Ford Changover: Euro Models Come in 2010

[YSSMAN]

Really? Wait, Mullally made a good decision again???

It was reported by several publications a few days ago that Ford was considering taking one of their shuttered or soon-to-be shuttered SUV or truck assembly plants and investing a large sum of money in retooling the plant for production of one of their European models. Such a move is unusual among automakers; renovation of a plant generally occurs when a new model or a new generation of an existing model is going to be introduced, but these are unusual times for automakers currently. The market has turned 180 degrees in the past few months due to upward-spiraling gas prices, with SUV and pickup sales plummeting like a fat guy jumping off a bridge, and consumers clamoring ever so loudly for small, fuel-efficient cars.

Ford has been rocked pretty hard by this change in consumer preferences and has not been reticent about saying that they believe the US market has irrecoverably changed towards fuel economy. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Alan Mulally is not one given to indecision.

Our sources at Ford say that Mr. Mulally has already made the decision to convert at least three truck/SUV production facilities in North America as soon as possible to produce Ford models currently sold in Europe, where Ford is renowned for its small cars. The timeline Mulally prefers, according to insiders, is “yesterday”. He has made up his mind and is pushing forward.

Not only that, but the decision has also already been reached to make the new F-100, a smaller, lighter version of the upcoming 2009 F-150 that uses less fuel, at the Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne where they currently produce Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators. Production dates have now been moved up considerably for the F-100. And, the Louisville Assembly Plant which now makes Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers will be converted to a unibody facilty which will produce either the Fusion or the Focus as well as possibly some Focus derivatives.

But, back to the plants making the European models – what will they be making once they’re retooled? One sure bet is the Ford Transit van, a longtime European mainstay. Don’t be surprised to see the US production plans for the Ford Transit Connect get pushed way up as well.

Sources at Ford tell us that another plan being considered is to keep making the first-generation Ford Focus currently sold here in the States, and also make the second-generation Ford Focus currently sold in the rest of the world and sell the two alongside each other in the US for a while before moving to the second-generation Focus exclusively. The original plan was to wait until the next-generation (third-generation) Focus was released in 2011 or 2012 to accomplish the synchronization of the Ford Focus on a global basis, but it appears that plan has succumbed to defenestration at Dearborn.

Implicit in that plan is the fact that Ford intends to offer more variations of the second-generation Focus for sale in the US. Variations of the Focus platform will be produced and sold in the US; derivatives like the C-Max and a compact SUV will probably be sold here, and so will the Focus Coupe, a true pocket-rocket of a car.

The European model that may not make it over here in terms of production, and therefore sale, is the excellent Ford Mondeo. Product planners are having a tough time figuring out where it would fit, price-wise, and even though Mulally is fan of the car, its price point may be problematic.

But all of these models together, plus the sub-compact Fiesta that will be built in Mexico in 2009, give Ford a formidable line-up of fuel-efficient cars to sell in the next few years.

The retooling to be undertaken is cataclysmic and will cost a lot of money. Obviously this is money that Ford desperately needs to marshal at this point in their turnaround efforts, but Mulally and most of the senior executives now believe that if they don’t spend the money they have on the retooling right now, there will be no company to spend it on later. They are literally betting the rest of the company’s future in the next 12 months. Our sources say there is no more discussion at this point as to whether or not they should do it; the discussion now is simply just how it will be done.

FTW FORD!

FTMFW!!!

Its about time, and I'm hoping to hear of similar news from GM and Chrysler. I truly is a time for change in Detroit, and hopefully the European models will be able to do what needs to be done.

 

[a6m5]

most of the senior executives now believe that if they don’t spend the money they have on the retooling right now, there will be no company to spend it on later.

While I think this is way over the top, I do think that they need to believe it. The change is coming much too late, but it truly is better late than never, in this case.

Focus & Mondeo situation is an interesting one. From the new car sales standing point, I think it's a no-brainer. But Ford traditionally(around here) is known for similar types of quick-fixes, then dropping support for the vehicle as soon as the fanfare dies down. I understand that Ford is under a new boss, but I'm bit skeptical about them in this area.

