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Well there you go, exactly what I was hoping would happen between Ford and VW. Ford still has spare capacity at all of its North American plants except for Dearborn and Kentucky Truck. Ford recently cut shifts at Louisville and the long suffering FlatRock plant. Wayne is only running one shift for Ranger and their Mexican facilities are getting some lower volume products like Mach-E, Maverick, and the new compact pickup/utility. Oakville is also running fairly light with only Edge and Nautilus going forward. I have LONG advocated for cooperation with VW, although alliances rarely seem to work out longterm. But if it HAD to happen, Ford and VW are perfect fits. I see less benefit in a shared US alliance, but there is massive synergy in Europe and Ford needs a ton of help in China where VW dominates and Ford is absolutely lost.

I don't know - this one may have crossed the line. Edit - nah, they'll just buy the Sierra HD instead.

Not the place to continue the panther argument. Believe whatever you want to believe.

Must be using Tesla math

I don't know what it is currently but at one point earlier this year they were estimating about 125k a year. I'm sure that number has changed based on reactions in the press and social media. As for waiting, my personal rule is to wait a minimum of 6 months before buying a brand new model. I also happen to work at the plant that builds the Ranger and I can tell you they are taking it very slowly in final assembly to try and avoid some of the launch issues that has plagued Ford for the last 10 years or so. So far it's kind of working but it's VERY early in and there are still a lot of kinks to work out, but progress is being made from what I know.

Personally I would like Lincoln to get rid of the ugly "Florida Man" configurations. Usually those are the versions you find parked in the blue spaces, typically the base small wheel versions with aggressively ugly gold/beige colors you can only find on Lincolns or Camrys. I know Lincoln wants to sell cars, but nothing deflates a brand image more than a conspicuously elderly configuration dominating their image on the roads.

Ain't worth it. I made it almost 20 seconds.

https://jalopnik.com/2020-chevrolet-silverado-hd-gaze-upon-it-and-weep-1830846265 good lord

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-volkswagen/volkswagen-says-it-may-use-fords-u-s-manufacturing-capacity-idUSKBN1O32JG I still wonder how this Volkswagen thing is going to shake out for everyone.

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/12/04/2020-ford-explorer-interior-photos/ interior looks pretty good to me. Also, the pic of the exterior looks better then the previous one we had seen. It appears that this is the platinum model. Also notice it has a digital gauge cluster.

My guess is to get investors to pressure Ford into doing it. They know Ford stock has not been a boon and the investors are restless. Anything that promises better returns will get them frothing at the mouth for action.

Maybe the screen rotates!

Let’s get back on topic please.

Hm. The only US Ford plant that really has any capacity is Flat Rock, right? Well, and I guess MAP - which a potential Amarok could be that mystery 3rd vehicle (not that VW negotiations were going on back when that was rumored)?

You might as well go bang your head on the wall. You can't change his mind no matter how much data you produce. At least when you bang your head on the wall it will eventually stop hurting.

The RWD architectures fall under the same program and share similar modules, but the platform are not shared. CD6 is not based on Mustang anymore than CD4 is based on S550 just because they share a suspension design. The modules are designed to work in each platform (that includes the power packs, EPAS, Suspensions, Electrical, Safety systems, AV components, etc.). This is actually nothing new, but the way Ford is structuring their engineering teams is more efficient. Ford still doesn't believe in modular platforms, just shared "Architectures". The platform hard points are still custom for each vehicle but all the systems are sharable which is where the real complexity can come from. You can have a modular platform but a half dozen EPAS systems, that doesn't make the platform more effecient. That's actually the problem Ford had even after platform consolidation. This is actually why Ford can say they have a single "RWD Truck Architecture" even if Ranger, Bronco, Everest, F-150, SuperDuty, Expedition do NOT share the same platforms now or in the future.

Bottom line is while we here at Blue Oval forums may not like it and think it is hideous...the Chevrolet faithful will snap it up with gusto...

If it's classified as a TLO then SUB will last the duration of the layoff. In the event your unemployment benefits run out then SUB covers the difference.

What is happening with Chevy Sonic? Equinox sold 11,000 more than Escape. Definitely the biggest gap between these two, Escape has really fallen off the map in 2018. Ford recently announced they are cutting production for Escape/MKC. The Acadia/Traverse/Enclave total about 27,000, that's quite a bit more than Explorer. I know GM is facing tough times, but their SUV business really dwarfs Ford's at the moment so they do indeed look much better positioned. I'm not sure if Ford will ever be able to overtake GM or FCA utility sales, but they are working on it.

I'm not a huge fan of the 2017+ Super Duty front end (even though I own one), but it looks google times better than the Silverado HD's.

Thanks as always for posting these. As I suspected, it looks like XT4 is taking sales from XT5, rather than adding to it. XT5 benefited from being the only Cadillac crossover option, and now that it has a sibling, some of its sales will split off.

OMG. And you thought the regular Silverado was fugly.

Of more concern is the money pit called Europe. From a Morgan Stanley: "We estimate a large portion of Ford’s restructuring actions will be focused on Ford Europe, a business we currently value at negative $7 billion," Jonas wrote. "But we also expect a significant restructuring effort in North America, involving significant numbers of both salaried and hourly UAW and CAW workers." If the seven billion dollar number is true, that's a staggering amount of money. Europe and South America are Ford's biggest problems, not NA.

Sometimes it helps to read the owner's manual. Page 85:

Oh I think the bulk of sales will be conquests for sure.

