Ford can retool a factory and start production in about 8 weeks. They also have a ready made platform that can be modeled off of quickly that is being used by Lincoln. I wouldn't be too worried about that.



https://www.popularmechanics.com/car...truck-factory/

 

If all they had to do was fire up the assembly line again, sure, but that's not the case.
You can't simply pull a vehicle design out of the time capsule and sell it again years down the road
They'd have to (re) certify the vehicle(s) for the model year they introduce it in, which depending on how many years it was since they last sold it, could/would include more 'productive' emissions equipment and safety features(lights, SRS, passive and active collision avoidance etc.), and they'd likely also have to increase its mileage, as every vehicle they sell affects their CAFE rating.
All this has to be re-engineered, and we're not even talking about updating its infotainment system, and other electronic features to make the vehicle on par with its competition.

 

I was in a Ford dealership today (latch recall) and overheard a salesman discussing the changes with a customer. He said hybrid trucks and SUVs are imminent, "Who would buy a sedan when you could drive a truck or SUV that got great mileage?" Who would? I loved my Rangers, but the new models are nearly as expensive as an F150 and don't get significantly better gas mileage.

 

I know you quoted it, but did you actually read it? Ford has platforms that can be readily adapted if they want to start up a new car line. Right now they are only using it for the Lincolns (For US Market), but a few sheet metal changes, and some interior changes and they have a Ford instead of a Lincoln. Ford isn't entirely dumping sedans, they will still produce the Lincoln versions. Besides, most of the SUV designs share a car chassis, so make the body smaller, shorter and you basically have a car model of an SUV. The Taurus, and Flex are the exact same chassis, just the body and interior separates them. Currently the C2 platform is shared by the Escape and Lincoln Corsair. They are also continuing production on global models using shared platforms.

If you think Ford will completely stop car designing, that would be foolish. Pretty sure they know that the bottom can drop out at any time, but pretty sure smart enough to have contingency plans in place should it happen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_CD4_platform

 

Today, that is true.

But Ford is not simply planning to just drop sedans and go to all SUV's. They will be introducing very fuel efficient SUV's.

With the hybrids, plug-in hybrids and maybe all-electric vehicles (think Rivian) coming down the road, the days of low mpg SUV's might be gone.

I mean, an Escape Hybrid with a range of 550 miles?

 

If I want a car I won't be buying anything Ford makes. BTDT, won't make the same mistake again. Toyota and Honda spank all of the American cars badly. Ford is making the right move.

 

the overseas companies are taking over the sedan category! this decision by ford to give way of making sedans is not as bad as when they took the crown vic off the road. i've talked to a few cops that said they would kill to have their crown vics back

 

Well, for our sake, as well as every other FoMoCo stockholder, lets hope they succeed.
If gas prices continue on their current path, we'll prolly find out sooner rather than later.

 

I've had just the opposite. Had a Camry, noisy, clunky, and Cheap. Traded it for a Fusion and never looked back. I've had several Fusions and except for a first off the line lemon, the others were trouble free. The Focus OTOH, well, Ford made a lousy transmission, other than that the car has been great, gets 40 MPG, and does what we wanted it for. I would not be going to Toyota for anything, don't like their cars, they feel cheap, ride cheap, and are cheap. The Fusions are just as reliable and don't feel cheap, look cheap. Where I work they have over a dozen Fusions, a few 10-12 models and the rest 13+ and they are driven every day, and just get normal maintenance items done.

Ford can make good reliable cars, but people fell into the hype of the japanese brands. Where all the issues were for the Fords was that stupid MFT, which to me has nothing to do with reliability. For me being reliable means starting in the morning getting to where i'm going and getting me back home without reaking down on the side of the road. So far the only ones that did that were a Toyota and GM.

 

The overseas companies are actually making their cars here, while the majority of Ford's sedans were made in Mexico.

The last quote is ironic since several officers actually died when their Crown Vic gas tank exploded during a collision. Granted, I'm not friends with a ton of LEOs, but the ones I have talked to seem to really like their Explorer based patrol cars.