Comments on: Report: Ford U.S. mulls importing European models

By: GT_Fan

GT_Fan — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:19:59 +0000

I’ve been looking at vehicles with three rows of seats and have considered the Ford Freestyle, but it’s just too big and isn’t available with a stick. If Ford could sell the S-Max here with its 2 liter Duratorq diesel and six-speed manual, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

By: JohnnyBlazE

JohnnyBlazE — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:34:09 +0000

deantj: sorry, my point was if it’s not a brand with segment killing cars, why does it continue to outsell all others in the UK?

By: JohnnyBlazE

JohnnyBlazE — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:33:01 +0000

“November figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) show car registrations were up by over 18 per cent for Ford compared with the same month a year ago.

This sales surge seals 30 consecutive years of car market leadership for the blue oval. Every year since 1977 the country’s top selling car brand has been Ford. ”

06/12/06

http://www.easier.com/view/News/Motoring/Ford/article-88157.html

By: Hyperion

Hyperion — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 20:03:01 +0000

Sell these cars here, Ford, because most of your lineup still… sucks. It’s mostly uninspiring.

By: meanpants555

meanpants555 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:18:27 +0000

The Merkur XR4Ti was fun as hell to drive, but it didn’t sell well. I bet it would be a great car to drift. Didn’t they use the same engine in the Mustang SVO?

By: rufial

rufial — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 13:56:36 +0000

Just wonder why american cars (not the european models, of american brands) do so poorly in sales here in Europe.

By: JohnnyBlazE

JohnnyBlazE — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 12:49:34 +0000

Ah… seeing Euro sense…?

By: b13sentra

b13sentra — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 07:46:28 +0000

FINALLY!!!

By: basicshape

basicshape — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 07:20:23 +0000

Lets not get our panties all rolled up in a bunch poeple. Remember what a disaster the Merkur Xr4Ti and Scorpio were back in the late 80′s. Two top selling cars from Europe brought into the US to sit on showroom floors. Ford is definetly not going to want history to repeat itself.

Some questions:

Will there be a new brand ala Merkur?
Will they be going on sale next to similar sized/featured cars on the same showroom floor, only much more expensive? (poor exchange rate)
Will they require retooling for US spec and regulations, making them more expensive still?
Will they have a interest beyond us enthusiasts? (I wanted an XR4Ti so bad, but everyone thought I was nuts.)

Best bet, move to Europe.

By: angelo

angelo — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 06:32:37 +0000

All my meat-head buddies loves the Mondeo on James Bond.

By: Veda

Veda — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 06:20:29 +0000

Megator, yea the Focus looks better but performance wise if you’ve got the chance to compare the two, you’ll probably be disappointed.

By: autonutt

autonutt — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:36:46 +0000

Ford has contended that the reason they didn’t bring the MK2 Focus was because they didn’t want a repeat of the production problems the MK1 had when they first adapted the tooling to US factories.. and also claimed the selling price would be too high. This has been an option for MANY years, and the only reason they are considering it now is because GM is doing it with Saturn/Opel.

By: Phileas Fogg

Phileas Fogg — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:17:50 +0000

After having lived in Europe for a while this would make me extremely happy.

By: VDuv Kux Klan

VDuv Kux Klan — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:02:45 +0000

The Euro Focus is already for sale in Mexico, its just matter fo time to be sold in the states

By: Diel

Diel — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:09:00 +0000

This news would be like a wonderful Christmas present, if it’s true.

By: tob

tob — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:18:20 +0000

What is to think about….the cars are better than what they have here….the fact that they have to think about it is retarded.

By: GeoKrpan

GeoKrpan — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:17:42 +0000

Ford starting prices stated in pounds and coverted to dollars at a 1.97 conversion
Please note, these are On The Road prices which include tax and license.

Car, Pounds, Dollars
Ka 7095, 13977
Fiesta 8390, 16528
Fusion 10645, 20970
Focus 10995, 21660
Focus C-MAX 12995, 25600
Mondeo 14995, 29540
S-MAX 16995, 33480
Galaxy 19495, 38405

By: GeoKrpan

GeoKrpan — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:03:51 +0000

Pounds Dollars
Ka 7095
Fiesta 8390
Fusion 10645
Focus 10995
Focus C-MAX 12995
Mondeo 14995
S-MAX 16995
Galaxy 19495

By: megator

megator — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 01:59:10 +0000

The new civic(euro version) isnt that great. I liked it the first 10 times i saw it now it actually looks a bit dated. also that interior looks so awfully confusing, i havent sat in one but peaking through a widow, and mag pictures didnt make it look any clearer. The new focus looks really good (although a tad bland in non ST trim) and it has a class leading chasis (thats what made the previous focus such a hit). And the interior is really nice.

By: GeoKrpan

GeoKrpan — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 01:57:35 +0000

Ka 7095
Fiesta 8390
Fusion

By: Veda

Veda — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:59:52 +0000

By the time the Euro Ford Focus comes to US, it will already be beaten by the competition. Even right now given the obvious flaws of the car like the uselessly slow and dangerous tiptronic, the Civic still beats them overall.

By: A4

A4 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:23:20 +0000

actually meanpants, its the best idea since GM started importing opels less than a year ago, which isnt really that long of a time.

By: MadMatt

MadMatt — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:17:25 +0000

Megator, great point. GM is finally starting to see the light by having seperate regions handle designs for global platforms (Australia Large RWD, Korea small car, etc.). The Japanese have been eating up market share because they can concentrate on a smaller number of vehicles as they sell them all worldwide and GET THE QUALITY ASPECT RIGHT! Maybe the big 2.5 are finally going to catch on and start using an intelligent business structure.

