• Sign Up! To view all forums and unlock additional cool features

    Welcome to the #1 Fiesta ST Forum and Fiesta ST community dedicated to Fiesta ST owners and enthusiasts. Register for an account, it's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the Fiesta ST Forum today!


Ford to cut down on passenger cars

Messages
269
Likes
48
Location
Grass Lake
#21
Everyone should expect that motorsports sponsorships by automakers will decline sharply. Wall street is demanding that Detroit become profitable AND relevant. What that relevance looks like to them is diversification and downsizing. And connected tech does extend to motorcycles. A major manufacturer of both cars and bikes is fully integrating motorcycles into the suite of technologies being created.
 


M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
Messages
13,996
Likes
6,697
Location
Princeton, N.J.
#22
^^^When I mentioned a "road bike" I meant a racing style BICYCLE, not a crotch rocket. ;)

(Unless our illustrious legislators decide to ban those from the roads as well in their effing autonomous future! [mad])
 


Messages
269
Likes
48
Location
Grass Lake
#23
That extends to bicycles too! At least the gps locating for collision avoidance. The approaching vehicle will be warned of the bike or motorcycle. The bike ride might get a warning signal to their cellular phone of an impending crossing of paths. The motorcyclist would get that and or vibration of hand grips a visual warning and possibly some automatic braking. The tech will be pervasive.
 


Messages
397
Likes
351
Location
Melbourne
#24
It all seems like it has gone down hill since the new Focus RS came out... I do not like the new Fiesta ST, not one bit. I will never buy one. I read some of the news in the post and that was depressing enough, didn't want to read any more. Last time I heard, Ford was going to release 20 more fast Fords by 2020... This was a few months before the focus RS came out.... Very different story now... :(
 


Messages
269
Likes
48
Location
Grass Lake
#26
It all seems like it has gone down hill since the new Focus RS came out... I do not like the new Fiesta ST, not one bit. I will never buy one. I read some of the news in the post and that was depressing enough, didn't want to read any more. Last time I heard, Ford was going to release 20 more fast Fords by 2020... This was a few months before the focus RS came out.... Very different story now... :(
Ford did not elaborate on wether those "20 fast Fords" will all be street drivable/road legal. My guess is that 7 to 10 of them will be turnkey track or race vehicles. Not necessarily a street legal road car. The days of non connected, 100% human controlled vehicles is over. At least in the sense of them being purchased as a street legal turnkey automobile. There might be a regulatory side door for track cars and reissued vintage. But, we in the industry are yet to see the final rules on it.
 


BRGT350

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,075
Likes
762
Location
Grand Haven
#27
Wall Street is demanding more emphasis on electric or alternate fuels along with autonomous, which means if you want to raise money via stocks and increase the value of your company, then you best focus on what the investors want. The market, on the other hand, is buying gas powered, inefficient products like crazy. Trying to deliver to the investors and the market, Ford has to kill all gas powered, human operated cars and increase the number of trucks and SUV's. There is more profit in the trucks and SUV's and the market loves them. Nobody is buying cars, so you can kill them and come out with electric self driving soulless pods to keep the investors happy. Ford went from a car company to a mobility company. I have no interest in buying a mobility product or a truck or a SUV. For me, the winner who will get my money will be the company that says there is a market for cars. My bet is on Mazda or one of the FCA brands. Mazda is already bucking the trend and the FCA CEO said he has no interest in running a mobility company. Honda may prove to be right about in the middle since they somehow decided to stop sucking. Ford has no interest in selling to anyone in North America that may actually want to drive their own car. The Mustang might be the only product that you could drive yourself, but will be a hybrid and I am guessing will continue to be stupid expensive for what it is.

Needless to say, the future sucks if you actually like to drive or own a car. How much longer until Skynet takes over?
 


Messages
269
Likes
48
Location
Grass Lake
#28
You have a good theory. But, i think that EV and Hybrid tech will become commoditized and then sold across brands. The end is near for multiple engineering programs that create essentially the same feature or function. The cost will have to be spread over more units, regardless of brand. One example is GM and Ford jointly designing a transmission for high gvw pickups. I can totally envision the day a Focus hybrid would have a Honda developed drive system!
As much affection as i have for the Mustang, i think it days are numbered. Ford just stated that there will be few, if any rwd car platforms in the future. I had hoped that maybe another, last generation Mustang chassis might be done that could also provide a new Lincoln mk coupe and maybe a rwd/ awd ford or Lincoln crossover to replace the profitable Flex. But i think the Mustangs past is going to become its future via a revology type high end reproduction muscle Mustang program. These guesses are made after observing whats happening, not after ive had a few Rum and Cokes.
 


