first comment hehehehehehe h lyke omg

Well he sure does have a proven track record. Ford and all the american cars need a track record. He can make a change at Ford judging by what he has done at Lexus. If he had control over a luxury division then he should jump right into Lincoln and make them a real luxury division for those who like american cars. Good move take people from the best company and see what they can do

good call with lincoln, they suck and even lexus could give them a few pointers.

I’m in agreement with A4 – put him to work on Lincoln right away make it more than just a Ford trim level

Ya, cause Ford needs better marketing… not better products………….. right!!

He won’t actually be working on products. So, he will make few decisions about the product details of Lincoln – but will probably be part of the strategy definition that includes things like which autos are best to roll out on what type of platforms and drivetrains from a consumer and branding perspective.

However, if you had paid attention for the last year, you would know that the MKS and Flex-based Lincoln share no sheetmetal with the Ford cars that sit on the same platform. MKZ and MKX are also diverging more during their MCEs to launch in 2008 and 2009.

lol @ A4 Even Lexus huh Please The Japanese are the best and should teach domestics something about making reliable cars with high resale value

El- You are right they need better products

Rob I didnt know there was a Lincoln Flex in the works Where did you hear about this ?

Good move on Ford’s part. This guy is responsible for the success of Scion

I second that Commodore

If you can sell Camrys as luxury cars, maybe you can do the same with fusions.

Scion was a great idea, and the excecution, far as I know has been terrific.

tripleonefluffer: (imitating reagan) there you go again. Generalizing about “the japanese.”

A4 was right, at least in his sentiment.

tripleonefive… lexus is garbage compared to everything except lincolns, and only because they have a bit more variety. Id take an MKZ over an ES anyday of the week.

A4: l—s is gold, compared to faux-luxury hondas, and excrement compared to everything else with real or imagined luxury status.

But There hasn’t been a lincoln that interested be in 10 years

hopefully he comes up with a different marketing scam other then “bold moves”

If you seriously would take an MKZ over an ES you are a bigger idiot than JJT

Ford/Mulally’s strategy is bringing people over from Toyota. Jim Press, this guy, etc.

Guys your comments are hilarious. We all need to look at history a bit. When Toyota started selling their cars they were not accepted because of poor quality. Toyota improved quality, not marketing. Their cars started to sell because of quality. Scion was a good move in a proven company. If those xA’s and xB’s would perceived reliable the whole effort would end up as an Edsel (Google & wikipedia it and learn that Ford and quality were oxymoron for a long time). 150K Scions per year were bought by kids who’s parents owned foreign cars and by some old geezers who wanted inexpensive quality wheels. Big three always had were selling “excitement” to younger generation and it meant a lot of excitement when car would not start and you got screwed with your date.
GM beet Ford to #1 spot because of better quality in 20’s and japs did the same thing to all big 3 (at some point I recall 4). Never mind marketing bull****, Ford needs to attaract some production engineers and some designers and then worry about marketing. Their Job #1 has been seesawing like NASDAQ in 2001.

Meant to say “would not perceived reliable”

Final note: he is probably paid more generously then all UAW pions put together. The announcement should been made after the strike

autonutt – you are sort of right. No one (at least not me) is alleadging that Toy never made good cars. They made quality cars in the 90s which is when they created their current reputation. People started praising Toyota for quality when? 1996 or something I think, but did they start making quality cars before then? Yes! It just took time to get people to trust their products and gain their spotless reputation. It takes time. Remember Hyundai? They entered the US market with a cheap piece of **** and it took nearly a decade and a 100,000mile/5year warranty for people like 1115 to respect them. Now, we know that reputations take a long time to get and the same is true for losing your good reputation. Is Toyota building “far superior” cars TODAY? No, and all the recalls and recent problems with their cars prove that. It just takes a while for Toy to lose some of their reputation at which point sales and their ultra-loyal customer base (look at 1115) will start to decline. And I don’t mean that for just Toyota, but all the Jap carmakers that are riding on perceived quality right now. If you want a ABSOLUTELY problem-free car, you are not guaranteed to find one from a big volume manufacturer like GM or Toyonda.

