[Shotimes] RE: Gen I vs. Gen II:::::was:Wizard of Codes::Fwd: flashing a...

[Michael Mosbey]

On Sunday, October 20, 2002, at 03:08 AM, David P wrote:

> It's not that Ford can't design one. It's that they can't design one 
> while
> meeting the weight, emissions, mileage and impact integrity requirements
> mandated by our government, and have the car be affordable profitable. 
> If
> Americans were willing to pay $25,000 for a $20,000 car, there'd be no
> problems. We aren't, though, and most of us treat out cars as a 
> consumable
> commodity. We get what we pay for.
>
>
> David P
>
> 95MTX
>

	That's why Ford has interests in Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and 
Aston Martin. It's called quality. Maybe saying Ford lacks quality is a 
bad idea in a forum like this, so let me clarify. There are tiers of 
quality marques. While one brand may step a bit out of line, (Honda & 
Land Rover come to mind, for different reasons.) for the most part 
competitors tend to build at similar levels of quality. Nobody expects a 
Kia to outlast a Mercedes. Brand based buying is very big in this 
country. If Mercury were to disappear, what cars would be gone? Cougar? 
Plymouth disappeared recently, and all DM did was put a Chrysler badge 
on a Prowler. Honda doesn't have an Acura brand in Japan, Toyota doesn't 
have Lexus, Nissan doesn't have Infiniti. A Toyota IS 300 would be a 
harder sell. A Ford Town Car would as well. The MINI wouldn't fit in 
with BMW's other offerings. Hyundai isn't turning the luxury world on 
its ear with their $25k luxo-sedan. Mitsubishi has their Diamonte.
	I'd love to see Ford release a hot-rod sedan. I don't think I'd 
like to see it on the Taurus platform though. Because of the way Ford 
builds cars, with some lower trim levels and such, I would really like 
to see a car built on the Jaguar X-type platform. Just take the X-type, 
add Ford trim and badging. Offer the Mustang powerplants, or, at least 
something similar. A V-6, cloth, manual A/C, plastic dash and a $24k 
price tag. Or, offer a 4.6 V-8 with leather for $30k. It would have to 
be designed in an aggressive enough package to make the car mismatch to 
the LS's demographic. Like a Mustang for people that need seating for 
five and a trunk.
-mike