Ford Motor Company is operating on loaned $$$, so at this point, I don't think it's a bad idea to bring in the new(er) Focus, Mondeo, rather than trying to design(& most likely fail) unique, new, competitive American models. I just hope they follow through, and stand by both their American & Euro models.

 

[Jim Prower]

They have a Focus Coupe in Europe?

 

[Joey D]

Wait so they are going to build Euro models in the states but not sell them here? What the...? If they build the Mondeo here then they have zero reason not to try to sell it.

 

[daan]

They have a Focus Coupe in Europe?

Not a true coupe, but they probably mean the 3 door ST

 

[Sniffs]

okay...ford guys are officially gonna have a (bleep)fit. I can see a slightly shrunk F replacing the Ranger (which is for the axe), but Euopean market? nuh-uh.

we tried that once. it was called Merkur and Contour (RS200, Sierra, and Mondeo). they're TOO SMALL INSIDE for most people. and with Americans bigger than they were 10-20 years ago...

 

[Jim Prower]

Uh...

The Contour sold REMARKABLY well. I see them all over. It seems they axed it for no good reason.

the Merkur (which, by the way, never sold the RS200 Group B Rally Car for the road...it was the Sierra and Scorpio, neither of those the RS versions) Didn't do too well, simply because they were a little too exotic and expensive, and the Mustang and Thunderbird were viable alternatives.

The Current Focus is NOT a viable alternative to the Mk II, and the Fusion, love it as I may, just can't hold a candle to the (similarly sized) Mondeo.

The Truck bubble, I think, has burst with high gas prices. You'll see fewer high-end models, I think, and more Work Truck versions

 

[homeforsummer]

Not a true coupe, but they probably mean the 3 door ST

*image*

Or they might mean this, the Focus CC (a coupe/cabrio)

As for the Ranger, I'm surprised they never standardised the US market and Euro market versions. They're both joint projects with Mazda, but both different cars. I expect the USA Ranger is probably bigger, but then is that strictly necessary anyway considering there's already the F150, F350 etc above this?

Euro market ranger:

 

[Bones Brigade]

excellent. ill take an ST please.

 

[Jim Prower]

I actually think the Euro Ranger may be bigger: the current US Ranger is about as small as small trucks get.

 

[JCE]

The F100 looks to be an interesting idea. Bringing back that old name might be a good move. 4cyl diesel anyone?

 

[YSSMAN]

Wait so they are going to build Euro models in the states but not sell them here? What the...? If they build the Mondeo here then they have zero reason not to try to sell it.

We're probably going to get everything but the Mondeo, which if they can improve upon the Fusion in the way that they did with its Mazda6 sibling, I won't be all that upset... Even if I'm already in love with the Mondeo.

Word is that we'll be getting the Kuga as well, which is somewhat exciting given how the Tiguan has been accepted thus far. The addition of the C-Max (can we have the S-Max too?) is also a good idea, and quite frankly, it gives Ford a good corner of the "capable crossover" market with their N/A-only Flex.

The single outstanding fact that we're getting the MKII Focus is the big news here, because they've dragged their feet on it for so long. Offer a good product and people will come, its as simple as that.

 

[opendriver]

I want my 09 F450

 

[homeforsummer]

I actually think the Euro Ranger may be bigger: the current US Ranger is about as small as small trucks get.

I'm not sure actually

*Downloads spec sheets of both*

Well rather unhelpfully but rather predictably the US one is in imperial measurements and the EU one in metric.

*Translates*

Okay, here we go, all measurements for the single cab 4x4 variant, and the US models with 6' and 7' beds. Bold type for the largest dimensions:

Length: EU - 199.8", US 6' - 188.9", US 7' - 201.4"
Width (without mirrors): EU - 71.1", US - 70.4", US 7' - 70.4"
Height: EU - 68.7", US - 67.4", US 7' - 67.3"
Wheelbase: EU - 118.1", US - 111.6", US 7' - 117.6"

So amazingly, the EU version *is* actually bigger than both US versions (single cab 4x4s at least) in virtually all major dimensions. That's really surprising, I'd honestly expected the US versions to be bigger. God knows how they cram that 4.0 V6 under the hood then and it begs the question, have you got any spare for Ford Europe to put in ours?

