Way hey! Ford is claiming a major victory, even as its U.S. May sales dropped 25.8 percent. The Blue Oval Boyz trumpet the fact their market share has grown to its “highest level since 2006.” So Ford is now where they were when ex-Boeing exec Alan Mulally took over (for a $25 million year one payout). And once again, Ford forgets to assign this glorious rising market share a numerical value. Let’s be clear here (even if Ford isn’t): they’re talking about retail share. At the end of the first quarter, Ford’s overall share of the U.S. market, measured traditionally, fell to 13.9 percent, a loss of 1.1 percent. What was that about lies, damn lies and Ford press releases? Drilling down is even more depressing.
Last month, sales for the Ford brand fell 36.8 percent, spraying arterially in all genres: cars (-32.6 percent), CUVs (-25.3 percent), SUVs (-60.5 percent) and trucks (-40.3 percent). Fusion sales get the PR spin award. Ford dealers managed to shift 19,786 of the hecho en Mexico four-door, up 9.4 percent. Fleet much? Incentive much? Not to take anything [much] away from the Fusion’s success, but sales of every other Ford model were way, way down. Ford can’t afford to become Mr. Fusion.
Lincoln clocked-in with a 2.4 percent lift, but get this: the only winner in its lineup was the ancient Town Car, up 103.3 percent. And let’s get real: the six-soon-to-be-seven model brand’s total monthly volume was just 8,566 vehicles. In repeat of last month’s ignominy, the badge-engineered Mercury brand outsold Ford’s premier division (by 1665 units). Led by—you guessed it—the Mercury Marquis (up six percent).
And Volvo? Lets just say the brand’s getting cheaper every month, in a -42.1 percent kinda way.
The real question: once the rabbit in the python is digested, once Chrysler and GM’s excess inventories are pushed out the door at fire sale prices, will Ford’s crosstown rivals’ customers abandon Government Motors I and II for Ford? The next few months will tell the tale. And will that be enough to even partially douse FoMoCo’s epic cash burn?
Everything is relative.
The Fusion sold 20k, slightly less than the Accord and the Escape outsold the CRV.
Of course the F150 will probably be the best seller again. Not too shabby considering the market.
Flex sales up to 4,305 – is that a record?
That is a new record for Flex. With the current market and to have a very reasonable 56 day supply, its good to be Ford, specially with GM and Chrysler bumbling around going “Brains… Mmmm… Brains…”
I’ve seen more Flexes in the past week, about 10, than I’ve seen since it has been introduced. Maybe they are finally moving the metal. It’s a nice car.
Well…Retail market share is more important than the other market share. There is no profitability in rentals. I am sure Ford could have unloaded enough on the rental companies to make up that 1.1% if they wanted to make a retarted business decision like their idiot neighbors. I read another article on CNN/Money saying that Ford did this without jacking up the incentives any further. On the surface, after seeing how horrible the Jap3 did, it looks like Ford had a fantastic month. Good for them.
Wow, Focus sales fell off the map with a 54% decline. Taurus sales also tanked, but inventories are next to nothing as the factory is doing a switchover already to the 2010 new Taurus which is going on sale next month.
I’m not seeing a massive market share gain by Ford at the expense of GM yet. GM’s total unit sales were down 29.6% compared to Ford’s 25.8% decline, but GM had the extra weight of Zombie brands Pontiac, Saturn, Saab & Hummer all down massively as word got out of their demise. If you just take GM’s numbers for Chevy, GMC, Buick and Cadillac, GM was down 24% May ’09 vs May ’08. The point? GM is not loosing market share vs. its #1 rival as a consequence of taking government money.
@bluecon: thanks, just working from memory – that’s a nice link to Ford’s retrospective numbers.
Take it all with a grain of salt. TTAC loves to hate on Ford. GM’s numbers were even worse, and there was only one sarcastic line in the whole piece. On the flip side, this thing sounds like it was written by Lewis Black.
I imagine Marquis sales are up simply because there are virtually no more Crown Vic’s left in the retail channel.
RF – you sound angry that Ford had a (relatively) good month. Toyota and Honda would have loved to only be down 24% (FLM) or 26% (incl Volvo).
