[Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan

[Donald Mallinson]

The SHO numbers were better than the new GTO, and no, sales 
didn't nosedive, sales of near 10,000 aren't horrible, even 
is below predictions.

I am not letting anything blind me, I just don't feel like 
the car was a sales failure.

Sure there were 89's left over.  With ultra rare exceptions 
there are ALWAYS cars left over well into the next year.

I think you are letting your desire to never sound like a 
cheerleader, cause you to unfairly put down a car that was 
seriously applauded by all the motoring press for more than 
the 15 minutes of fame you assign to it.  For over three 
years it was the hot ticket, and if Ford dealers didn't 
understand it at all, at least they moved more of them than 
many cars before or since that fall into the expensive 
specialty category.

Also, with rare exceptions, what enthusiasts, and the 
enthusiast press like, DO sell pretty well.  considering the 
pathetic sales response of ANY manual transmission car (even 
those from the Germans) in the United States, I think we can 
call the all manual tranny sales of the SHO till 1992 a 
pretty good success!

As for the V8, I am also astounded that Ford produced it, 
and all I can imagine is that they wanted to compete with 
the Aurora and other "entry" level sport/luxury mid-size 
sedans.  I am glad they produced it though, once I finally 
opened my eyes and put away my prejudice, I found it to be a 
superb car.

I just refuse to re-write history and call something a total 
failure when it was far from it.  Edsel was a failure (three 
years) GTO is a big failure so far, Marauder was a failure. 
  The SHO, compared to those and many others was NOT.

Don Mallinson

Ron Porter wrote:
> Don, there were '89s sitting on the lot well into the '90 model year, and
> sales for the MTX dropped off a cliff after '89. Same as any new special
> model......have-to-haves like me buy them the first year, then sales
> nosedrive. There were a bunch of people on SFSN & early SHOtimes that picked
> up NEW '89s for a song after the model year. Not a good sign.
> 
> The SHO was a sales dog from Day 1....then got worse!!!!
> 
> Don't let your love for the car blind you to the reality of the market
> place. The things that enthusiasts like, versus a good car for the market,
> are not related in any way.
> 
> The SHO was not especially meant to be a real "specialty car", not when they
> conservatively estimated sales of at least 20k per year. It still kinda
> amazes me that the Gen 3 even saw the light of day.....but I suspect it was
> only because of the ATX SHO sales after '93.
> 
> Ron Porter 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Donald Mallinson
> Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 3:44 PM
> To: shotimes@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan
> 
> 
> Ron,
> 
> I don't think the SHO was a "sales dog" from the start, it 
> got great reviews, and the numbers were decent, if not 
> thrilling.
> 
> 1989 had sales of almost 16,000, that isn't bad for a 
> specialty car.  Sales dropped under 10,000 per year, to a 
> low of 7800 in 1992, but was back up to over 17,000 in 93 
> with the automatic.
> 
> Total sales of 120,000 approx over 11 years just isn't that 
> pathetic for a fairly expensive specialty car.
> 
> Lots of failed cars would love to have 11 years of 
> production and that many sales.  If it didn't meet up with 
> Ford's projections, well, we know how great most car 
> manufacturers including foreign ones, are at predicting what 
> the American public will want next.
> 
> Don Mallinson
> 
> Ron Porter wrote:
> 
>>The major difference is that the Pinto was a good selling car out of the
>>gate. The gas tank issue came up many years later.
>>
>>The SHO was a sales dog from the start.
>>
>>Ron Porter
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
>>On Behalf Of Carl Prochilo
>>Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 11:47 AM
>>To: shotimes@autox.team.net
>>Subject: RE: [Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan
>>
>>
>>Yes, that is part of the point.  What if the Pinto never had the
>>"exploding gas tank" issue.  What if the SHO never had the clutch and
>>brake issue?  When you come out of the gate, the car better be right or
>>the public won't soon forget.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Shotimes mailing list
> Shotimes@autox.team.net
> http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shotimes
> _______________________________________________
> Shotimes mailing list
> Shotimes@autox.team.net
> http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shotimes