The current EU Ranger has a good engine too, as it's the 2.5 Turbo Diesel plucked straight out of the Transit. One of my mates drives his company's Transits tens of thousands of miles a year. His old one had 450,000 on the clock which is no mean feat for the UK, and it was still pulling as well as it had done when it was brand new. His brand new one already has over 100,000 and it's barely run-in.

 

[Jim Prower]

eh-heh, eh-hehhehheh....

Lemme put it this way: that big motor is NOT up to your standard, by ANY means. Love to have that 2.5 TD, though.

You see, the problem is that the US Ranger has essentially been the same truck since, I believe, it's inception. in the 1980s. on the other hand, the EU Ranger...well, It's probably a helluva lot newer.

 

[homeforsummer]

Well yeah it will be really, the current model in particular is a brand new platform and only a year or two old. The diesel engines are the newest Duratorque units. I was mistaken on them being from the Transit, they are only similar. You can get 2.5 and 3 litre (380Nm of torque...) versions in the Ranger, and in the transit the FWD is a 2.2 and you can get a 3.2 5-cylinder in the RWD Transit now with 470nm of torque...

But as commercial vehicles go the EU Ranger is pretty nice. And I can't see why they don't phase out the US one and phase in the EU one.

 

[Wolfe]

 

[Tornado]

I'm not actually sure whether the Mondeo would be worth it at this point. The Fusion is already pretty close to class leading, even ignoring the better engines that it is supposed to get soon (and the Taurus is already scheduled to be redesigned soon). I also agree that its probably high price would most likely doom it over here considering the competition (cars like the Accord and Malibu are already pretty good cars, yet are also pretty cheap).

Focus Mk II would be a no brainer, too, except it is going on 4 years now and we might as well wait for the no doubt on the way Mk III model. I don't think its inevitable high price would be that bad of a thing, because everything over here in that segment is cheap crap (Corolla, Caliber), expensive crap (Astra) and the Rabbit; so people would probably be willing to pay for the extra niceness.

 

[Philly]

Hold on... What is so exciting about this? After reading the article, it seems we're only getting: A new Focus (which will be obsolete two years after they sell the first one, new but a bit of a letdown considering we could just as easily have the MKIII), a Ranger replacement (Nothing too big IMO), a new CUV (Just what the world needs) and production shifted to cars (Isn't everybody else doing the same?).

It seems they are just making a big deal out of nothing and trying to boost stock prices or whatever to me. The new Focus should sell pretty well, given the competition.

 

[YSSMAN]

The big story, at least to me, is that Ford is taking the initiative to make a change when they need to. They're not waiting until the last possible second to realize "Hey, what the hell were we doing?"

Although the MKII Focus certainly is "old" in Europe, I'm under the impression that it would be a class-leading car in terms of price and performance here in the US. And although the MKIII is due out "soon," that date has been pushed back into the 2012 range. So, if they build/sell MKIIs for three years, its no big deal. Maybe if Ford is crazy they'll pull a "city" line like VW (selling MKIV cars under the City nameplate in Canada) on the Foci to justify costs.

As for the Ranger, you have to remember that its replacing both the Ranger and the F150. Well, not all of the F150, but most of it. Big trucks just aren't selling anymore, and to that end, they need to draw down the size, keep capacity fairly high, and increase fuel mileage exponentially. Personally speaking, an EU-spec Ranger with a selection of diesel engines or the EcoBoost line should be just fine at getting the job done.

As for the CUVs... Well, one is a minivan (think Mazda5) the other is a true crossover (smaller than the Edge). I quite like the S-Max and C-Max, but it sounds as though we're only getting the C-Max version. With a good amount of space, a fair bit of capacity for towing/hauling, and car-like performance to boot... I see no reason not to have it. The Kuga sits in the same boat as the Tiguan as well, and with the small crossover market essentially "exploding" these days, again it seems logical to have the good stuff here.

...Particularly when these cars are fairly consistently sitting atop their respective classes in Europe...

