Ford posts strong first-quarter earnings of $2.6B

[DanielX]

- Of the top 20 cars sold in the United States in 2010, 4 were Fords - the F-series pickup, the Fusion midsize sedan, Focus compact sedan, and Escape compact SUV. (Toyota and Chevrolet also sold 4 top-20 models, Honda sold 3, Hyundai 2, and Nissan, Ram, and Subaru each sold 1).

- My dad owns (and quite likes) his Town Car. I find it a pleasant car as a passenger (smooth ride) but a chore to drive (like piloting a boat), and a miserable choice for urban areas. Also, the Crown Victoria/Town Car/Grand Marquis are hilariously outdated - the 4.6L SOHC V-8 has less horsepower and in some cases even less torque than a modern V-6, or even a turbo 4. It has its uses, mostly as a fleet vehicle for taxis, limos and police (as parts are cheap due to being produced for decades, the cars are actually pretty reliable, body-on-frame cars are easier to modify into limos and hearses, and police are notoriously small-c conservative and don't like to change their driving style or tactics for more modern vehicles). Ford intends to replace it with 3 existing models for these purposes:
- For the taxicabs, a passenger version of the Transit Connect small van. This strikes me as a good choice; they are fairly cheap, very roomy for their size, are available using gasoline, CNG, LPG, or electric power (Europeans get a diesel instead of gasoline as well), and are far better suited for urban areas like New York City than the ubiquitous Crown Victoria.
- For limos, the Lincoln MKT. This is funny; the MKT is very roomy - the 5-seat luxury cab version will make the Town Car look cramped inside - and non-body-on-frame-RWD limos have certainly been done before (like the Cadillac DTS/DeVille, used in 1990s-early 2000s Presidential Limos), but the MKT is a pretty ugly fullsize crossover and stretched versions would just look hilarious rather than classy. Don't know what Ford should do here, to be honest.
- For police, the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor. I'm not sure about this one, police are very attached to RWD and the Taurus is FWD/AWD. This may drive some departments to using the Dodge Charger or GM's weird for-police-only import/rebadging of the Australian Holden Caprice. I personally would suggest a US-market version of the Australian Ford Falcon (which may be coming, but not before 2014-5 at the earliest) or a 4-door stretched Mustang for police use.

- One of Ford's big strategies is, contrary to what Opebo might want, bringing European cars to America. The Fiesta, Transit Connect, and 2012 Focus are already out, while the C-Max mini-minivan is coming and in 2013 the Escape and Fusion are going to be revised to be more like their European counterparts, the Kuga and Mondeo respectively. For the most part, they're big improvements over previous models. Sadly, they're not bringing the good international-market Ranger because its almost as big as an F-150 (my response is 'drop the F-150 then' but Ford's not likely to listen to me given how well the F-150 sells).

Incidentally, in my absence I've finally bought a new car: a metallic blue 2011 Ford Focus SE, discounted because I bought it about a month before the 2012s arrived.

And Opebo: the news for you gets worse. Cadillac is dropping the DTS and STS in ~2012 and replacing them for MY 2013 with a V-6-powered XTS based on the Epsilon II LWB platform (same as the 2010 Buick LaCrosse and 2011 Saab 9-5); they've already stopped building new NorthStar V-8s. Buick is dropping the Lucerne if it hasn't already, leaving the LaCrosse as their biggest vehicle. If you don't like the Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300 duo or won't settle for a 2-door muscle or pony car, my suggestion is to move to Australia and buy a Holden Caprice.

And finally, I can't end a car rant without denouncing the NHTSA and the Chicken Tax, but that's mostly off-topic.