The point is that at this point Toy is pretty much riding on their reputation which is constantly brought up in their brilliant advertising. Toy is good at marketing [period]. Look at the hype over worthless hybrids (I bet some of you fools think hybrids will save the world). Look at the hip, youthful Scion advertisements. They know how to sell themselves. So Ford made a great move by hiring this guy. I bet he is smart enough to hammer on some of the Ford’s positives such as being American, having non-bland designs, building some of the best trucks out there, establishing the NEXT Taurus as a respectable car again, and so on.

Also, GM did not beat Ford in the 20s because of better quality. They beat them because of their “ladder system” in which Chevrolets were at the bottom followed by progressively better and more expensive cars to the top where Cadillac stood. They offered customers choices, and offered them cars that meet their needs for a price that can afford rather than the one-size-fits-all deal going on at Ford. It was not quality why they overtook Ford (and also I believe they overtook them in the 30s, not 20s)

Ford IS building quality products. At least “quality” as far as reliability. It has been reported in many publications, surveys, etc. And a Ford mechanic (granted, just one guy) recently told me that he never sees the 500/Taurus or the Fusion. But they DO need to actually build vehicles with BOLD designs. “Bold Moves” would be a good slogan if they actually did it. But what I like about this news is Mulally’s comment that this guy brings a proven track record of marketing and PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. Hopefully he will have good influence in that area.

It takes more than two model years to prove quality. You domestic lovers are fooled so easily. Let the cars show how reliable they are over a course of ten years then they are reliable.
The 500 and Fusion are never seen in the shop bc no one is buying them. Even if they are they are what 2 yrs old at the most ? Come on
Bold Moves would be bringing your euro product here and selling them as Mercurys and then making Lincoln in the image of Acura Infiniti and Lexus

Ford has made it to the top in safety as seen from their newer models. For the price you’re also getting a lot of features compared to Toyota. I believe the Fusion is the only available AWD model in its class segment. My biggest gripes are their ho hum styling and resale.

I hope you are not calling me a “domestic lover”, especially considering that I have a BMW.
Second, YES it takes more than two years to prove quality and lets let them show how reliable they are – that means LET THEM prove themselves rather than bashing them every chance you get when so far they are proving themselves pretty nicely.
Third, they ARE bringing some euro product here, but you must understand that there is cost involved. It’s a different country meaning its different safety standards, people want different features, and so on. It takes time, so LET THEM do what they will do, THEN bash them.
Third, why would Ford want to make itself a copy of the Japanese “luxury” automakers??? Ever heard of AMERICAN luxury? They should be their own unique brand, not copying uninspiring Japanese styling. Look at Cadillac, the new CTS is ALL American – no foreign influences there. That is what Lincoln should be doing.

But don’t worry – I don’t blame you for wanting Lincoln to be like Acura-Lexus-Infiniti. You are so used to driving Japanese cars and, being that they all look the same, you are disappointed to see something that looks different. It’s almost odd to you to see a car that doesn’t have a boxy grille and angry-shaped headlights. But Lincoln does suck at the moment, however, Japanese is the last thing Lincoln should be trying to be.

1115, how about a 1995 Ford Escort Wagon, auto with 180k, with no trouble? If my math is right, that’s a 12 years old car, not “two model years.” Go back to live in your cave in Japan!

By the way, I drive both domestic and Japanese b/c I don’t buy cars based on brand name, except in the case of VW, that’s one brand I avoid like plaque till their reliability improves.

Hmm Boxy grille and angry shaped headlights? Are you saying that is unique to Cadillac?
I saw a CTS on the road and it looks better in the pics. Its dull in bland looking. You are all over the domestics. Until you own one you dont believe what you are saying
American luxury sucks just like american car companies suck!
Until they prove their worth (if they ever do) I will bash the hell out of them just like most american consumers.

How about a 2003 Ford Focus that had a bad tranny and bad master cylinder which is worth 1/4 of what it was brand new 2 model years later?
A 1995 Ford Escort can run with no problem if you babied it. I highly doubt it judging by Fords rep and your need to say something of significance in this thread but maybe it can happen.
Do yourself a favor and check the value of your precious Escort and compare it to the 95 Civic and see which is more reliable and worth more.
A cave in Japan is better than a trailer in the bad part of town. If you are driving an Escort I’m pretty sure you cant afford anything better. It’s obvious you dont base cars on much if you drive an Escort lol

One can only hope that Mark Fields days are numbered.

