I would be surprised if you actually come up with something clever, in what seems to be, a sun-flower sized, brain of yours! Take your time though, because my expectations of you are pretty damn low!

But this is a bit pricey for this segment as well… but it looks like this will still sell.

-cereal

Notice how Ford NA is getting so many European models lately!
* Transit Connect
* Fiesta
* 2012 Focus
* Grand C-Max (Focus platform)
* Kuga (Focus platform) (built in Kentucky and shipped ‘back’ to Europe!)
* and possibly the next Fusion/Mondeo.
Now how about replacing the aging E-series with the Transit van?

Remember, for years Ford said they could not bring the Euro Focus over her due to cost. With the Fiesta in place slotting just below where the US Focus sits now, it allows them to bring the Euro Focus over here at at slightly higher price to justify the higher development costs of that model.

When that happens, the new Focus will slightly overlap the current US Fusion. Then the same thing will repeat itself. Within 12 months, the current Fusion will have a Euro-sourced Mondeo replacement at a slightly higher cost than the current Fusion.

This will have the result in slowly giving us a better quality product, and inching the pricing (and margins) up in a slow, incremental way that the average American consumer will barely feel or notice.

It’s brilliant if you ask me. But nobody asked me, so I’ll leave it at that.

Yes, for several reasons. First, ironic, was people’s experience with SUVs. They’ve gotten used to these vehicle’s utility and flexibility. What people don’t want is the high cost of ownership (payments and gas) and bulk. Hatchbacks (in the U.S.)are seen as a continuation of the crossover (in decades past, we called these ’station wagons’).
2nd is the demographic shift. Hatchbacks are targeted at younger buyers who weren’t around to experience the first round of horribly bad domestic hatches. Ironically, most are being bought by parents in their 30’s-40’s and a growing number of empty-nesters (see SCION). Both these groups are willing to pay a little more for a quality product that won’t disintegrate after three years.
3rd, the U.S. is getting more urbanized. SUV’s, fullsize cars, and minivans may be at home in rural areas and the suburbs, but in the city these are very inconvenient and expensive (fuel economy, insurance, repairs). These Japanese and European hatches were designed for this environment.

When I was in high school many thousands of years ago, I drove a 1992 Ford Escort 5-door. I loved that little car, because it was like a Timex – it always kept ticking. Since I was in high school, though, I did the unthinkable and built an earth shaker in the “trunk.” This little experiment taught me something about hatchbacks: Thumping hatches don’t rattle as much as thumping sedans.

It’s similar to the reason I think they aren’t designing a new Ranger. They know the small truck market has shrunk. And the vast majority of Ranger buyers buy it because it’s the cheapest form of transportation they can find. If you redesign it and add in a bunch of cool features that raise the price you effectively alienate your customer base and end up losing money.

And the only problem with comments on this thread (and auto sites in general) is people who blindly hate on ALL a company’s offerings just to piss people off or stroke their egos. I may like a lot of Fords but I have no problem pointing out things I dislike about them or about Fords in the past. Personally I think it’s a travesty what they did to the manual shift boot in the Fiesta. Would probably make me choose the auto just because it looks so bad. Does it make the car a failure? Not in my book. I can also see the good in other company’s offerings. Personally I think the Toyota FT86 looks sweet and the new 4Runner looks pretty nice, especially in rally form. I still like the Honda Fit. Pretty much everything else from Honda looks like crap currently, but you can’t fault their quality.

no offense, but a base yaris or dead even model price-wise to a base fiesta …
… will look and is like DOG SHYT compared to the firsta…
and of course comparing hatch to hatch, sedan to sedan, otherwise the comparison is mostly irrelevant, being that many sedan buyers dont like and hence won’t buy a hatch, and vice versa! <<coincidence,

Now do you really believe more people are going to buy the hatch as opposed to the sedan over here? It just seems against the trend. Fortunately it won’t be long before we have some actual statistics to back up out theories.

