fordmantpw Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 268 MKTs? I can't see that thing doing any better once the 2016 Explorer Platinum rolls into the dealerships. I think it might be time to axe the Flex and the MKT. I just don't see how they justify additional investment and I think the redesigned 2016 Explorer will be the final nail in the coffin of those two. Is 2016 the last year for those two? I just don't see how many more years they can hang on. Will they even see a 2016 model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 268 MKTs? I can't see that thing doing any better once the 2016 Explorer Platinum rolls into the dealerships. I think it might be time to axe the Flex and the MKT. I just don't see how they justify additional investment and I think the redesigned 2016 Explorer will be the final nail in the coffin of those two. Is 2016 the last year for those two? I just don't see how many more years they can hang on. The funny thing is a lot of people will argue that the Flex and MKT are much better packaged then the Explorer and they are actually a lot roomier family vehicles, but the Explorer completely destroys them in sales. Is it the name or the SUV style? Not sure, but they finally built a very successful D3 utility... It did take three tries. I don't see them getting any additional investment....however, I don't see them just all of the sudden dropping them either, even despite the Explorer refresh. I think we'll see them both survive until CD6 arrives. Because at that point, Explorer will be getting replaced by a new model, and Lincoln would get an Aviator off of it. Also by that time, Taurus and MKS will have already moved on to CD4 (unless there's a surprise CD6 unveiling). That will leave no other products on D3/4, meaning their continuation is unnecessary. So, in other words, I think Flex and MKT survive without much (if anything) in the way of upgrades (aside from perhaps SYNC 3) until the final transition away from D3/4 happens around 2018-19 simply because of the shared platform (and yes, I know they're at different factories). Will they even see a 2016 model? See thoughts above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Ford will probably continue to sell Flex and MKT as long as they have the capacity to make a few hundreds of them a week at Oakville. Flex is still selling at ~1,600 units a month without any advertising or much incentives so it is probably a positive contribution to operating margin. Ford will turn off the lights on them when one of the drivetrain components are phased out across the board (e.g. retirement of first generation 3.5 V6 or the 6 speed auto) If sales of MKX and Edge swamps Oakville capacity, then Flex and MKT will get an early axe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Flex outsells the C-Max. Which do you think is more profitable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseodiaga4 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 they need to redesign MKS and MKT ASAP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 they need to redesign MKS and MKT ASAP! The MKS replacement is coming before the end of this year or well will be shown off before the end of the year. The MKT is going to just wither on the vine till the CD6 replacement comes along...based on the next gen Explorer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgts Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 The MKS replacement is coming before the end of this year or well will be shown off before the end of the year. The MKT is going to just wither on the vine till the CD6 replacement comes along...based on the next gen Explorer. This leads me to think Taurus staying on an refreshed D3 (like Explorer) till CD6 is ready for it around 19' and the MKS/Continental is the debut of CD6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) Flex outsells the C-Max. Which do you think is more profitable? I'd say Flex because it's a shared platform with higher ATPs. C-Max is a shared platform too, but doesn't cost as much. Edited February 6, 2015 by rmc523 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I'd say Flex because it's a shared platform with higher ATPs. C-Max is a shared platform too, but doesn't cost as much. Flex ATPs are probably double C-Max ATPs with a much higher profit margin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Flex ATPs are probably double C-Max ATPs with a much higher profit margin. Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 This leads me to think Taurus staying on an refreshed D3 (like Explorer) till CD6 is ready for it around 19' and the MKS/Continental is the debut of CD6. Very doubtful...the only Taurus staying on the D3 is the PI. Do keep in mind the platform for the Taurus is over 10 years old with the last major improvement done on it in 2009 or so. Its long in tooth and not that great platform for a sedan. Ford isn't going to let it rot on the vine for another 4 years. There's been zero rumors about a sedan based CD6 platform as it stands now and the volume of the Explorer plus a Lincoln can support it profitability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 The Chinese Taurus is supposed to be on a CD4 platform. N.A. version might stay on D3 until a CD6 version is ready or it could go to the same CD4 version as the Chinese version sooner. Hard to say at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I'd say Flex because it's a shared platform with higher ATPs. C-Max is a shared platform too, but doesn't cost as much. I agree. That's why it always amazes me when people think they should just stop