Ford's future?

[squid678]

With 86% of people saying no to e cars in this poll....I'm wondering if those idiots in the upper level management at Ford are even paying attention to the fact that most of us, especially those of us older and able to afford to buy their cars, we don't want this at all! And Ford has really pissed a lot of us off by bastardizing our venerated Mustang name when they co-opt it for their trendy agenda... Unless Ford starts building decent cars again, then I already know I bought my last new Ford ever, and it sits in my garage riding out the winter months right now as I type.

Completely understand your viewpoint however I don't think that the executives at Ford are as ignorant to the future trends. Ford is indeed paying attention, heck even consumer reports is reporting that 63% of prospective car buyers have interest in ev. Of those interested, about 1/3 makes under $50k/year.

There are already at least 14k reservations for the Mach-E as of 6 days ago. Ford plans on producing about 50k in its first year of production and already over 25% of this allocation is reserved in the 1st week alone.

This is indeed a niche market in the beginning, but the same was said about SUVs in the beginning, and we now see where that went... Mustang is the only car standing in Ford's lineup.

We are all fans and enthusiasts of the Mustang and support the heritage of the brand, but it is not OUR brand or OUR name.

Primary name recognition in the electric car industry has been Tesla, and nobody has found a way to take away from the excitement or market share that Tesla currently commands.

Good or bad, Mustang is now a world vehicle with the introduction of the S550 platform. By using the Mustang brand, there is instant name recognition for the Mach-E and the associated buzz, cheers and jeers associated with it.

If Ford is taking the risk of associating Mustang to this vehicle platform, they are not doing it in a vacuum, a lot can be said that it makes sound business sense to ensure the maximum probability of success of the program is by utilizing their #1 brand. They have a year to work the final kinks out and provide this car to the convenience of a larger vehicle network than Tesla. Once the masses have access to an electric vehicle they can see, test drive and touch with their own eyes, there could be a larger interest in these cars.

The jeers are nothing new with mustang... I do recall posts of how Ford killed the mustang with the looks of the S550, the decision to get rid of the V6, get rid of the solid axle, etc. This resulted in #1 selling sports car in the world for the past 4 years. I guess the Ford executives really still don't know what they are doing. As with other "bad" decisions, time will tell if the Mach-E will live up to the Mustang brand or be a dud and I will keep an open mind until then.

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[machsmith]

that's sad quite frankly. There are over 150,000 orders in for the Ciber truck.
Why cant ford be original? Lack of imagination over there. why use a mustang badge... fucking dummies

 

[1MEAN18]

Completely understand your viewpoint however I don't think that the executives at Ford are as ignorant to the future trends. Ford is indeed paying attention, heck even consumer reports is reporting that 63% of prospective car buyers have interest in ev. Of those interested, about 1/3 makes under $50k/year.

There are already at least 14k reservations for the Mach-E as of 6 days ago. Ford plans on producing about 50k in its first year of production and already over 25% of this allocation is reserved in the 1st week alone.

This is indeed a niche market in the beginning, but the same was said about SUVs in the beginning, and we now see where that went... Mustang is the only car standing in Ford's lineup.

We are all fans and enthusiasts of the Mustang and support the heritage of the brand, but it is not OUR brand or OUR name.

Primary name recognition in the electric car industry has been Tesla, and nobody has found a way to take away from the excitement or market share that Tesla currently commands.

Good or bad, Mustang is now a world vehicle with the introduction of the S550 platform. By using the Mustang brand, there is instant name recognition for the Mach-E and the associated buzz, cheers and jeers associated with it.

If Ford is taking the risk of associating Mustang to this vehicle platform, they are not doing it in a vacuum, a lot can be said that it makes sound business sense to ensure the maximum probability of success of the program is by utilizing their #1 brand. They have a year to work the final kinks out and provide this car to the convenience of a larger vehicle network than Tesla. Once the masses have access to an electric vehicle they can see, test drive and touch with their own eyes, there could be a larger interest in these cars.

The jeers are nothing new with mustang... I do recall posts of how Ford killed the mustang with the looks of the S550, the decision to get rid of the V6, get rid of the solid axle, etc. This resulted in #1 selling sports car in the world for the past 4 years. I guess the Ford executives really still don't know what they are doing. As with other "bad" decisions, time will tell if the Mach-E will live up to the Mustang brand or be a dud and I will keep an open mind until then.

