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mackinaw

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Posts posted by mackinaw

  1. 3 hours ago, Andrew L said:

    My friend's dad had one for many years and used to always say I BOUGHT IT AFTER THEY FIXED IT!!! ITS A GOOD CAR!!

     

    I had a Pinto in the early 70's back during my college years.  1971 green hatchback, 2.0L four with a 4-speed tranny.  It was a good little car.  Economical, fun to drive, and reliable.  I only have good memories of that car, though Michigan winter road salt did a number on the body.  

    • Like 1
  2. 1 hour ago, Bob Rosadini said:

    You guys don't get it.  Ford Pro is where it is at now- that is the big money maker.....

     

    Absolutely.  From a recent Detroit News article:  "Ford Pro alone increased its operating income to $7.2 billion in 2023 by 81% with a 12.4% operating margin, even with a slower Super Duty truck production ramp-up with a new quality check process and a United Auto Workers strike. It's forecasting $8 billion to $9 billion in 2024 and a mid-teens margin."

     

    “I remember a time when Fiat owned Ferrari, and I had a valuation of about $4 billion on it,” said Adam Jonas, analyst at investment bank Morgan Stanley, while posing a question to Ford CEO Jim Farley during a recent earnings call. “Now, Ferrari is worth $80 billion today, and the business was totally ignored by investors when it was part of Fiat. Now, Ford's Ferrari, it's called Ford Pro. And I think we agree, people are ignoring the cash cow.”

  3. 1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said:

    Yeah basically this would be a case of only betting the amount of money I was comfortable with losing because that company has such an uncertain future at the moment. 

     

    In case you haven't seen this yet, Fisker has suspended EV production for the next six weeks.  On the other hand, they're rumored to be linking up with some OEM (rumored to be Nissan).  So who knows what to make of this company.

     

    https://www.wired.com/story/fisker-suspends-electric-vehicle-production/

  4. 1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said:

    So the limit for the e-cvt is around 300 lb ft and 400 hp, interesting. 

     

    From memory, the Ford Five Hundred (circa 2005) had a CVT transmission mated to the 3.0L V6 in the AWD models.  I remember reading that it was a "high torque" CVT.  It was expensive to produce, so was dropped in favor of a more conventional auto tranny at some point.

  5. 2 hours ago, Rick73 said:

    Reports indicate R2 won’t be available until first half of 2026, which is two years away.  R3 will likely follow by another year.  If Rivian only has 18 months of money left, they will be hurting unless they secure additional funding.  

    I was reading elsewhere this afternoon that one reason Rivian delayed their planned Georgia plant was because it save them 2.25 billion dollars, which will buy them one more year.

    • Like 1
  6. 1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said:

    Quite a few brands have followed Ford's lead of killing off their passenger cars all together, or reducing investment in them in favor of developing more utilities. Ford beat most of their rivals to the punch, but years on, we're beginning to see a greater number of lifestyle oriented utilities going on sale.......

     

    You have to give Sergio credit for that.  Fiat Chrysler stopped selling compact and mid-size sedans back in 2016.  Ford followed suit in 2019.

  7. 19 minutes ago, DeluxeStang said:

    But getting married and having kids is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, at least among American youth. Marriage and child birth rates are dropping like a stone, especially amongst younger people. So there's becoming less and less of a need for something with more utility. When you don't need the space of an SUV, and prefer the looks of a sedan or coupe, many people will stick with sedans or coupes....

     

    But there were still over 3,600,00 births in the US last year.  That's a lot of babies.

  8. 2 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

    It seems like they're pushing for a 25-30k price point on those EVs. That's insane, I don't know how they're gonna pull it off. 

     

    A $25,000 BEV is now the price of admission into the EV game.  There was an excellent article in the Detroit News on this topic that , unfortunately, is behind a paywall. Luckily, I subscribe.  Some quotes: "As a result, a profitable $25,000 EV has become a golden egg in the industry. Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk says the Texas-based company will have an EV at that price point soon. Tavares points to the slim-margin Citroën ë-C3, a hatchback built in Slovakia from the French brand not sold in the United States whose mid trim is about $25,000 (23,300 euro), as an achievement. And Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley says the Dearborn automaker is working as quickly as possible to bring a new low-cost EV platform to market that could support a vehicle priced as low as $25,000."  

     

    "To get mainstream customers interested, the $25,000 price tag is a good target, experts say, and it can be attainable.  “The question is for a first-generation $25,000 EV for the U.S. market: What compromises will they have to make?” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal e-mobility analyst at market research firm Guidehouse Inc. “How much range will they have to give up to get to that $25,000, or what features will they have to give up?"

     

    "Given such few $25,000 options even among traditional vehicles, the question then arises if there is a market for affordable EVs. Colin Langan, analyst at Wells Fargo & Co., recently questioned whether one exists beyond an alternative for buyers in the used market.  “New car buyers usually buy for the status of it,” he said last month during the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Automotive Insights Symposium. “To get the price point low, you need a really small battery and less weight, and I just don't know that the market is there. It doesn't mean there's not a huge market in China, or there's not a market in Europe. But to do a $25,000 vehicle, it needs to be right now very small."  As a result, executives and experts say to have a slate of desirable and affordable EVs, there need to be changes in the supply chain, advances in manufacturing processes and developments in battery technology such as with cheaper materials."

     

    Much more here, if you subscribe:  https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2024/02/21/affordability-auto-industry-25000-dollar-ev/72574561007/

     

     

  9. 1 hour ago, Deanh said:

    heres the kicker....they havent produced anything barring ONE vehicle yet , and not gung ho by any account...so, by my books thats a potential loss savings of approx 30k per unit....at least right now. If I was them Id definitely be apprehensive...and I think the very reason they DID invest in that plant was pressure from Stockholders no? ( correct me if Im wrong ) ....the stockholders most likely read all the hype as well and bought into it....thank GOD Ford still has their ICE vehcles as a foundation....

     

    The pressure came from the investment community.  Five years ago, influential Wall Street analysts, like Adam Jonas (Morgan Stanley), predicted the EV wave would be like a tsunami.  He was predicting mass adoption of EV's in a matter of a few years.  If your company wasn't seen as investing in EV's, then it had no future.  So, fearful that they would lose investors, every manufacturer fell in line and developed EV's.  Fast forward to 2024, and the mass adoption of EV's is moving at a much slower rate than anyone expected (outside of Akio Toyoda).  As is always the case, the marketplace has the final word.    

    • Like 3
  10. 2 hours ago, Dequindre said:

    Stellantis is looking pretty good right now for developing a vehicle architecture that can accommodate EV, PHEV, and ICE powertrains,......

     

    Which will end up being one gigantic compromise.  EV's and ICE are just too different to think that one generic platform can do each drivetrain justice.

    • Like 2
  11. From the Detroit News:

     

    Bill Ford Jr., executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., will be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in September alongside six other industry veterans, the Dearborn nonprofit said Friday.  Ford is the great-grandson of Henry Ford, who founded the Dearborn automaker 120 years ago. Since becoming executive chairman a quarter of a century ago, Ford has overseen the company through tumultuous periods in the industry from when it staved off bankruptcy during the Great Recession to the ongoing historic transformation toward zero-tailpipe-emission vehicles.  Ford offers a "values-driven approach that demonstrates corporate responsibility and success can go hand in hand," according to a news release. "He was an early and influential advocate for sustainability and environmental responsibility, a driving force behind mobility innovation, and continues to be a champion for the revitalization of the Motor City."

     

    https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2024/02/16/automotive-hall-of-fame-induct-bill-ford-edelbrock-john-james-wendell-scott-motherson/72629064007/

    • Like 1
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