UAW Problem Solved. Ford's Next Big Problem to Fix; POOR DESIGN!!

[YesterdayAgain]

I gotta say, the UAW agreed to a very generous deal with Ford. IMO, Ford easily got the best deal out of the big 3. As long as it's ratified, no more UAW bashing from me.

As stated numorous times before though, this wasn't the only problem ailing Ford. IMO, the biggest of all the problems are poor, unimaginative, BORING designs.

Lincoln would be the poster child for this. With the exception of the Lincoln LS, I can't think of an impressive looking Lincoln in forever. Town Car, Continental and Navigator all scream or screamed BOOOOOORING, old man cars. The Zephyr-MKZ really doesn't do it for me either, which is sad because that car was specifically targeted for people exactly like me. The MKX may be a good car, but it is also failing to make the waves this brand needs. The LT is history.

The future savior of Lincoln? The MKS. Below is what original MKS concept looked like.

This vehicle received more boring reviews, despite an absolutely gorgeous interior. Maybe not a complete failure out of the gate, but surely not a homerun.

The following year, Ford unveiled the MKR.

This vehicle received rave reviews and was a relative hit at the 2007 NAIAS. Ford decided to do some slight revisions to the MKS based on the buzz from the MKR. The final product after combining these two designs?

Click for full size




WTF? Lost in translation doesn't really describe it. Would anyone want to buy that that? Note that those are spy shots and not confirmed, but still. This conservative, "play it safe" design philosophy needs to get the hell out of Dearborn imo. I had high hopes for this car after seeing it at the NAIAS in 2006.

Design is a creative, "talent" type position. IMO, Ford needs to clean house because these guys and gals are not cutting it. Come on folks!! MAKE SOME CARS WE WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thoughts?

 

[Common]

MKR concept looked badass.

Most companies never follow through with the concept designs eventhough people seem to like them.

But these guys never even stayed close to their concept design, breeding two concepts to make one car FTL

 

[ScareCrow]

Everyone I work with understands the situation that Ford is in. We know things had to happen to turn things around. After seeing what happened to chrysler , myself and others feel Very fortunate with how things turned out and the work that they will be putting into plants here was good to see. I think the good relationship between the UAW and Ford showed through here this time and helped out alot. Glad this is over with now so that I can stop holding my breath to see if I'll have a job or not.

But I understand that as some say , I'm just a " talentless , uneducated useless bloodsucker that is killing Ford " , so I will stop here

 

[GTSpartan]

The reality is, the CTS is going to bitch slap MKZ in sales. Cadillac is just kicking their ass all over the place. They're even trying to "bling" up the Navi like the Escalade in hopes of stealing some buyers. Not much success.

Lincoln should focus on being an Acura type luxury car company. Build a nice, entry level luxury car, but don't play in the high end car segment. It's already too full, and the brand has been suffering for as long as I can remember. Trying to convince buyers to buy a Licoln over a <insert name> is too difficult and $$$$$.

 

[YesterdayAgain]

Everyone I work with understands the situation that Ford is in. We know things had to happen to turn things around. After seeing what happened to chrysler , myself and others feel Very fortunate with how things turned out and the work that they will be putting into plants here was good to see. I think the good relationship between the UAW and Ford showed through here this time and helped out alot. Glad this is over with now so that I can stop holding my breath to see if I'll have a job or not.

But I understand that as some say , I'm just a " talentless , uneducated useless bloodsucker that is killing Ford " , so I will stop here

When I said the talent positions in my original post, I meant the positions you can't train. You can't train someone to be a world class artist or a star football player or a great writer. Those are gifts.

I think Ford needs more "gifted" people and less "what is a safe design" people.

The reality is, the CTS is going to bitch slap MKZ in sales. Cadillac is just kicking their ass all over the place. They're even trying to "bling" up the Navi like the Escalade in hopes of stealing some buyers. Not much success.

Lincoln should focus on being an Acura type luxury car company. Build a nice, entry level luxury car, but don't play in the high end car segment. It's already too full, and the brand has been suffering for as long as I can remember. Trying to convince buyers to buy a Licoln over a <insert name> is too difficult and $$$$$.

The new CTS annihilates the MKZ. It's not even close. I probably won't buy another 300C and as of right now, I am going to be looking at a loaded CTS in a couple years. It annoys me the people I want to buy from won't build a car for me.

 

[Lightningfr]

i think it looks bad ass...

they need to make a contender to the cadillac V though....

 

[HYBRED]

Design is a creative, "talent" type position. IMO, Ford needs to clean house because these guys and gals are not cutting it.

That'd be nice, then maybe I'd have a chance at a job when I graduate next August!!:rolling:

 

[mblgjr]

Kinda like the Mustang losing some of the "nice" touches between concept and production.