Messages
167
Likes
56
Location
Sherwood Park
#29
Lots of good insight in this thread. And a lot of the practical difficulties that those who wish us to park all of our ICE vehicles don't like to talk about. In most areas the electrical grid is behind current consumption realities. On those hot summer days or cold winter days, many people have no idea how razor thin the margin to grid collapse we are at times. Add a huge slug of EV's plugged in...well the smart guys on this site can figure that one out.

Who will pay for the massive upgrade required to the grid? Look into the mirror, that is who.

I am not at all completely against EV's, there are just a lot of issues that need sorting before wide spread adoption. I live in a very cold climate and really wonder how well an EV would ever work here.

As far as autonomous vehicles...who really wants one? Seems to be the answer to a question that few have asked. Can you imagine the chaos when (not if) the network they run on is hacked? My paranoid self thinks that once autonomous vehicles are wide spread, those diehards among us that wish to self pilot will get regulated off the road or face punitive insurance costs which will accomplish the same thing.

We are approaching a brave new world for sure.
 


BRGT350

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,075
Likes
762
Location
Grand Haven
#30
You have a good theory. But, i think that EV and Hybrid tech will become commoditized and then sold across brands. The end is near for multiple engineering programs that create essentially the same feature or function. The cost will have to be spread over more units, regardless of brand. One example is GM and Ford jointly designing a transmission for high gvw pickups. I can totally envision the day a Focus hybrid would have a Honda developed drive system!
As much affection as i have for the Mustang, i think it days are numbered. Ford just stated that there will be few, if any rwd car platforms in the future. I had hoped that maybe another, last generation Mustang chassis might be done that could also provide a new Lincoln mk coupe and maybe a rwd/ awd ford or Lincoln crossover to replace the profitable Flex. But i think the Mustangs past is going to become its future via a revology type high end reproduction muscle Mustang program. These guesses are made after observing whats happening, not after ive had a few Rum and Cokes.
Yeah, I do think there is a good chance of further shared technology and components across manufacturers. With Mustang sales dropping, at least here, it would make sense the days are numbered for it and the rest of the pony cars. For me, there is a sadness knowing the Fiesta ST is probably my last Ford. I would guess my family has been buying Ford's for the past 70 years and I have never owned anything other than a Ford. The next few years will be telling, but already the direction is completely opposite of what I want in a product. I don't want a truck or SUV or self-driving car or a bajillion horsepower limited edition super car. I want an affordable hatchback that is fun to drive, which is probably why everything I have owned since 2000 has been exactly that.
 


BRGT350

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,075
Likes
762
Location
Grand Haven
#31
You have a good theory. But, i think that EV and Hybrid tech will become commoditized and then sold across brands. The end is near for multiple engineering programs that create essentially the same feature or function. The cost will have to be spread over more units, regardless of brand. One example is GM and Ford jointly designing a transmission for high gvw pickups. I can totally envision the day a Focus hybrid would have a Honda developed drive system!
As much affection as i have for the Mustang, i think it days are numbered. Ford just stated that there will be few, if any rwd car platforms in the future. I had hoped that maybe another, last generation Mustang chassis might be done that could also provide a new Lincoln mk coupe and maybe a rwd/ awd ford or Lincoln crossover to replace the profitable Flex. But i think the Mustangs past is going to become its future via a revology type high end reproduction muscle Mustang program. These guesses are made after observing whats happening, not after ive had a few Rum and Cokes.
Yeah, I do think there is a good chance of further shared technology and components across manufacturers. With Mustang sales dropping, at least here, it would make sense the days are numbered for it and the rest of the pony cars. For me, there is a sadness knowing the Fiesta ST is probably my last Ford. I would guess my family has been buying Ford's for the past 70 years and I have never owned anything other than a Ford. The next few years will be telling, but already the direction is completely opposite of what I want in a product. I don't want a truck or SUV or self-driving car or a bajillion horsepower limited edition super car. I want an affordable hatchback that is fun to drive, which is probably why everything I have owned since 2000 has been exactly that.
 


Messages
269
Likes
48
Location
Grass Lake
#32
You summed up most of the EV issues...

Battery range in cold weather. Overall range due to recharging time required.
The buy in costs of EVs, which won't be subsidized in the future. And the road use taxes they should be paying will subtract from the low cost claimed to operate them. And we haven't even touched on the taxes and fees that WILL be created to connect to the grid and recharge a future EV!
I drove a Nissan Leaf for approximately 2,500 miles a few years ago. I felt that driving dynamics were awful. But i would choose it over a city bus pass. It is faint praise, but i must admit that the technology does work. I did almost run over a couple of pedestrians who were staring down at their smartphones and stepped into my path. The total silence of a moving EV will need to be addressed.
 


