and it's replacement is being built at a different plant (Flat Rock) That will free up room for what, about 10-12 more Explorers per month? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 And if the Taurus also goes there, then that's more Explorer volume, even if they keep the PI sedan around.. Another 5,000/mth of freed up volumecould make an impressive difference..... A year ago, that's what it was looking like. Since then, all signs are pointing to no, that's not happening 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 That will free up room for what, about 10-12 more Explorers per month? More like 15-18 on a good month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005Explorer Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Maybe it was the vehicles built off of the platform that were the problem and not the platform itself so much even with its limitations. Explorer succeeded because it was the right vehicle. The 500 was boring and the freestyle was to Mich a station wagon for some. D3 actually makes a pretty nice SUV, but something has always looked off with it in sedan form. It looks like it was forced to do something it didn't want to do and comes across looking fat, tall and not sleek at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 D3 actually makes a pretty nice SUV, but something has always looked off with it in sedan form. It looks like it was forced to do something it didn't want to do and comes across looking fat, tall and not sleek at all. That's what happens when you use an SUV floorpan in a sedan, the seating H Point is higher and changes the look of everything. Had Ford used a separate sedan floorpan, the Taurus would probably have look more like a later S80. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Actually the use of Volvo's P2 platform debuted with the S80 sedan, that came before the XC90 started using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehaase Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Wasn't D3 based upon the XC90, not the S80? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Maybe it was the vehicles built off of the platform that were the problem and not the platform itself so much even with its limitations. Explorer succeeded because it was the right vehicle. The 500 was boring and the freestyle was to Mich a station wagon for some. Well just look at what was going on with Ford in 2000 or so...They where punch drunk off SUV sales/profit with the Explorer and the 1996 Taurus styling was a disaster...they went with something boring to play it safe and only ratcheted it up a bit with the Fusion in 2006. The 300 styling success and power output knocked them off balance, but in hindsite the 300/Charger are sorta stale with no replacement in sight and the large car market is shrinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 That will free up room for what, about 10-12 more Explorers per month? More like 15-18 on a good month You can't blame him--he was confusing the MKS with the MKT. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 (edited) Back when the 300 LX cars was released, there were screams "Ford needs a new big RWD now or else they will go out of business!!" Now, with large cars shrinking, Ford was better off to not bother. The current 300 is now as "hip" as a 1997 Grand Marquis GS with hubcaps, zzzz. Big cars still have the "grandparent" image, even if newly styled. Buyers would rather have an Explorer if paying $37K or wanting a large vehicle Explorer pays off the R&D for the D3, so i agree with "Maybe it was the vehicles built off of the platform that were the problem and not the platform itself.." D3 is good and the first versions were dull, with poor name recognition. Ford at the time seemed to not care about the Five Hundred/Freestyle. Mulally killed the dull names and ordered the current Explorer. Edited July 15, 2015 by 630land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Speak for yourself. I'm 25 and if I can't pull off a Focus, I'm getting a Taurus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Speak for yourself. I'm 25 and if I can't pull off a Focus, I'm getting a Taurus. Shouldn't you be getting a Fusion or a Mustang now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Shouldn't you be getting a Fusion or a Mustang now? Mustang just isn't practical for me at this point in my life, and Fusions built at FRAP are hard to come by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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