Fusion sales: a little over 1/4 were 2009 models, not much fleeting, but some. Most of those sales are just plain, regular retail sales of 2010 models with a total incentive package between $500-$1000. Better than just about any car in its class. They have the Taurus with job1 on 6/15. The Fiesta with an estimated job1 in Dec/Jan to buffer their car line-up. I don’t think they are becoming Mr. Fusion – but let’s be honest, Toyota is Mr. Camry and maybe Mr. Corolla – that’s where it hangs its reputation. Ford is hanging their car reputation on the Fusion – and rightly so.
Then there are two important aspect of Ford’s business that you cannot ignore in your analysis: rebates are generally trending steady or downward MOM/YOY while much of the competition is up significantly and transaction prices on vehicles are higher than their previous model (the Fusion sales are heavily skewed towards the Hybrid, Sport and SEL models – the F-series is skewed towards crew cab, lariat models).
With inventories of <60 days, topping Honda and Toyota as far as I can tell, Ford is having a great time right now.
Now, if we want to have a conversation about the challenges Ford will face in July/August this year as Chrysler and GM (and probably Toyota) finish liquidating some excess inventory or in Q4 as Ford grapples with the calm before their next product launches in early 2010 (Fiesta, Edge) and late 2010/early 2011 (Explorer, Focus, Escape), then let’s have that conversation – becuase it will be a challenge for them, and I suspect will cause some serious fluctuations in price, incentive spend, fleeting and marketshare.
But this has been Ford’s month… and I see little evidence to the contrary.
Are the figures for Toyota and Honda out yet?
Explain to me again how the best sales results in the entire industry deserve such a sarcastic and inflammatory write-up, Robert…
Toyota Down 40.7%
Honda Down 41.5%
Nissan Down 33.1%
Mazda Down 40.1%
VW Down 12.4%
http://www.marketwatch.com
So Ford outsold Toyota again? It’s an impressive month for Ford, considering. Especially the increasing Flex sales.
I also fail to see how limiting fleet sales is a BAD thing, it means Ford isn’t going to let its new models become rental queens.
@ RobertSD :
“But this has been Ford’s month… and I see little evidence to the contrary.”
Relatively Ford did well this month but I think the -26% from a bad year last year speaks for itself. Don’t get me wrong, I think the new Fusion is a great car and I think the Fiesta is going to be a home run. However, I don’t see that Ford has downsized enough to be profitable on the backs of those products. The decline of SUV’s and F-150 sales which accounted for more than 100% of Fords profits just a few years ago is and continues to be epic. When and how will they stop the bleeding and even begin to pay back their monumental debt? Never mind how they will cope with the GM/Chrysler fire sales. Though I wish them the best, I see no reason to be rosy on Ford right now
Rental/Fleetsales dilemma (sorry, Bart): Damned (by RF) if you do, and Damned if you don’t…..
So… this means will get more Ford Death Watches?
What is needed is a Ford Recovery Watch, but something tells me one isn’t on tap (at least not from RF).
Last May, gas prices were through the roof…and the domestics suffered while Toyota and Honda were having a land sale on hybrids and smaller cars. So the percentage sales declines for the Japanese are a bit deceiving.
Props to TTAC for putting up a picture of my favorite Ford product – the Grand Marquis.
I’ve owned two, and I’ll get one more come 2011 and it’s final model year, unless it gets repreved from death for the tenth time. My current one will only have 130,000 miles then, and I want to run it up to 200,000.
The new Sable did nothing but suck Grand Marquis wind – the old lady survived yet another challenger.
LeSabre, Bonneville, 88, 98, are dead, soon to be joined by the 300.
taxman100, as a fellow member of the Panther Mafia the big problem is (as a TTAC commenter said the other day) Ford is limiting the trim to “Taxicab” on the new Grand Marquis and Town Cars.
Why oh why can’t they put out that Ford Interceptor concept? A new Grand Marquis based on that concept would be sweet.
Could these wait until all of the sales numbers are in and look at comparative numbers? Research is not that hard. Gas prices a year ago was 4 bucks a gallon. Ford Focus sales increased by 50% last year because of that. That whole segment did well, regardless of car companies.
And a year later, the same class tanked just as hard, back to more of the 2007 norms. The Civic and Corolla both lost 50+% of their volume.
I must admit, I don’t know if Robert is just a negative jerk that likes to hate on Ford or if I have been drinking too much Ford Kool-Aid. But either way, I think Ford has had a good month.
I am waiting for the Chrysler sales numbers. THOSE should be interesting.
