rmc523

It's crazy, because Ford quality seemed pretty good under Mulally (after he got it under control) and then it went off the rails after he left.

Sadly, a lot of people view the credit as just that - knocking $7,500 (or whatever figure per manufacturer) off the sticker price, so they go in and realize that's not true, but rather the tax credit....that'll kill interest too.

Cupholders, charging pad, and additional storage I'd guess. I wouldn't be surprised to see them embed drive modes into a menu cluster instead of having a full rotary dial for it. I understand the argument, but why don't we wait and see how they differentiate the two before panning it? Plus, they're just supposed to purposely sandbag Expedition for Navigator? I feel like there are additional tech ways they can differentiate the two as well, such as letting Navi play movies on the passenger side with some trick displays - whether they do this, we'll see, but they can certainly make changes while still having the same bones.

It's still a shame that they put more effort into another market than its home market. Especially considering they've already done the work for these products (I'm including Corsair's more extensive Chinese refresh, and to a lesser extent, Zephyr) over there, just add them here?

Not if they looked at it realistically rather than "we want this to be the answer, so lets find data that supports it." They purposely ignored factors that affect the vast majority of the population that would negatively impact EV sales just to fit the mantra of EV sales will take over immediately. Also, going from relative 0 to where were at now was obviously going to be easier (massive growth rates) than shifting the entire industry/market overnight like they were predicting. It truly never made sense, even if they wanted it to. (Most) Tesla fans/buyers do not represent the industry as a whole - there's a lot of "Tesla can do no wrong" buyers there that doesn't translate to other brands.

Ford Thought About Using Lincoln To Sell Apple Cars: Report (fordauthority.com) According to this article, there was talk of tying the Apple car to Lincoln .

It's funny, I looked at the photo again, and the dash reminds me a lot of the Flex's dash:

I do agree with the concern of differentiation. BUT, the Lincoln can do things like the Nautilus' hidden vents (controlled by the center screen), materials, etc. to differentiate. Plus, look at the leaked QX80 photos, and the Escalade refresh photos - it seems like the full width screen is coming to most vehicles, so the argument can be made that that'll just be the norm going forward?

This is a radical departure for the Expy, and you can see the Nautilus (and Navigator) full width screen peeking through at the top of that upper photo (which I actually didn't notice the first time glancing at the photo set). I'm glad to see them move away from the F-150-adjacent interior for Expy. Hopefully it'll start to make a dent in the GM triplet numbers.

The autoblog article seemed to like it a lot, and the only things he complained about were minor. I've seen a couple on the road already, and they look fantastic. I really hope that it'll catch on with more buyers.

I’ve always felt his info was true - at some point and/or that pieces of his info were true, but perhaps the pieces were put together wrong. i don’t think he’s ever made things up just to be “the source.” but what I think happens is that plans change since he got the info (we know how Ford likes to take a “spin the wheel” approach daily with its plans), so that by the time he shares it, the info - or at least parts of it - become outdated, OR that he misinterprets some things, that then result in speculation that winds up being off. The problem was he viewed his info - and perhaps more importantly, his interpretation of that info - as absolute gospel. If he were here and we for example pointed out that contractors are there now (as some have above), so his timeline doesn’t make the most sense, and that maybe some bits and pieces of what he shared may have gotten crossed up which then paint a slightly different picture than reality, he’d have gone on a tirade that none of us know what we’re talking about, his info is the only correct info, everything else is wrong.

c2 didn’t exist when they brought it over or for our 2nd generation …

Yeah i have no idea what that is

sure. But you’re already talking about some of the smallest cars on the road? At that size, id rather have a larger second trunk/frunk than lob another foot off just “because”

True about the markups. But the problem there is you had the “gotta have it”’s buying initially, which was going to wear off at some point. Unless it was production issues leading to low inventory (doesn’t seem like it), I think the “gotta have it” buyers have gotten theirs already so we’re getting into the territory of needing sustainable sales, and constantly jacking up prices for no added value is not a recipe to have sustained sales

americans don’t like small cars unless they HAVE to. Why would you take one of the smaller sized segments on the road and cut a foot off of it just “because”? people don’t want cars that small.

sure but like my earlier example a trim equipped the same exact way increases price by $8k in 2 years with little to no changes, that’s ridiculous. I loved mine too - it was also an ‘09 and had over 150k miles on it when I sold it.

I actually like the profile and look of the R3. It looks more unique vs something g like the ionic 5, which looks too 80s sci-fi

2026 Rivian R2 revealed with over 300 miles of range, 0-60 in 3 seconds - Autoblog Rivian reveals R3, R3X electric SUVs as surprise siblings to R2 - Autoblog I actually like both of them - I know the front is controversial, but I think they have a nice design language.

I think pricing has a lot to do with it - my same trim and options on Ford build and price is listed at $70,275!!! and that's before taxes, etc. Mine 2 years ago almost to the day was $62k out the door including extended warranty. And nothing has been added to justify that extra cost - maybe the Hoss3.0, but that is NOT worth an extra $8k before taxes and additions.......just insane. I'd have had to downgrade a trim or two if I was purchasing now. Yeah, I'm sure the numbers will drop back to "normal" figures, but it's nice to see the model seemingly gain some traction - Lincoln could use some positive momentum, especially with a dry upcoming pipeline aside from the warmed-over Aviator and new Navigator. I saw one on the road the other day, it looks fantastic - so odd that a press embargo would be lifted well after the vehicle went on sale to the public. It truly doesn't make sense...

Chrysler seems like a lost cause, especially with the Airflow being canceled for that weirdo looking concept. Dodge just added Hornet, and a new larger Durango is supposedly on the way (rebodied Wagoneer), with a new "Stealth" model slotting where Durango currently occupies. I'll still never understand why they broke Ram out of Dodge - it never made sense. Predictable sales? In the last 5 years, the midsize sedan segment dropped 2% overall market share (all model types). That's the opposite of predictable.

Here are the color charts. I've never seen a sales thread without any replies!

https://s201.q4cdn.com/693218008/files/doc_news/2024/Mar/04/feb-2024-ford-u-s-sales.pdf Haven't had a chance to update my charts, but i'll hopefully do that this evening... Crazy to see Ranger sold 0 last month. I remember seeing that the '24s are being held? Nautilus sales jumped 95% - it'd be awesome to see the new model take off.

Shouldn't this be in the competition section?

The problem is, they'll constantly be finding ways to do it more efficiently.....at some point you need to come out with product and THEN improve it. It's like if you want the new iPhone, you can always make an argument for "I'll wait for the next one" ....except you do that for a few years and suddenly you have an iphone 7 that barely works when they're on iphone 54......at a certain point you just need to pull the trigger and make improvements from there.