 

[Steve@TF]

i think it looks bad ass...

they need to make a contender to the cadillac V though....

i like that next design coming out. reminds me of a Lexus. going to have awd and 3.5TT duratec isnt it? sounds good to me.

i think the previous generations of the Navigator were excellent designs. i dont like the new one at all though. too blingy. i see the old ones ALL over the place so i know im not alone.

the GT was no boring car and neither is the new mustang. you may not like the new mustang but they were going like crazy when they came out, even selling above sticker price. the svt focus was a nice little car, as was the standard focus, and the new one looks promising as well. the fusion is a very good car with good reviews and im hoping they put the TT motor in it, or at least the 3.5.

you want to talk about BORING cars?? look at GMs lots :bored: with the exception of the vette (as always) wtf cars have Chevy put out?? :sleeping:
(not including Cadillac).

i agree that Ford could use some better looking designs, but i dont agree that everything they have put out is boring..

 

[ScareCrow]

When I said the talent positions in my original post, I meant the positions you can't train. You can't train someone to be a world class artist or a star football player or a great writer. Those are gifts.

I think Ford needs more "gifted" people and less "what is a safe design" people

Euphoric , i wasn't referring to what you said about that. I agree with you totally. It was a quick reference to some of the comments some have made in the past about uaw workers.

 

[Zorabot]

Its a shame what has happened to the American automobile industry.

 

[YesterdayAgain]

i like that next design coming out. reminds me of a Lexus. going to have awd and 3.5TT duratec isnt it? sounds good to me.

i think the previous generations of the Navigator were excellent designs. i dont like the new one at all though. too blingy. i see the old ones ALL over the place so i know im not alone.

the GT was no boring car and neither is the new mustang. you may not like the new mustang but they were going like crazy when they came out, even selling above sticker price. the svt focus was a nice little car, as was the standard focus, and the new one looks promising as well. the fusion is a very good car with good reviews and im hoping they put the TT motor in it, or at least the 3.5.

you want to talk about BORING cars?? look at GMs lots :bored: with the exception of the vette (as always) wtf cars have Chevy put out?? :sleeping:
(not including Cadillac).

i agree that Ford could use some better looking designs, but i dont agree that everything they have put out is boring..

I wasn't trying to say all the recent new cars Ford has put out have been boring. The Edge, Fusion, Mustang, GT, GT500, and F150 have all been hits or home runs in my opinion.

The Focus has never been regarded as highly at the Civic or Corolla. The new one makes improvements, but I think still falls short...and people are already talking bad about the styling.

GM shouldn't be the benchmark either, Toyota, Honda, and Hyundia should. I never have understood how an auto company can release a complete NEW car that manages to suck worse than it's current competitors (see Dodge Avenger, Chrysler Sebring). When Ford releases the new Focus to the public, it should be regarded as the best small size car available. Sadly, it is not. That is a partial failure imo.

 

[Traveler]

I don't really see the MKZ as that bad a competitor to the CTS. First of all, I don't really care for the Caddy's looks and I am growing more fond of the new Lincoln styling trends. With the MKZ, it does a 263 horsepower in a fairly light-weight sedan with AWD offered and a manually-shifted automatic option on the horizon, I think. Even so, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the MKZ probably outgun the Lincoln LS in a straightline or on a road course. I may be wrong, however. To me, its actually the Lincoln they did right.

And yes, Ford having the Twin Force technology on the way could be a definitely threat to anything at Cadillac. Take a 3.5L, make over 400 horsepower with forced induction and deliver V6 gas mileage...as opposed to a large cube V8? I'd really want a V8 anyday, but with gas prices steadily rising, big power/small displacement doesn't sound like that bad a formula.

 

[YesterdayAgain]

I don't really see the MKZ as that bad a competitor to the CTS. First of all, I don't really care for the Caddy's looks and I am growing more fond of the new Lincoln styling trends. With the MKZ, it does a 263 horsepower in a fairly light-weight sedan with AWD offered and a manually-shifted automatic option on the horizon, I think. Even so, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the MKZ probably outgun the Lincoln LS in a straightline or on a road course. I may be wrong, however. To me, its actually the Lincoln they did right.

And yes, Ford having the Twin Force technology on the way could be a definitely threat to anything at Cadillac. Take a 3.5L, make over 400 horsepower with forced induction and deliver V6 gas mileage...as opposed to a large cube V8? I'd really want a V8 anyday, but with gas prices steadily rising, big power/small displacement doesn't sound like that bad a formula.

Granted the latest CTS came out after the MKZ, but 263hp pales in comparison to the 300+ the CTS has. Exterior styling is subjective, but it hasn't exactly sets the sale floors on fire since it's release. I suppose I should probably compare technology between the two...

 

[NyteByte]

The styling isn't that bad, however it would help if they had a 6-cyl, twin turbo 400 hp engine option with AWD. And don't forget the manual tranny.