ANTAUS Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 LINK-Detroit News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherminator98 Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics LLP says cars like the Fiesta are still European designs that are being adapted to meet changing consumer demand in the United States. He says Ford has a long way to go before it can match companies like General Motors Corp., which uses the same global platform to produce different cars for different countries. Um isn't that the whole point of what Ford is doing now? There isn't a B-sized Ford in NA. The Focus was shared with the Euro model at one point in time, the Mondeo and Fusion will be on the same platform next generation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 Um isn't that the whole point of what Ford is doing now? There isn't a B-sized Ford in NA. The Focus was shared with the Euro model at one point in time, the Mondeo and Fusion will be on the same platform next generation. Hall prefers the GM model (common platform but different styling and features tailored to a specific market) than the Ford model of using the European-designed product everywhere. At least that's how I interpreted his comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jobu37 Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 What GM cars have been NA successes under their global strategy? Obviously not the Aveo or Astra. Perhaps the Cruze will be the first but it is still a couple of years away just like the Fiesta. I don't understand what Mr. Hall is basing his positive view of GM's approach on. I may be missing something so please correct me if I am wrong. Maybe it was the GTO or G8 he is basing his view on. Those have both been out of the park homeruns (sarcasm) but all the examples I have given are vehicles imported from other countries. As far as I know GM is not building anything here based on anything from Europe or anywhere else. So in my mind it is extremely premature for this analyst to draw the conclusions on either Ford or GM's approach to global platforms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 (edited) Something that most of the US auto journalist are skipping over is that some of the options (like diesel engines) that make the small Ford products so popular in Europe will not be available in the US. Now I understand that Europe, especially England, is not the US. Our government does not "subsidize" diesel, with a lower tax rate, like England and other European countries do, but I still think this lack of diesel options will bite Ford in the rear in the long run. Especially on vehicles like the Transit Connect and the Transit. I also don't believe that Ford/Farley/Fields/Mullaly will will be able to convince the American car buying public that the the C1 Focus is a "premium small car" and should sell on par with a Mini Cooper. Mini is a "cult" vehicle and has been in the top 10 of resale value in the US for the past several years. I don't believe Ford has ever had any vehicle in the top 10 for resale value ! You can argue that Americans don't understand/appreciate the cost/value of "quality" vehicles. It still does not mean that you can sell a $35,000 Focus here !! Edited September 15, 2008 by theoldwizard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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