Does anybody know why the Town Car sales went up so much? Were those fleet sales or retail sales? The Grand Marquis sales were also up, but I don’t know why.
@guyincognito:
Can Ford sustain -30% sales declines forever? No, not without more cutting. But, I suspect Ford will only be down 15% or so in June and probably flat in July and August (barring extreme market forces like a gov’t funded GM fire-selling everything). I expect them to be up September through December. I’m betting the Q3 and Q4 SAARs come in closer to 11M.
But this massive pile of debt people keep talking about got $10B smaller just two months ago. I suspect Ford will do another debt swap sometime in the future – maybe as early as Q3 or Q4 depending on the market. I’m better Ford’s debt load will be nearly halved in a year without significant cash outlay (maybe $3B for $15-17B traded in).
They may not be quite as nimble as Honda yet or as well-funded as GM and Fiatler as this point, but they seem to be steps ahead of Toyota. I don’t think they are too big for where I see the market headed in the short to medium term, and their cash pile is more than enough to carry them through the medium term.
Other than the tint job I have pretty much the exact same Grand Marqis pictured as a rental this week. Good Lord you folks who love these things – have you EVER driven anything else???? It’s HORRIBLE. Vague, numb, bouncy, floaty, the seats are awful, the thing shudders and quakes over bumps (it has 5k miles on it!), it’s slow, and cruising around Lincoln Nebraska the on board computer is showing 13mpg! I’m 40 and had never had the “pleasure” of driving a trad Amurican barge before, being an East-coast liberal Saab driving type. Now I know exactly what I was missing! And in what should be the perfect environment for this God-awful heap of crap too!
No wonder this website sucks? I always thought it was a weird bias against Ford. This article proves it. This author villanizes Ford for earning more retail sales and less fleet sales and then turns around and try to blame the Fusion sales on more fleet.
Readers, please be as I am and not come back to this site.
Instead go to AUTOBLOG.COM for a more balanced viewpoint.
Yes krhodes 1 I’ve driven many cars.Japanese,
Euro and even British.The big RWD Ford is a pleasure to drive,the last of the truly great cars.
TTAC: Please post apples to apples numbers when posting your sensational sales headlines. Don’t use different sales stats for Domestics vs. Japan Inc. It really doesn’t look good for the “Truth” part of your site’s name, or your self-proclaimed neutrality.
For all those who don’t realize, TTAC tends to post “worst looking” figures for Domestics and “best looking” figures for youknowho…
ANYHOO this month TTAC chose to post the %decline in total monthly sales for the Domestics, and the %decline DSR for the chosen ones. Granted they all suck so I guess it doesn’t really matter.
To do a true apples-apples comparison go here: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/02/by-the-numbers-may-2009-gm-and-ford-surprise-edition/
Ford is screwed. Period.
None of their new, ugly, appliances can save them.
Look at the numbers, it is all there.
Crown Vic…killed the Taurus.
Grand Marquis…MURDERED the Sable.
Town Car…outsold the upscale Taurus…err…MKS.
That is how backwards Ford is. They are blind to the fact that they are on top of a bubble that is going to break and they are going to fall to the ground with a big THUD.
And with GM and Chrysler having ZERO debt…while Ford’s is in the BILLIONS…all they can do is sink.
We should rename Ford ‘Titanic Motors’.
EDIT:
TTAC…don’t listen to what these blind Ford Cheerleaders say…they cannot see the forest for the trees. Just keep reporting the TRUTH…it is a breath of fresh air.
In the investment world there is the term “flight to quality.” It’s what investors buy when everything else seems shaky. Yo Ford: That is what the Grand Marquis and Town Car are. Despite the horrible de-contenting, buyers know that for sheer sturdiness and value, as well as surprisingly good economy for a huge vehicle, they are unbeatable. There’s also something to be said for a less gimmicky car. I would actually like to see Ford BOTH put the luxury back into the Grand Marquis and also offer a Ford Galaxie with crank windows and otherwise minimal options. Sell the latter in super price leader form and also as a lightweight muscle car with the hottest engine and best suspension bits. Just like in the 60’s. Still listening, Ford? Don’t kill the Marquis. Rub out one line of SUV instead, and design a wagon body for the Marquis. The 2011 Colony Park. Oh very well, call it the CPX if you must. But do it right, a real full sized wagon. That’s not a category killer. It’s the whole blinkin’ category. Target it to have a lower price and better MPG than the Toyota Venza, make sure the buyers know that, and watch it sell. Ford is the only manufacturer in North America, Europe or Japan who still has the platform to do this. In a year, the Chinese will be selling copies of it using the platform for that Faux Town Car they currently build. Mark my words.
