fuzzymoomoo Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 If this happened.... would Ford possibly increase Fusion production to maintain dealer supply of fusions during the production break? They are doing that to a degree now with the Focus. Problem is based on what I see they dont really seem to know what it is they want. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Ford's had $4,000 rebates on the Focus for a while now with $3,500 on the ST's in order to support the ballooning inventory on dealer lots. They've also promised to keep the rebates high to help support sales over the next year. Of course, most dealers finance their inventory via floorplan credit lines so there's that cost for dealers along with all the space these Focus' are taking up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Average transaction price Average transaction price Is there an echo in here? . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 (edited) This explains why Lincoln's numbers have been down so much the first 3 months of the year: http://www.autoverdict.com/ford/lincoln/lincoln-cutting-fleet-business-as-it-focuses-on-residuals/ http://www.autonews.com/article/20180408/RETAIL01/180409743/lincoln-fleet-sales Lincoln has quietly curtailed its fleet business this year to protect residual values and follow through on Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Hackett's orders to improve the company's operational fitness, according to executives.The luxury brand, whose Town Car and Continental have long been associated with airport and hotel livery services, will continue selling to those commercial businesses, Robert Parker, Lincoln's director of marketing, sales and service, told Automotive News. But the brand has cut deliveries to daily rental companies such as Hertz and Avis and has dialed back on providing company cars, both internally and to other businesses, as part of its commercial fleet sales, Parker said. "Those are very deliberate efforts to really focus on residual values as our new products come out," Parker said on the sidelines of the New York auto show. "What happens is those cars come back in six to 12 months. That's problematic on our residual values because that's when all the depreciation occurs. The longer they stay out, the better." Lincoln's daily rental sales are down 27 percent through the first quarter, according to Ford data. Last year, daily rental represented 9 percent of the company's overall sales. The brand's commercial fleet business represented 2 percent of sales, while sales to government agencies is virtually nonexistent. "Fleet hasn't been a huge part of our business," Parker said. "But it's not insignificant." The move to protect the brand's residual values is all the more important as officials see a rise in leasing rates as millennials opt for monthly payments over outright purchases, Parker said. ... Per-vehicle incentive spending in the first quarter declined $280 from the same period a year ago for Lincoln but rose about $790 for the overall luxury segment, Ford said. Lincoln's average transaction price was up $6,200 in the first quarter, compared with a $460 rise for the luxury segment, according to Ford. ... And Navigators continue to sell nearly as fast as the company can build them. Retail sales in March grew an eye-popping 101.6 percent from a year earlier to 1,711, and 80 percent of sales were of the top two most expensive trim levels. Transaction prices rose $25,600 from the same period a year ago, Ford said. Edited April 9, 2018 by rmc523 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 And you guys said Hackett wasn't doing anything good. This plus the new Aviator which doesn't seem to have any compromises are good signs for Lincoln. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 And you guys said Hackett wasn't doing anything good. This plus the new Aviator which doesn't seem to have any compromises are good signs for Lincoln. Seems like the similar path to what Cadillac has done with reducing fleet sales (though they ma be backtracking on that some), just Lincoln had a lower starting point, so it looks worse. So this plus lower incentive spending explains the drop - we knew there was some sort of explanation for it - sales don't drop by nearly 1/3 overnight for no reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 I just saw on the Walking Dead last night Lincoln offering some sort of special financing for the MKX-but its getting replaced in a few months anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 I just saw on the Walking Dead last night Lincoln offering some sort of special financing for the MKX-but its getting replaced in a few months anyways. Yeah, they've been running that MKX ad with the McConoughey voiceover (not the debut one, this doesn't show him, and only talks about how it has more power than the RX) for a couple weeks now. Struck me as odd too with it being replaced, but I guess they're trying to eek out the last few sales before that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assimilator Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Yeah, I keep seeing that MKX ad with the voiceover, it's somewhat unusual for them to run a national commercial promoting incentives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Probably trying to clear as much inventory as they can before the name is retired and it becomes much harder to do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2b2 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 And you guys said Hackett wasn't doing anything good. This plus the new Aviator which doesn't seem to have any compromises are good signs for Lincoln. Hatchet started less than a year ago (announced May 22) dunno how much he had to do with the Aviator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 From all reports the Aviator