[Shotimes] Re: (OT) How to avoid the pitfalls of pricing Former Porsche boss: There's no 'right price' for a car

[Ron Porter]

Yep. Ford did nothing to improve the car through the Gen 1-2 days. Oh, they
added ABS in '90, R134A and then airbags, but that was Taurus stuff. The
only updates for the SHO that I can see were the 16" wheels in '91, and the
3.2 with the ATX in '93. I also have wondered why they didn't standardize on
the 3.2 in '93 for the ATX & MTX....it would have been a nice little "extra"
for the MTX cars, and would have saved them a few $$$.

IMO, the only reason that Ford ever agreed to build the Gen 3 SHO was to
produce the lowest-cost FWD V8 "Executive Express" (as they called it) to
counter the Aurora and STS/Eldorado. Obviously the market could have cared
less, and all of the V8 FWD "sporty sedans never sold worth a crap, with
these being the Aurora, Eldo, STS, and the Continental.

GM also jumped off that cliff when they produced the GXP Bonneville a few
years later. That was a loser for them, and reviews never were even very
good. Same thing with the new FWD V8 Monte Carlos and Pontiacs. Like C&D
said, this would have been a great car 10 years ago!!

Remember one of the major issues with the "employee pricing". The Big 3 are
saddled with the "pay me anyway" UAW contracts, so they don't save squat
when they shut down a line. Theoretically the big cutbacks that Ford 7 GM
have recently announced (which don't take any effect until after the 2007
UAW contracts) only get production capacity in line with sales. They STILL
have to work on getting the cost-per-car down.

If anyone is interested enough to keep up with the Big 3, the best sources
are the local Detroit papers, like the Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage


Ron Porter

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of G Kerby Haltom
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 2:44 PM
To: Ron Porter; 'Shotimes'; 'SHO Tech'; 'V8List SHO'
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] Re: (OT) How to avoid the pitfalls of pricing Former
Porsche boss: There's no 'right price' for a car

And GM lost money during their "Employee Pricing"  scam this past
summer/fall.  They sold a lot of vehicles, and lost  even more money.  Of
sourse, they could try something like not  making so many, then they
wouldn't have to give them away...
  
  As for the SHO, Ford made so many mistakes with it, that it is mind
boggling.  They never did figure out their target market.   They didn't
listen to the people who actually bought them, and  eventually maginalized
the product into oblivion.  Which is  nothing new, and is on-going with most
American car makers.  "We  can't sell the car, so we'll "decontent" and try
and sell it at the  same price.  Hmmm, that didn't work.  Take some more
stuff  off!"  I could rant for days, as y'all well know, so I'll just
stop...
  
  Kerby