The last thing Lincoln needs is to clone Lexus. What they need is to actually be allowed to spend some money. Overall the interiors of every Lincoln model, build a decent V6 engine for once, and build the MKS *and* the MKR.

Overhaul, sorry

Two ‘97 Ford vans with 400,000+ trouble free miles. Neither engine nor trannys ever touched. Fords 4.6 V8 is on J.D.Power’s ten greatest V8’s list. Purchased an ‘06 Ford Van last year, already has 44,000+ trouble free miles. Got tired of driving the others, can’t wear them out! They’re still in service every day though.

tripleonefive – as you stated Ford should bring its Euro products “here”, I infer that you do live in the U.S. Yet you get joy in seeing American auto companies struggle. That is idiotic. Do you start dancing whenever the stock market plunges? Do you break out the champagne when unemployment in this country jumps? A full blown recession must cause you to throw a party.

Commodore – good post. Thanks – you saved me a lot of writing.

I dont get joy out of that BUT that is the American companies fault
People like you will buy the car out of misguided patriotism to ones country instead of buying the better product. I’m not going to throw a pity buy Ford or GM’s way
. When the domestics prove to be equal to the comp then I will consider them when I buy a new car

i bought a silverado and it kicks the living **** out of a tundra, and ive been in both. silverado wins.

not to mention the tundra is fugly

and hold up CA36GTP, overhaul the interiors of lincolns? thats their one strong point. They have been racking up the awards for their current interiors.

1115, I bought the Escort brand new and I don’t enjoy throwing money away on a new car every few years. Along the same line, I couldn’t careless about resale value either as I have no intention on selling. Also, I don’t baby it anymore than I would any other car. And it is not a rust buckle like I see on just about all 1995 Civic. It is significant as ignorant idiot like you always generalize. Fact is you can’t because not all Ford are bad and not all Toyota are good. Incidently, I had a 89 Corolla that needed a new transmission at 138k.

And judging from your comment about babying my Escort, you are saying you can abuse Civic a whole lot more? Please do me a favor, sign yourself up to some Civic forum and listen to the boy-ricers’ complaint. You can learn a thing or two from them.

You have to bring up the Focus, but what first year model doesn’t have kinks? I fault Ford for not being able to take care of them in a timely manner, but take an 05 Focus, they are reliable.

“It’s obvious you dont base cars on much if you drive an Escort lol”

It’s obvious you didn’t pass elementary English judging from your English, which leads to your sorry ass state of living in a trailer. You said it yourself.

Where are you GM_Sales? I need some obnoxious GM-car-is-the-best comments to balance out the 1115 Japanese-is-superior garbage.

I had a toyota that dodn’t make it to 100K

Sharpie: foreign-based companies have the advantage of keeping the first-year bugs out of the U.S.

1115 is an import monkey.

Keep driving your Escort sharpie. Dont cmpare me to GM sales bc I have proof that backs up my japanese making superior more reliable vehicles with higher resale value. The trailer comeback was weak.

The 2005 Focus is just as unreliable as the 2002-2004 and the resale value is hell. I know you dont plan on selling bc you need to pay for your trailer lot

Import monkey ? Impressive, you called me an animal wow

JJT you are just a liar You said your Honda didnt make it past 90k and now your Toyota didnt make it past 100k but your Chevy made it to 9 trillion miles with no problems ? Yea right

1115, you possess logic and intelligence of a primate. Hence, you are a monkey.

If I was to buy into your argument of higher resale value on universally depreciating capital I’d be buying your beloved but bland, uninspired and flawed Japanese hump-holes … fortunately, I buy what APPEALS to me, most Hondas and Toyotas do not, and I invest with returns of multiples in the inverse of any car’s lost value. Your savings of a few thousand after a few years in lower depreciation is pennies versus my investment gains.

But continue to justify your position here, peasant, because your job in life is to convert the remaining unenlightened. Seems their shoes would fit you perfectly.