By: acura_el2000

acura_el2000 — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:16:18 +0000

the mondeo is definatly coming to the u.s. look at the 007 advertising, without a doubt that car is coming here. The focus Im not so sure about, by the time they get around to importing them here, europe will have a new more superior chassis anyway

By: megator

megator — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:00:12 +0000

what strikes me is that american companies seem to have completly different lineup for each world market. gm and ford both sell completly diferent veichles in australia, europe, and america. sucesful companies like bmw mercedes and toyota sell basicly the same cars in all the world markets. this means that they have the developmen costs spread over several thouds more than ford or gm. Also Ford and Gm divisions are run like completly different companies instead of one large company running everything. i think that these two points are weaknesses of these two companies.

By: WEKS

WEKS — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:50:20 +0000

Why did they have this “split” in the first place?

By: eam3

eam3 — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:45:57 +0000

Great move, Ford! What’s next? Round wheels? As has been pointed out by a lot of people here, this idea has been thrown at them for many years now, but the pompous asses at Ford refuse to listen to the public and would rather peddle their cheap crap instead. Hopefully this works out for them and opens the door for more Euro Fords and more Australian Holdens!

By: Dav is Dead

Dav is Dead — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:43:48 +0000

i was born in europe as well ( U.S. now also ), and i drove a ford mondeo for when i started to drive and it was SO much better than the taurus i rented when i came to see my college. they should definitely do it.

By: Andre Neves

Andre Neves — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:19:51 +0000

How about bringing over FPV vehicles like the Falcons.
http://www.fpv.com.au/index.aspx
These cars make the Mustang look like a Geo Metro.

By: hanlond

hanlond — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:12:15 +0000

Ford has come down to three options: improve thier current products, import better models not sold in North America, or just die. Looks like they chose to import better models. Hopefully they will import the European, Australian and maybe Asian and South American models instead of just European. But, only European is still better than nothing. And, improving their current models wouldn’t hurt.

By: Piablo

Piablo — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:09:55 +0000

Correction, this is not the best idea in a long time, it is the best decision made in a long time. I don’t know how many people just in this forum have been saying the same thing ever since I started reading this site. Someone in Ford finally listened. If CEOs and board directors’s salaries were better tied to perfomance, then these decisions would happen quite a bit faster.

By: Cobradreamer427

Cobradreamer427 — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:50:39 +0000

The Ford Mondeo ST 220 is a sweet car, and I can only hope they bring that to America.

By: 6ix

6ix — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:29:33 +0000

I just took a look at the UK Ford website. NICE!! Why the hell haven’t they sold the S-Max (and don’t go changing it one bit for the US market!) or the Euro Focus here? Makes no sense at all.

Bring ‘em!! This is their best hope.

And please guys, do something about the Ranger. It’s embarrassing.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:28:04 +0000

Well, if they produce the vehicles in N.A. as opposed to just importing them, then yes, they will be competitively priced. My guess is that Focus ST would go for like 30k CAD/25k US and people would probably pay. That’s a fine car (my friend in Manchester bought one this summer… he loves it).

It’s about time Ford got its head out of its a**. Although, I’m as interested in the Fiesta as the Focus. Where’s the B-car?

By: 1234

1234 — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:13:42 +0000

This seems a no brainer for Ford. Why has it taken them so long to do this?

By: Renton

Renton — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:09:48 +0000

More like 20 years ago.

By: pezones

pezones — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:54:02 +0000

THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE 10 YEARS AGO

By: Egbert Souse

Egbert Souse — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:48:41 +0000

More than whatever, this is great news, they should have done it a long time ago

By: GL1

GL1 — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:27:17 +0000

Whatever….

By: Ricardo Head

Ricardo Head — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:25:28 +0000

Exchange rate does not have to be an issue if they tool up/build here. They can sell these at break even to see if they move, then if they do they can tool/build in the USA or Mexico and make money on each unit.
Key to the deal is they have to correspondingly kill some US equivalent product in the process, or you’ll have the cannibalizing comments flying. Other thing is to maybe bring them all over as Mercury’s or whatever and convert that over time to the mostly “import Ford” brand like Saturn is for GM. One way or another, they gotta do it. Maybe the new CEO is shaking things up. Good thing.

By: sampson

sampson — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:17:37 +0000

YESSSSSSSS!! there is hope for ford after all… Bring that freaking focus, and bring the australian Fords over too…

By: Jeff in Canada

Jeff in Canada — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:16:21 +0000

In Europe Ford has a much better image than it does in N.A. If they were to import the Euro-Focus it would sell for much higher prices than the current one. I think the Focus ST would be a great car, but it would compete with the GTI and Mazdaspeed3 over here, which are in the 30-32 grand territory. With the exchange, the Focus ST would actually be 35-40 grand (CAD). This doesn’t make it very competitive. Unless Ford is willing to take a big loss on the vehicles to gain back the lost market share, it wouldn’t be a good finacial choice. Given their cash situation, I doubt they could afford to take to losses for very long.

By: meanpants555

meanpants555 — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:51:51 +0000

Are you ‘Xymox’ as in Clan of Xymox from 4AD?

By: bneshev

bneshev — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:51:49 +0000

Im from europe (live in the US now), and actually people there respect the brand ford. they should import. now! and even if they will lose their conservative buyers here, their sales should still go way up

By: meanpants555

meanpants555 — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:51:15 +0000

Fooking brilliant! It is the best idea anybody has had in a long time. Ford Europe has sharp looking and fun to drive cars; they are a better styled and handling Volkswagen.

The exchange rate, as MyGodBeatsYourGod points out, is the critical issue.