One last thing, if the mission is to move as many cars as possible why would you make the one you think is going to be the biggest seller more expensive? Aren’t you taking the risk of forcing some would be customers away from the product simply because of the price point?

Ford’s basic common denominator, then and now, is poor management
They blew it with this car
VW, Honda, Toyota have always used 3-door hatches to get you started, with Rabbits, Golfs, Yaris, Civics, and CRXs
And charging more than $15-$17k for this will not bring them the traffic it should
This should mirror the Yaris pricing step-for-step, and model for model
Then they’d get results

This is the one model that showed me Ford could actually turn the corner and threaten GM and Toyota
So than god Ford is still Ford!
The more things change, the more they stay the same
DrFill

As far as materials go, the difference between the added glass and sheetmetal in a hatchback is small, and the rear hatch itself is usually designed as a simplified door. At the most a couple of hundred of dollars, definitely not thousands.

Now, this is all just _cost_, as opposed to _price_. Price is determined by supply and demand. Ford had done their homework and determined that more people will prefer a hatch to a sedan, which is why these will cost more. Furthermore Ford’s research probably showed that the demand for a base S hatchback won’t justify its production costs, which is why it won’t be built.

“At least, reasons that make more sense then Ford execs saying “Muhahaha, lets sabotage sales of the hatch so it FAILS!” Genius whoever thought that one up.”

… was probably directed at moi.

I want to hear from an automotive engineer why it costs more to build a hatchback as opposed to a sedan.

Show me the money.

If you want to go on believing that car companies can’t change then more power to you, but Ford has already stated it is increasing the frequency of it’s refreshes and redesigns to better emulate the industry leaders. They’ve also been putting more effort into their refreshes to make them more competitive, case in point, the Fusion. Compare that to the recent refreshes of the Japanese mid-sizers (new headlight lenses?) and it’s almost like a completely new car. New enough to win a slew of awards anyway. I’ll grant you that they NEEDED to give it a significant refresh, and the leaders have less need to do so, but at least they are trying and succeeding to inject life into their line-up.

It could be that the hatch costs more because, first of all, it requires more hard trim to finish out the hatch area. I’m sure the giant one piece, metal and glass hatch isn’t a cheap item either. Add into that the fact that the hatch model was pushed through at the last minute and required extra work above and beyond the sedan to get it ready for the North American market.

Lastly, and stay with me on this one… people who buy the cheapest version of a car usually do so for PRICING reasons and not STYLING reasons. The customer for the hatch is probably viewed by marketing as someone who REALLY wants a hatch and will pay a premium for it. You and I may disagree with that assessment but I can certainly see the logic of it. Mazda did the same thing with THEIR 5 door Mazda3 and I see a TON of those things around here.

Trust me, I wish they had a cheaper hatch too, but I can definitely see possible reasons WHY it is more expensive. At least, reasons that make more sense then Ford execs saying “Muhahaha, lets sabotage sales of the hatch so it FAILS!” Genius whoever thought that one up.

Yeah Ford’s trophy case is pretty scary
Like a Haunted House

No one is waxing nostalgic about about Escort
But if you knew anything about auto history (obviously not)
You’d know that was the last time Ford was solvent and making money on it’s cars!

SURE they were making monkey crap, but it was profitable monkey crap!
LOL
DrFill

Secondly, in case you hadn’t heard, there is a new Focus coming next fall to be revealed at the Detroit show, and its moving upmarket. I would say “wait until you see it” but I know you’ll just indiscriminately piss all over it like some half blind ****er spaniel. It will be the best looking, best driving, and best equipped compact on the market but it could come standard with a solid gold Megan Fox in the passenger seat and you’ll still get on here and bitch and moan about how the solid gold Megan Fox isn’t wearing any solid gold panties and you’ll be damned if you’ll spend THAT MUCH for a vehicle with no solid gold Megan Fox panties.

And I love how you bemoan the horrible Fords that they keep forcing everyone to buy and love, and give awards to, and yet you wax nostalgic for the days of the Escort. Are you really that idiotic? You’re a joke. Nobody takes you seriously.