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Volkswagen, Ford set alliance centered on vans, pickups


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16 hours ago, bzcat said:

 

Amarok is done and we know new Ranger is coming. On the truck side of things, one thing remains unclear... Ford and VW are both working on compact pickup truck (the supposed Courier truck and VW Tarok). One of them surely has to go away now to make room for this global alliance?

 

Given the fact that Ford is going to make the TC for both companies, that would make the most sense to keep the compact pick up on the same platform from Ford. not to mention it looked pretty far along in testing-if they where talking about this in the summertime...then again we did see almost finished Mecury Freestyles before the plug was pulled on that project too. 

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3 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

Given the fact that Ford is going to make the TC for both companies, that would make the most sense to keep the compact pick up on the same platform from Ford. not to mention it looked pretty far along in testing-if they where talking about this in the summertime...then again we did see almost finished Mecury Freestyles before the plug was pulled on that project too. 

Well, it also sounds like this partnership won't start for another few years, so you could see products in development now pushed out anyway, and redesigned with the new partnership setup in a few years.  Kinda like our Ranger.

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1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

Well, it also sounds like this partnership won't start for another few years, so you could see products in development now pushed out anyway, and redesigned with the new partnership setup in a few years.  Kinda like our Ranger.

 

the new compact pickup won't be out til 2021 or so-which would line up with their agreements. 

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I know the truck market is growing in Europe so I suppose this is especially important to VW as a market leader.  Ford likely wants to get away from developing small platform vehicles entirely since Ford has a better grasp on the higher margin markets like utilities, trucks, and commercial vehicles.  I think we'll eventually see Ford address Fiesta and Focus by merging with VW development. 

Edited by Assimilator
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13 minutes ago, Assimilator said:

I know the truck market is growing in Europe so I suppose this is especially important to VW as a market leader.  Ford likely wants to get away from developing small platform vehicles entirely since Ford has a better grasp on the higher margin markets like utilities, trucks, and commercial vehicles.  I think we'll eventually see Ford address Fiesta and Focus by merging with VW development. 

Its possible, but that C platform is used for Ultilties too- that is a big sticking point. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 1/10/2019 at 1:14 PM, J-150 said:

Maybe the family is getting ready to cash out.

Considering there's a younger generation of Fords pretty involved in the company I doubt that's the case. Elena Ford, Calvin Ford and Henry Ford III all hold positions in the company and I'm sure they are not the only ones.

Elena Ford Interview 

 

Calvin and Henry Ford III interview

 

If the younger generation didn't want anything to do with it maybe it would be different, but I'm sure the older Fords like Edsel II or Bill will do all they can to keep the company independent and the family in control.

Family control for almost 120 years is actually one of the neatest things about Ford. If you do much research the family is very proud and protective of the Ford Motor Company. I don't see that changing anytime soon unless something goes completely wrong. Controlling the company Henry Ford founded is about a lot more than money for that family. That makes me proud to be a Ford driver. I don't know if it's still the case, but for generations a lot of Ford employees would tell you they work for "the Fords" not for just "Ford."

Edited by 2005Explorer
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12 hours ago, 2005Explorer said:

Considering there's a younger generation of Fords pretty involved in the company I doubt that's the case. Elena Ford, Calvin Ford and Henry Ford III all hold positions in the company and I'm sure they are not the only ones.

Elena Ford Interview 

 

Calvin and Henry Ford III interview

 

If the younger generation didn't want anything to do with it maybe it would be different, but I'm sure the older Fords like Edsel II or Bill will do all they can to keep the company independent and the family in control.

Family control for almost 120 years is actually one of the neatest things about Ford. If you do much research the family is very proud and protective of the Ford Motor Company. I don't see that changing anytime soon unless something goes completely wrong. Controlling the company Henry Ford founded is about a lot more than money for that family. That makes me proud to be a Ford driver. I don't know if it's still the case, but for generations a lot of Ford employees would tell you they work for "the Fords" not for just "Ford."

Both the Coors and Molson families were equally proud of even older family owned companies.

They merged because they could, not because they had to. Ford is one recession away from needing to sell. 

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2 hours ago, J-150 said:

Both the Coors and Molson families were equally proud of even older family owned companies.

They merged because they could, not because they had to. Ford is one recession away from needing to sell. 

Yeah, but selling peewater isn't the same thing as putting America (and the world) on wheels.

Which of those three companies can claim to be the reason that Americans (and all civilized people ;)) drive on the right side of the road? I'll give you a hint: it was the one who built and sold the Model T, which had its steering wheel on the left side...

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10 minutes ago, SoonerLS said:

Yeah, but selling peewater isn't the same thing as putting America (and the world) on wheels.

Which of those three companies can claim to be the reason that Americans (and all civilized people ;)) drive on the right side of the road? I'll give you a hint: it was the one who built and sold the Model T, which had its steering wheel on the left side...

"What have you done for me lately"

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4 hours ago, J-150 said:

Both the Coors and Molson families were equally proud of even older family owned companies.

They merged because they could, not because they had to. Ford is one recession away from needing to sell. 

 

1 hour ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

That's the same reason the Busch family merged Annheiser-Busch with InBev. 

Fellas, remember that the Ford family is especially tight with the Firestone family yet they are separate to the point where Firestone is now part of Bridgestone... 

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The beer dynasties example is precisely why it won't happen to Ford, not for a long time anyway. Ford scions are still working at the company, including its Chairman. Molson, Coors, Annheiser-Busch were partially family owned but not family run.

Also another important distinction is the capital structure. Ford has two class of stock and the Ford family owns the the one with voting rights. Outside investors can't muster enough influence to force the family to consider a sale. Not yet anyway.

Bill Ford will eventually retire and I'm not sure if another Ford will be Chairman at that point. And with long enough time where shareholdings are passed thru inheritance, eventually there will be a large enough group of restricted stock holders that may want to cash out.

Edited by bzcat
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On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 1:00 PM, fuzzymoomoo said:

You're best off putting him on ignore. He says ridiculous stuff like that all the time. 

I was making fun of fan boys [Biker** or TTAC], not you or most on BON, expecting a "savior" to bring Ford's cars back from the dead.

Anyway, it is interesting to see all the speculation some thinking a VW unibody pickup for Ford in trade for VW EV's.

If they can work things out, then Ford would specialize in trucks and VW would be "people movers" and share platforms. Even in EU, wagons/hatches are slipping in favor of CUV's, much to chagrin of "car guys" thinking gas taxes should go up to "force" drivers into manual trans station wagons.

Edited by 630land
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