jpd80

For me, it’s Lightning Blue, Everest looks great in it too…

Tesla is being enigmatic about this, the basis of the 2 being low cost was changed construction process. I assume that was cutting out more time consuming steps in the body shop area, the rumour was the vehicle being gigacastings in a few major pieces that could be quickly joined…that process could be applied to the next generation 3, Y, S and X if Tesla chose to do so. And I suspect the deflection of the rumoured 2 to an autonomous taxi vehicle is probably an smart way to cover what is really planned without lying in investment calls. Of course, this is speculation but you’re right about Musk announcements ending up being inaccurate but it serves the purpose of redirection away from disappointment over Q1 results falling short of expectation. At some point, Tesla sales wil start to level out unless it offers a 2 sized vehicle that markets like Europe and China crave but I doing so that will probably carve into 3/Y sales as people in those regions probably chose a smaller vehicle for their needs.

First of May inventory numbers for Ford will tell us the actual days supply for each vehicle type. If combined F Series inventory remains below 200,000 I think that will help supply rather than hinder. We all know how much Ford has jacked up MSRPs over the past few years or even encouraged XLT buyers to buy higher trim levels so this is where incentives and discounting gets interesting…..remember those XLT that used to have lux PACs? All I’m saying is that Ford may take a different route….

Yeah and it’s been saying that for the past six months….

Why is Farley still receiving a bonus for being such a terrible manager? The board should be cutting his and all the Senior VPs’ bonuses until KPIs are met.

Yes, that one has been getting around for a few years now. Everyone got excited when a patent was leaked regarding electric FWD, particularly when people noticed splines on S550 front hubs but I think that was because they were a borrow from C2 or that supplier… Internationally, the V8 Mustang is the default chosen by buyers because if you’re already paying a premium you may as well get the upper model V8s. Even though GT500 was not available to Australia, Ford commissioned Harrop Engineering to deliver a limited number of supercharged Mustangs with similar specs to the GT500. Ford has not built a single S650 in RHD, and boy are those (return) buyers pissed….

The less obvious elephant in the room, It’s engrained in most US buyers that they purchase a vehicle with more capability than they actually need. That is a huge personal preference/bias to overcome especially when both sales staff and manufacturers reinforce that belief with upselling, the customer perceives value in that as well as better resale value. No disrespect intended to people wondering why so many folks would choose a less efficient vehicle choice but the reality is there and by golly, manufacturers have used it for decades to cash in on customer impulse purchases and even just wants and needs Conversely, places like Europe are more programmed into smaller more efficient vehicles exactly because of decades of higher vehicles prices, fuel and registration costs, narrower streets and now things like ZEV zones where non electrified vehicles are taxed for entering. My own country, Australia is completely different again, similar size to USA but a population of only 26 million, 85% of which lives within 100 miles of the coast. All six state capitals are located on the coast and account for roughly 15.5 million people. So we are a weird mix of situation where hybrids and BEVs probably make sense in coastal areas but ICEs mostly diesels ar required the further inland you go. Maybe this colors my judgement when discussing other regions and if so I apologise in advance.

Correct, the EU is very protective of its own market, this is turning into a giant mess..

Yeah, Isorry I screwed that up. Mustang was supposed to be the launch of the 2.3 EB PHEV

I dunno, the original 2.3 BEV drivetrain was supposed to debut in the Mustang but then was cancelled (maybe Ford not wanting to interfere with BEV sales). If indeed a hybrid or PHEV Mustang is being planned, I don’t think that it will do what people in the snow states want/expect, particularly if still just RWD.

Mostly at European ports, looks like a mixture of falling buyer interest in them possibly exacerbated by reductions in subsidies. The other looming issue here is that the EU takes a dim view of manufacturers that seem to be “dumping” vehicles into its market, something that could be made worse if Chinese EVs have discounted prices to move them

In other news, entitled billionaire wonders why Tesla buyers don't like him anymore after he started calling them woke…

Seriously, Ford has been down/right sizing to market need ever since Mulally, all of that is just code for building less and charging more and banking profit from not expending as much labor and resources to get it. Like it or hate it, that’s what Ford has become in its pursuit of %return on revenue. Instead of worrying about what ifs that may be years to come, Ford prioritises production of its most profitable models and costs production of other models to make that happen (saw it with chip shortages and other parts supply issues). Even when Ford fouls up, it makes sure that it’s poor sellers still get sold and they just move on and try again with something else.

Interesting……market is sluggish at the moment but won’t always be like that…. Wonder if the capacity could be used for more Super Duty Trucks, I’m probably not thinking the right way…

Yes and to reinforce your point, BEV Silverado seems to be having issues with those Ultium gel packs, am I wrong in thinking GM took a short cut with this technology that now seems to be biting them in the rear…