4 Door Mustang Coming soon

[Gaglug]

Bigyzf, there is a huge shift towards trucks and crossovers, but eventually the market will level off. Accords aren’t struggling to sell, they are just selling in less numbers are more Honda buyers are opting for CRV, HRV, etc. In my opinion, the accord still is profitable. The Ford Fusion is selling much less than a few years ago, but at 200k per year it is probably still making a profit, albeit a smaller one. I don’t think it is so much as profit vs non-profit. I think it is more about projections. I think the bean counters at companies like Ford are measuring the success of a product based on projections. They “project” let’s say 500k units sold for a profit of $100M or X% market share; but end up selling 200k units for a profit of $40M and only Y% market share. They didn’t hit their projected sales target, therefore they see it as loss. But in reality they still did make profit on their product, just not as projected. Then that leads to product neglect, lack of adverising that product, and reduced demand, basically turning it into a self fulfilled prophecy. It boils down to perception. If any of this makes sense

That is a complete misunderstanding of how basic manufacturing businesses work. I really don't want to go through the effort to explain basic business principles to you so I'll try to dumb it down as much as possible. If you are a business and you have a product line that continually underperforms, you have to jettison that line or that unprofitable line will end up dragging the entire company down with it.

To put it very simply for you: Profit and Loss is not counted per individual unit sold. It's calculated at different points: A line within a factory, the factory itself, the line as a whole, the business unit/division, the company as a whole, and at other parts in between those. The "Bean Counters" that you refer to know how many units they have to sell in order for a line to be profitable overall with all those different points taken into consideration. If Line X outperforms expectations and Line Y underperforms and does not move enough units to be profitable, the company will cancel Line Y and shift corporate resources from the cancelled line over to LIne X or will try a new Line Z.

And that isn't even getting in to sales projections and how missing sales targets and missing earnings ends up tanking the price of the stock, which has a massive impact on how well the company is able to function, draw in additional investment, etc.

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[GT Pony]

If you are a business and you have a product line that continually underperforms, you have to jettison that line or that unprofitable line will end up dragging the entire company down with it.

Could be why Ford is kiboshing all car lines except the Mustang. Hard to believe the Mustang was the only car making money for Ford.

 

[Norm Peterson]

If you are a business and you have a product line that continually underperforms, you have to jettison that line or that unprofitable line will end up dragging the entire company down with it.

So you're saying that it is not possible to underperform without being unprofitable to the point of actually losing money on the venture??? That making X amount of profit (overall, not per-unit) when 2X was what the business case assumed still amounts to a loss on the P&L statements???


Norm

 

[Deleted member 35786]

That is a complete misunderstanding of how basic manufacturing businesses work. I really don't want to go through the effort to explain basic business principles to you so I'll try to dumb it down as much as possible. If you are a business and you have a product line that continually underperforms, you have to jettison that line or that unprofitable line will end up dragging the entire company down with it.

To put it very simply for you: Profit and Loss is not counted per individual unit sold. It's calculated at different points: A line within a factory, the factory itself, the line as a whole, the business unit/division, the company as a whole, and at other parts in between those. The "Bean Counters" that you refer to know how many units they have to sell in order for a line to be profitable overall with all those different points taken into consideration. If Line X outperforms expectations and Line Y underperforms and does not move enough units to be profitable, the company will cancel Line Y and shift corporate resources from the cancelled line over to LIne X or will try a new Line Z.

And that isn't even getting in to sales projections and how missing sales targets and missing earnings ends up tanking the price of the stock, which has a massive impact on how well the company is able to function, draw in additional investment, etc.

^^ Very well said. It is either is profitable or not.

 

[Furiosa GT]

Showed my wife this. Told her we could get her a Mustang like mine next year only it would be 4 door (I was kinda serious to see what she would say). She was insulted.

 

[Cavpilot2k]

Great...a 4-door Mustang.
Exactly the car nobody ever asked for.
Ford, you said you were giving up on your sedan line. It sounds like you are not doing that, but just renaming everything "Mustang". Now what used to be the Taurus will be updated and re-badged "Mustang" in a (not so) clever marketing ploy.

 

[NoVaGT]

There is NOT going to be a 4-door Mustang. The next gen Mustang will be built on a platform shared with a small 4-door sport-ute. It won't be labeled "Mustang", and it won't be a Mustang.

OP's thread-title was click-bait, nothing more.

 

[c-rizzle]

4 Door Mustang rendering by Car and Driver:

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/ford-mustang-four-door-sedan

I like it.

 

[Cavpilot2k]

I like it.

i.e. a Taurus dressed up.

 

[Ebm]

There is NOT going to be a 4-door Mustang. The next gen Mustang will be built on a platform shared with a small 4-door sport-ute. It won't be labeled "Mustang", and it won't be a Mustang.

OP's thread-title was click-bait, nothing more.

I'm with ya man. Everybody is assuming this 4 door performance car will be named "Mustang." It won't. They won't pull a Charger...

 

[SniperMuffin]

I just hope we have an option of selecting a 2door or 4 door

 

[Cavpilot2k]

 

[sdiver68]

So you're saying that it is not possible to underperform without being unprofitable to the point of actually losing money on the venture??? That making X amount of profit (overall, not per-unit) when 2X was what the business case assumed still amounts to a loss on the P&L statements???
Norm

It is possible to be profitable but not meet projection. On the P&L it's easier than against expected IRR due to opportunity cost.

 

[Norm Peterson]

It is possible to be profitable but not meet projection. On the P&L it's easier than against expected IRR due to opportunity cost.

So what's being suggested is that a product could still be profitable but get axed anyway for not meeting rate of return expectations? Sounds like a potentially crappy deal if what you want doesn't line up with what the mainstream buyer wants . . .


Norm

 

[sdiver68]

So what's being suggested is that a product could still be profitable but get axed anyway for not meeting rate of return expectations? Sounds like a potentially crappy deal if what you want doesn't line up with what the mainstream buyer wants . . .
Norm

Yes, but from a financial point of view if you cant meet expected IRR, that capital investment can be better utilized elsewhere. However, there is a body of evidence that many companies set EIRR too high leaving worthy projects unfunded.

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