Once they convert the existing plants to C2 it would be relatively easy to bring back some Focus or Fusion models to fill in production capacity. I think Focus active would be the first one.

Is there an option to change it on the instrument panel when you turn it off? My F350 has the option to change the alarm settings when I turn it off.

Gladiator will surely take some Wrangler sales too.

Wrangler sales are going up, but looking at the future when the Bronco and maybe another manufactures product is competeing against it, sales might pull back a bit and they won't need to make that many.

Looking at those sales figures, I predict GM will discontinue several more car models within the next 18 months.

In Production - Trim Line - Flat Rock Assembly Plant, MI Nov-29-2018, 00:00 EST. ETA Jan-15-2019

Funny you mention that-in the retirement development my parents live in-they have at least a half dozen beige/gold color cars on their street.

Ugh, I feel bad for anybody who bought a Focus. What a trainwre.....I mean....mess.

So that equals only about $360,000 new warranty claims before it’s over? ?

That would be the conventional thinking but it sounds like Lincoln is taking a different path with Aviator. It would not surprise me if the 3.0TT was the only engine. Explorer will certainly get a standard 2.3L and 3.3L Hybrid. The question is whether the Explorer ST gets the 2.7T, 3.0T or 3.5T.

If you ask me, a Lincoln variant of the Ranger and Bronco would be a mind numbingly stupid waste of resources.

That's a significant problem but not in the way you are framing it. I think there is enough capacity for C2, especially in Mexico. The issue is more of a political and CAW problem. Let say Nautilus moves to Chicago (because of CD6), that will leave Oakville quite exposed in terms of utilization and products. For sure, Ford is not going to build Edge there by itself. And if Edge moves to Mexico with Maverick (which is the only product right now at Cuautitlan), then it's lights off for Oakville. One of the reason Ford kept Flex and MKT in production as long as it did is because the CAW contract... Ford needed to keep the utilization up at Oakville so it might as well build zombie products. If Nautilus moves away, all bets are off on Ford continuing producing cars in Canada.

Perhaps this deserves its own topic but I think Lincoln can probably move Nautilus up market somewhat and reap higher transaction prices. Part of that move may require the model to switch to longitudinal powertrain to handle more power and join the 10 speed PHEV club. The current Ford Explorer is 198" long. If you assume Aviator is couple of inches longer as cars tend to grow when they are redesigned, you can see how Aviator could end up being about 200~202" long. That would mean it is roughly the same size as Q7, X7, and GLS. Model - Length Audi Q7 200" // Q8 195" BMW X7 203" // X5 194" Mercedes GLS 202" // GLE 194" Lincoln Aviator ?? // Nautilus 191" Q8/X5/GLE are all new for 2019 so they are one-generation ahead of Nautilus. So you can see that there is plenty of room for Lincoln to make it into a little bigger and more luxurious and power-oriented offering.

Mechanically, it will be a Transit Connect truck... Ford has no problem getting good money for Transit Connect now, and I'm guessing this truck will easily get higher transaction price than most non-PHEV Fusion. Plus you have to consider the fact that Ford is building it in Mexico. There is no reason to build it in Mexico unless you intend to sell it in the US. Also don't forget, there will be a CUV related to this truck.

I doubt that is the case. There is no reason to saddle C2 with all the stuff that will be needed to handle 600 lb-ft of torque. The reason CD6 and C2 are two different thing is all because the investments around the 10 speed longitude transmission and RWD (read F-150) hybrid system. Since none of the C2 vehicles that I can imagine will ever need 10 speed auto arranged in longitudinal orientation to avoid torque steer, there is basically no reason to marry the C2 and CD6 programs together. The very fundamental problem is the placement of the firewall... C2 doesn't need all that room between the front wheel axle and the dash to account for longitude engine placement. As to whether Edge and Nautilus will be C2 or CD6... I don't know. There is business case to be made for either. If Aviator is lined up to compete with Audi Q7, BMW X7, and Mercedes GLS (it seems that way based on dimension... all 4 vehicles all roughly 200" long) , then we'd fully expect Nautilus to engage with Q8, X5, and GLE - and RWD + 10 speed seems like a decent bet. However, on the other hand, Ford really doesn't need the higher cost baked into RWD and fancy PHEV option if most of the Edge sold will be equivalent to the exiting 2.0 EB... it seems more likely it will continue to have transverse engine and more mass market appeal. Perhaps the answer is that they go their separate ways... Nautilus become more like a 5 seat Aviator while Edge remains what it is today.

It only counts when you take delivery.

FCA sold 181,310 vehicles / 25% fleet Ford sold 196,303 / 25.9% fleet Driving FCA are Jeep and Ram, which is why Ford wishes to be more like them. http://www.autonews.com/article/20181203/RETAIL01/181209930

I think the Corvette logo has a Chevy badge in it, but that could easily be removed.

Prefamulated Amulite - I think that's the replacement for CGI.

I'm glad to see the Evos name being utilized. The name, and concept car itself, both sparked a lot of interest when it debuted.

if anything, Camaro could go to (shudder) Buick and Corvette to Cadillac....or, just debadge the Chevrolet logo and just sell 'em as a GM Camaro and GM Corvette available to ALL dealers.

Maybe they wouldn't sell a bunch here in the USA, but by being built in Mexico, they can export them to Brazil and other South American markets and that would keep that plant humming for years...and since the supplier of parts and assemblies may also come from USA and Canadian plants...that is a plus for our workers.