selling the Flex. At this point, they're printing money. Now, I fully expect it to go away when the Explorer leaves D3/4 or when they need the capacity for something else at OAC. We've been very happy with our Flex. I just wish we'd gone AWD with it, as it sucks in the snow. (Planning on getting winter tires) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schpark Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I agree. That's why it always amazes me when people think they should just stop selling the Flex. At this point, they're printing money. Now, I fully expect it to go away when the Explorer leaves D3/4 or when they need the capacity for something else at OAC. We've been very happy with our Flex. I just wish we'd gone AWD with it, as it sucks in the snow. (Planning on getting winter tires) You will be happy with it once you have winter tires. Been there done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Glad to see a couple other happy Flex owners. 80k miles on our '09 (with AWD ). I hope it sticks around long enough for us to get another one, but I don't see it happening. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 On the bottom left (after clicking 'View New Content'), select 'Filter By Forum' and pick the forums you want to see. (Years and years ago) It didn't used to remember your selections, is it persistent now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 (Years and years ago) It didn't used to remember your selections, is it persistent now? Yes, it does persist. I didn't think we had this feature until the latest update a month (ish) ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnostic Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Glad to see a couple other happy Flex owners. 80k miles on our '09 (with AWD ). I hope it sticks around long enough for us to get another one, but I don't see it happening. Love mine. '13 with 40k miles AWD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 The Chinese Taurus is supposed to be on a CD4 platform. N.A. version might stay on D3 until a CD6 version is ready or it could go to the same CD4 version as the Chinese version sooner. Hard to say at this point. Its not hard to say that, Ford isn't going to let the car rot on the vine for nearly 10 years with just a front end and rear end styling done 4 years into it. Not with all the rumors of Flat Rock retooling, etc...that would make zero sense to do...Ford isn't that stupid. They haven't done anything different with the car since 2013 and we are already near the end of the 2015 production run with just a new style of rim added to the car. The earliest we'll see the CD6 is 2017 or 2018...and why would Ford have two different restyled Tauri in the world? The current one will live the rest of its life out with updates paid by the refreshed Explorer as a PI unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgts Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Its not hard to say that, Ford isn't going to let the car rot on the vine for nearly 10 years with just a front end and rear end styling done 4 years into it. Not with all the rumors of Flat Rock retooling, etc...that would make zero sense to do...Ford isn't that stupid. They haven't done anything different with the car since 2013 and we are already near the end of the 2015 production run with just a new style of rim added to the car. The earliest we'll see the CD6 is 2017 or 2018...and why would Ford have two different restyled Tauri in the world? The current one will live the rest of its life out with updates paid by the refreshed Explorer as a PI unit. I'll say Ford isn't doing a Fusion based Taurus simply because the Explorer is not on a new platform now, new skins like Explorer (and better seats) should keep Taurus alive for a few years. The cost of having a Fusion Taurus and CD6 Taurus probably wouldn't be great since they're both on volume platforms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Yeah, I would be pretty surprised if we don't get the CD4 Taurus. It just wouldn't make sense to me. I could see them keeping the D3 PI in production for now since Chicago is still running D3 Explorer until they figure out whether to offer a future PI, but for us to keep the D3 Taurus while the rest of the world gets the CD4 one wouldn't make sense to me.....and would be an unfortunate return to pre-Mulally-esque decisions, even if it is for one product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Yeah, I would be pretty surprised if we don't get the CD4 Taurus. It just wouldn't make sense to me. I could see them keeping the D3 PI in production for now since Chicago is still running D3 Explorer until they figure out whether to offer a future PI, but for us to keep the D3 Taurus while the rest of the world gets the CD4 one wouldn't make sense to me.....and would be an unfortunate return to pre-Mulally-esque decisions, even if it is for one product. Unless it is only temporary and the new Taurus goes on the (supposed) RWD platform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Unless it is only temporary and the new Taurus goes on the (supposed) RWD platform. Ok....but that doesn't explain the Flat Rock changeover that's happening now. So they'd retool the plant to sit for a few years until CD6 comes out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Ok....but that doesn't explain the Flat Rock changeover that's happening now. So they'd retool the plant to sit for a few years until CD6 comes out? Um, yeah, I didn't think about that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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