BIG CHANGES…I HOPE IT TURNS OUT SUCCESSFUL.

Impulsive has to come on a car website and make up things such as his investments. I love poeple like you. If you buy what appeals to you instead of using logic than that means that you make decisions like a woman. If you are woman then if figures
But continue to read “Words of Power” you are almost there lol

Impulsive: the monkeys are now pissed at you, comparing them to such a specimen as the Fluffer. A retarded monkey, sure? But most monkeys with fully functional brains would have him locked in the cage within 30 seconds.

How much do you value getting a car you actually WANT, then having money to invest?

Fluffer: Nine trillion? That’s how much you overpaid for your accord.
You’d buy something that didn’t appeal to you? You’re twisted, man. I hope you find peace with yourself.

And my civic did make it past 90K ….. to 91K

Jim,
Thanks for coming over.
Now kick your old teams ass.
OK?

1115, I don’t make up anything, unlike you and your flawed logic and arguments … I only post FACT. While you argue that people should only buy cars with higher resale, I argue that using that reason to save a few thousand over a few years is pathetic, especially when suggesting they buy ****ty looking Hondas and Toyotas … yes, they are all ****ty looking. I invest with great success and laugh at that pathetic logic belonging to peasants like you.

As for your pathetic spelling and grammar, import monkey, again, you are out of your league. Stick to your 1992 Civics and 1989 Celicas, loser … they have got to be worth something, right?

My line of thinking helped write that book you keep referring to … good to see the concept of ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ working like a charm. Maybe one day you can be half as good as me .. maybe.

tripleonefive-
Purchase a vehicle for the best resale value?
Make love to a woman because she has good blood pressure.

Well Impulsive now I know you are JJT lol and AMG bc you have the same lame ass lines Sure you have investments, sure you are a millionaire, sure you dont read “Words of Power” and repeat the words on a car website to make yourself feel better lol

Your opinion that Japanese cars are “****ty” looking (great grammar btw) is subjective. I think that Japanese cars look better and more consumers are buying Japanese cars over the domestics so there is something to that. I have never had a 92 CIvic or Celica but I’m sure they are worth more than a Cavalier or a 92 Saturn SL1

Having a name like Lack luster makes sense if you buy domestics. I buy the best car for the money and they just happen to come from the Japanese. I also base a car on looks and performance after the resale reliability and build quality. Once again if I even considered the Americans they lose again. Since you like women analogies ,buying an American car is like getting a stripper and trying to make her your wife. They look great but they are lazy and unreliable. Keep basing things on looks Mack duster, I’m sure you will get far in life lol

Sure 1115, I have more proof you live in a trailer than your so called proof that Japanese is superior. I will gladly drive a car that is paid for than to have a stinking car payment. And your superior Jap car still depreciates.

Resale value is proof of reliability? Then explain why Suzuki or Mazda aren’t getting higher resale? Incidentally they are Japanese brands too and still import some models from there. You obviously don’t know a lot about Focus. 05+ Focus has become one of the most reliable car, and hence, Ford’s logic as to keep the old platform running.

Your superior Honda just settled a suit arising out of defective windshield of the Element due to design flaw. It’s a conspiracy according to you. Keep generalizing! It’s what you do best because your pea-size brain just can’t handle the things we call details. Best you can do is to see things in black and white while everyone else, even the monkeys, have moved onto 24bit color.

Jack, your statement is partially true, in that if a foreign brand establishes a new factory state-side, there are still kinks to iron out, although these tend to be assembly related rather than design flaw.

tripleonefive-
While “Lack luster” and “Mack duster may be funny to your breed-
it’s
lucklaster, to you.
It seems that we have your blood pressure up a bit, hum?

Tripleonefluffer: “I buy the best car for the money.”
Explain how you came out with an accord.

what is “Words of Power?”

“buying an American car is like getting a stripper and trying to make her your wife?”

You can’t even form a regular sentence correctly. Don’t attempt to make analogies. What’s that one supposed to mean?

Sharpie: Most people who view things objectively will say the current focus is a solid car. The company Iwork for uses them as fleet cars. It’s a knockout. Some may prefer the styling of another car, but looking at it objectively, you’ve got to say its a good buy.