program was put on hold and Hackett got it back on the fast track. I also suspect without Hackett they might have cut corners on features and performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assimilator Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 (edited) Nah, much of this is just myth. We've known for nearly 4 years that Aviator was arriving for 2020. I think anything planned from now until 2020 is still on it's original timeline, it's the products that come afterwards that might have been given a definitive go a little more quickly with Hackett. Every step today is 3-4 years down the line. Edited April 9, 2018 by Assimilator 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Nah, much of this is just myth. We've known for nearly 4 years that Aviator was arriving for 2020. I think anything planned from now until 2020 is still on it's original timeline, it's the products that come afterwards that might have been given a definitive go a little more quickly with Hackett. Every step today is 3-4 years down the line. They were most definitely planning to delay the new Explorer and keep using the current version for several more years. I don't know for sure if that also applied to Aviator but I would guess it was both. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 They were most definitely planning to delay the new Explorer and keep using the current version for several more years. I don't know for sure if that also applied to Aviator but I would guess it was both. it was both. They had to use more outside suppliers for engineering on the Aviator than they wanted to to get it back on track for its original target release. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 We know Fields delayed Explorer by at least 1 year. It's likely that Aviator was delayed too. What we don't know is if Aviator was originally scheduled ahead or after Explorer, and how that plays into the current release timing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2b2 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 We know Fields delayed Explorer by at least 1 year. It's likely that Aviator was delayed too. What we don't know is if Aviator was originally scheduled ahead or after Explorer, and how that plays into the current release timing. *fwiw* there was a spreadsheet floating around some circles back in late-summer of 2016 (months before San Luis Potosí was cancelled (just for reference)) that showed U611-Aviator and Explorer coming out about the same time at the beginning of 2019cy... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assimilator Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 (edited) The reality is that several CD6 CAR projects were delayed/dropped with Field which may have been reinforced under Hackett, but the utilities were always on track for their current timeline. But so much has been in development for a long time that's tied to the new architectures arriving around 2020, especially their "Kick Ass Hybrids" as I've been calling them. So we may actually be facing longer delays on certain projects but a greater focus on utilities and more hybrids/Electrics post 2020. Hackett is really just the manager on these board decisions and he's mostly in charge of improving their operations, not dramatically reshaping them. He really isn't a Mullally type character this time that has to salvage a company from scratch, they've been lining up these projects for a long time and they just need to bridge the gap years before everybody has a meltdown. Edited April 9, 2018 by Assimilator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 The reality is that several CD6 CAR projects were delayed/dropped with Field which may have been reinforced under Hackett, but the utilities were always on track for their current timeline. But so much has been in development for a long time that's tied to the new architectures arriving around 2020, especially their "Kick Ass Hybrids" as I've been calling them. So we may actually be facing longer delays on certain projects but a greater focus on utilities and more hybrids/Electrics post 2020. Hackett is really just the manager on these board decisions and he's mostly in charge of improving their operations, not dramatically reshaping them. He really isn't a Mullally type character this time that has to salvage a company from scratch, they've been lining up these projects for a long time and they just need to bridge the gap years before everybody has a meltdown. Fuzzy just told us that they needed more outside contractors to get Aviator back on track, so it and Explorer were definitely delayed by Fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Fuzzy just told us that they needed more outside contractors to get Aviator back on track, so it and Explorer were definitely delayed by Fields. He is right in that it wasnt a long delay, only a couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 He is right in that it wasnt a long delay, only a couple of years. He said there was never any delay on Explorer/Aviator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 He said there was never any delay on Explorer/Aviator. Right. To most people a year or 2 isnt really a delay at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Right. To most people a year or 2 isnt really a delay at all. A year or two on a 4 year project is an eternity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 A year or two on a 4 year project is an eternity. Believe me, I know. Ranger is still 7 months out and it still feels like an eternity 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 A year or two on a 4 year project is an eternity. Compounded by the fact the existing product has been around for 7-8 years as of TODAY, and will be up to 9-10 by the time the replacement arrives. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.