I'm glad you understood my viewpoint. If I weren't a 30 year long Mustang buyer who's owned each gen since the foxbody I bought as my first, I'd probably not have characterized it the way I did. But I did because I find what Ford did co-opting venerated and iconic names distasteful. Probably more distasteful because I know America doesn't have the capacity or the infrastructure for ev's. And in a country that run's deficit spending in a way that would have you or I put in prison for fraud, I don't see that new nfrastructure being built (or all the crumbling roads/bridges/grid rebuilt) anytime soon.
As far as orders for it, and Ford's goals for sales, until I see real data I won't speculate.
I will say that so far ev vehicles are not profitable in America, and are indeed and have been for a while now, heavily subsidized thru tax breaks that need to also come from somewhere, or paid for by someone.
I also wasn't a person who jeered at the current S550. Especially with a continuation of a coyote engine and IRS, the refresh coupled with a 10 speed was all I needed to see to become a new car buyer again. It was my 3rd new Ford in 2 years actually.
You also mentioned Tesla, well they've been heavily subsidized by the gov't taxpayers and Elon Musk himself, and so far Tesla hasn't been very profitable. In fact, they only figured out how to make a quarterly profit very recently, so comparing anything to Tesla isn't something that impresses me, the only Tesla I respect right now had the first name Nikola...and he was an impressive dude for sure!
So I hope Ford knows what its doing. Especially after pouring billions into this, and stealing a legendary name that most of us disagree with using...because if they screw this up, it could be lights out for Ford.

 

[shogun32]

and so far Tesla hasn't been very profitable.

they haven't made so much as a single penny. Their 3Q 'profits' were an accounting sham. Something has to give with this cash furnace of a 'car' company. Musk needs to find huge cost savings, or raise prices even further. The latter will kill him.
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/tsla/financials

 

[Johnnybee]

I anticipate that our Rogue will last at least another five years and quite likely beyond, since my financial guy tells me we're all set for retirement at 60 (i.e., 3 years). Considering the current driving my wife does, which amounts to 18K km per year, even at that rate the bottom Mach E would only require charging about once a week, perhaps a little more often. In retirement, the driving will drop significantly, so charging may be an every other week thing. Certainly acceptable to me. I expect that any pleasure travel that we do in retirement would be: (a) only in the good weather; and (b) in the Mustang, so no concerns over range.

So notwithstanding the name issue, I am hoping that the Mach E is a grand slam for Ford and that by the time I am looking, I can put a second pony in the garage, perhaps around 2027.

 

[squid678]

they haven't made so much as a single penny. Their 3Q 'profits' were an accounting sham. Something has to give with this cash furnace of a 'car' company. Musk needs to find huge cost savings, or raise prices even further. The latter will kill him.
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/tsla/financials

And that is where I see Ford will have the advantage. Their effort to bring this car to production is not at the expense of borrowing money. Tesla is a house of cards. All I was pointing out is the recognition of ev has been that of Tesla.

 

[squid678]

I'm glad you understood my viewpoint. If I weren't a 30 year long Mustang buyer who's owned each gen since the foxbody I bought as my first, I'd probably not have characterized it the way I did. But I did because I find what Ford did co-opting venerated and iconic names distasteful. Probably more distasteful because I know America doesn't have the capacity or the infrastructure for ev's. And in a country that run's deficit spending in a way that would have you or I put in prison for fraud, I don't see that new nfrastructure being built (or all the crumbling roads/bridges/grid rebuilt) anytime soon.
As far as orders for it, and Ford's goals for sales, until I see real data I won't speculate.
I will say that so far ev vehicles are not profitable in America, and are indeed and have been for a while now, heavily subsidized thru tax breaks that need to also come from somewhere, or paid for by someone.
I also wasn't a person who jeered at the current S550. Especially with a continuation of a coyote engine and IRS, the refresh coupled with a 10 speed was all I needed to see to become a new car buyer again. It was my 3rd new Ford in 2 years actually.
You also mentioned Tesla, well they've been heavily subsidized by the gov't taxpayers and Elon Musk himself, and so far Tesla hasn't been very profitable. In fact, they only figured out how to make a quarterly profit very recently, so comparing anything to Tesla isn't something that impresses me, the only Tesla I respect right now had the first name Nikola...and he was an impressive dude for sure!
So I hope Ford knows what its doing. Especially after pouring billions into this, and stealing a legendary name that most of us disagree with using...because if they screw this up, it could be lights out for Ford.

You are right when it comes to the risk that Ford is taking in using their #1 brand. I also whole-hardheartedly agree that this market in general has been propped up by gov't subsidies.
However, if I did choose to purchase this EV, my use would be for commuting a 120 mi trip daily and plugging the damn thing in the garage. I put a lot of miles on my cars, so I am interested in the cost savings compared to oil changes, gas, ect.
No doubt about it, we will be all watching closely and I hope that Ford does not ultimately screw this deal up!

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