 

[niky]

The new CUV is the Focus-based Kuga, which is about as good, dynamically, as CUVs can get. The Focus, despite being relatively on in years, is, as far as I can tell, after driving the new Civic, the new Corolla and the updated 3, still the best compact in its class (though we don't get the Golf here, so I can't say whether it's better than that). All they have to do is find some way to get the chassis to shed about 100 pounds, because even compared to the new Civic and the relatively porky Mazda3, the Focus is still overweight.

Pray they give you better plastics. Euro or not, the Focus is still a Ford.

The updated Ranger that the Euros get is still a Ranger. Lots of work done on it... much better suspension kinematics and damping (though the Ranger has never been in the bottom-half of the live-axle class in terms of suspension) and much better steering. But it's still a live-axle, leaf-spring, ladder-frame truck with recirculating-ball steering and a relatively ancient chassis. Don't get me wrong, I love it. That big 3-liter diesel and rear-LSD make for lots of fun in deserted parking lots ...but unlike the new Mitsubishi Triton, it's still just a truck.

Although I'd rather have a Ranger than a Triton... infinitely more sturdy.

 

[Philly]

It kind of is a wee bit too late for Ford to be making these changes. GM did this long ago and even they are struggling. Ford just now realized this now that they have a crisis on their hands. And it certainly is going to take time to make their changes, and they are only going to be getting in worse and worse shape. As for Chrysler, who knows.

If they started making us the MKII, I would doubt we would be seeing the MKIII for a while. Ford went on a 10 year run for the MKI and I doubt they would be willing to show us the MKII for three years then switch again to the MKIII. But I guess that would depend on how the US small car market shapes up.

Is Ford still going to be selling the F150? I guess they will do well to have a mid-size truck to compete with the Tacoma and Frontier and co. I don't really see why they are soldiering on in the pickup department. It's pretty clear that they aren't selling.

It is something that they are cars on the top of their class. I just don't know if there are enough new cars in the right segments to really make a huge splash.

 

[YSSMAN]

Is Ford still going to be selling the F150? I guess they will do well to have a mid-size truck to compete with the Tacoma and Frontier and co. I don't really see why they are soldiering on in the pickup department. It's pretty clear that they aren't selling.

I think they're keeping the Detroit plant open, and building them in small numbers. Nothing too big. But yeah, most of the production will shift to the F-100 whenever that happens.

 

[Tornado]

I don't really see why they are soldiering on in the pickup department. It's pretty clear that they aren't selling.

The F150 just fell out of the top spot in America, and it still nearly tied Accord sales. Its days are numbered, for sure, but they aren't sitting around like Jeep Commanders.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

IMO Ford needs to bring the full list of powerplants from the Euro MKII Focus over. 1.6 and diesels and on up.

We're finally in NEED of fuel economy, and even the cars that would be most likely as gas-sippers have been "Americanized" with slightly larger motors.

 

[a6m5]

Is it just me, or is this Ford's plan to stay afloat for the time being? I think that Ford is just trying to give themselves(and dealers) a fighting chance. I'm sure some of you have noticed that Ford is shutting down many dealers around the country.

If they are expecting a game winning homer out of this Euro thing, they got another thing coming......

 

[niky]

A good diesel 3.0 would keep the F150 alive... despite the hangups people have about "lack of power"... i doubt losing two seconds to 60 mph is high on any truck owners minds with today's high gasoline prices.

RE: Americanized motors: can't help it. Cars are getting porky. Without bigger motors, some are plain sluggish. Be thankful you don't get the Mazda3 in 1.6... that's dreadfully slow.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

You realize that a LOT of people would be MUCH happier if we started building motors for low-end torque, right?

An engine with good low-end will feel MUCH stronger around town than a rev-happy powerhouse.

 

[niky]

Pssst... that's diesel.

The only way to give a gasoline plant low-end is to turbo it or give it more displacement. More displacement is a dirty word in today's market. Turbo? Added expense.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

More displacement may be a dirty word, however, it WORKS. Bigger engine spinning less RPM = better fuel efficiency.

But another thing is camshaft timing, port and valve sizing, and the bore/stroke ratio.

Longer stroke, smaller ports/valves, and a low-end biased cam will sacrifice peak power, true, but low-end will be increased greatly. And that's where the average driver spends most of their time. Not to mention that taller gears can be run without lugging the motor, and thereby better (highway) fuel efficiency.