M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
Messages
13,996
Likes
6,697
Location
Princeton, N.J.
#33
Yeah, I do think there is a good chance of further shared technology and components across manufacturers. With Mustang sales dropping, at least here, it would make sense the days are numbered for it and the rest of the pony cars. For me, there is a sadness knowing the Fiesta ST is probably my last Ford. I would guess my family has been buying Ford's for the past 70 years and I have never owned anything other than a Ford. The next few years will be telling, but already the direction is completely opposite of what I want in a product. I don't want a truck or SUV or self-driving car or a bajillion horsepower limited edition super car. I want an affordable hatchback that is fun to drive, which is probably why everything I have owned since 2000 has been exactly that.
I wonder just how much more time the WRC has left (or any other racing series for that matter, production based or not)? [dunno]

I for one, will not give a f**k about it once it is all fully EVs. [:(]
 


Messages
167
Likes
56
Location
Sherwood Park
#34
In a few years, simply driving any car will make you stand out when everyone else is in their mini to monster sized SUV. Even now in Alberta, driving a car is getting to be more rare all the time in a sea of SUV's, trucks and my favorite, the lifted 4 x 4's with the huge, wide tires that are hopeless on every surface except the Sahara desert. Deserts are kind of rare up here.
 


Messages
269
Likes
48
Location
Grass Lake
#35
Ford has reversed their decision to produce a plugin electric SUV at Flatrock assembly.
They will probably source it from their partners in China, Changan.
 


BRGT350

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,075
Likes
762
Location
Grand Haven
#36
Ford has reversed their decision to produce a plugin electric SUV at Flatrock assembly.
They will probably source it from their partners in China, Changan.
Article on Bloomberg says the electric SUV is going to Mexico to make room for an autonomous car for ride sharing/hailing. Does anyone besides a bunch of phone obsessed millennials in big cities actually want a self driving taxi cab for their primary mode of transportation? While my research is very limited and my world is mostly based around people who love cars, I can't find anyone who gets really excited about letting a computer drive them around. Ford's continual movement to SUV's and autonomous cars has me thinking more and more that after 20 plus years of driving Fords, I won't be driving one after my ST. They simply won't offer a product that I would be interested in.
 


Plainrt

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,385
Likes
687
Location
Sheboygan
#37
Article on Bloomberg says the electric SUV is going to Mexico to make room for an autonomous car for ride sharing/hailing. Does anyone besides a bunch of phone obsessed millennials in big cities actually want a self driving taxi cab for their primary mode of transportation? While my research is very limited and my world is mostly based around people who love cars, I can't find anyone who gets really excited about letting a computer drive them around. Ford's continual movement to SUV's and autonomous cars has me thinking more and more that after 20 plus years of driving Fords, I won't be driving one after my ST. They simply won't offer a product that I would be interested in.


Exactly my thoughts. I'll also be done with ford as I don't like direction they are going.
 


Messages
269
Likes
48
Location
Grass Lake
#38
It will be a slow rollout of autonomy and even slower rollout of EV. The infrastructure simply do not exist in a scale that would support them.And if it could be magically created, we still wont be able to power it because of the lack of generation capacity!
The real reason for the smart meters we've had forced on us is it gives the utility providers a way to trim our consumption on peak demand. The whole efficiency tracking gimmick is just the sugar coating on the turd.
 


M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
Messages
13,996
Likes
6,697
Location
Princeton, N.J.
#39
It will be a slow rollout of autonomy and even slower rollout of EV. The infrastructure simply do not exist in a scale that would support them.And if it could be magically created, we still wont be able to power it because of the lack of generation capacity!
The real reason for the smart meters we've had forced on us is it gives the utility providers a way to trim our consumption on peak demand. The whole efficiency tracking gimmick is just the sugar coating on the turd.
NOT just the above, but think of the ABJECT DEADLY CHAOS that the Russkie (which our present regime loves soooo dearly, and REFUSES TO STOP!) and Chinese P.O.S. HACKERS can (and WILL) rain down upon U.S. when the yuppified autonomous BS arrives!!! [ohcrap]
 


Messages
269
Likes
48
Location
Grass Lake
#40
The offshore app writers create all kinds of back doors in their consumer products. Have since day one.
 


Similar threads



Top