Many people will be skeptical of a government-owned GM’s products. Some will go Japanese, sure. But many will go to Ford, wanting an American brand. I like the Ford lineup. My next new vehicle will probably be a Ranger.
P71 – The Grand Marquis has held fairly steady from last year to this, and the Town Car received a nice bump in sales due to livery fleets loading up while they still can. Taurus and Sable sales are low mainly due to inventory, there just aren’t any out there to sell. My dealership hasn’t had a Taurus on the lot for over a month, and we sold our last Sable a couple weeks ago. However, we get many many people coming in asking when the 2010 Taurus will arrive, it is going to be a huge seller.
MadHungarian – A full size stripper car just won’t sell. We have a hard enough time trying to sell Fusions with a stick shift (and those still have power windows and locks). We have one Focus on the lot (of a total stock of around 30 Foci) with the stripper package of stick shift, crank windows, and hubcaps. People come in and ask to see the cheapest car, we show it to them, all of them then cringe and ask to see the next cheapest. People want value and bargains, yes, but they don’t want decontented penalty boxes.
Many people will be skeptical of a government-owned GM’s products. Some will go Japanese, sure. But many will go to Ford, wanting an American brand
What the hell is a “government-owned GM product”?
They will have the same suppliers…they will have the same plants…just fewer of them.
Quality will be at the top of the industry…just like before C11.
Nothing on the consumer end is going to change…except for fewer brands and models. They will have the same world class CTS, same fantastic Lambda SUVs, same class leading Malibu, and the same class leading trucks and SUVs.
AND…add to that the Hybrid beating 32 MPG Equinox, the Cruze, and Volt.
Other automakers…specifically FORD, are going to underestimate the power of the ‘new’ GM. and Ford…once again, will be caught with their pants down.
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PS:
I want to give a shout out to all of my friends on BON…keep popping those little blue pills I refused to swallow.
However, we get many many people coming in asking when the 2010 Taurus will arrive, it is going to be a huge seller.
Interest does not equal sales.
People are not spending money these days. The so-called “new” Fusions and Taurus’ are going to be collecting dust on the lots…because of the economy and because they are overpriced (Ford’s M.O. of late) and under-delivering.
This article jumped the gun IMHO:
a) Toyota/Lexus down waaaay worse than Ford.
b) Honda/Acura down waaaay worse than Ford.
c) Nissan/Infiniti down waaaay worse than Ford.
d) Mercedes down waaaay worse than Ford.
e) BMW down worse than Ford (even Mini was worse).
f) Porsche down worse than Ford.
Perhaps the articles making fun of those brands will be forthcoming – but I wouldn’t bet on it. If you want to see full on spin go to Toyota.com and look at their May sales report. The first paragraph is an utter joke and I am certain that The TRUTH About Cars will be ripping it apart.
Of the majors only Hyundai/Kia did a bit better than Ford, and VW/Audi way better (only down half as badly).
I can understand hating on Gov’t Motors now that it is nationalized, but why hate on a private company that did finally see the light and is surviving on its own without bleeding you?
I recognize trolls when I see them, but sometimes I just can’t help poking the bear.
P71 – Interest drives sales, if nobody cares about the product, nobody comes to drive it, and nobody buys it. Yes not everyone interested will buy, but in my experience the better the buzz, the better the sales.
As far as the rest, yes, the CTS is a great car, and yes, the Lambda CUVs are nice as well. As far as the Equinox goes, for an auto Edmunds has the EPA ratings at 21/30, and while that may beat some of the GM hybrids, the Ford Escape Hybrid still tops it at 34/31. The Malibu is a nice enough car, I don’t see why it doesn’t sell more than it does, but the Fusion has certain features the Malibu can’t touch, mainly Sync and all of the new capabilities being added with it, and that drives a lot of sales, also, better fuel economy for 2010 models.
Class leading trucks and SUVs? Now that is just ridiculous. The Silverado isn’t awful, in fact, I’d put it in 2nd place behind the F150, but it still isn’t rated at high in payload or towing capacity (yes, it has a more powerful engine, and yes, it will accelerate faster with a load than the F150, but it doesn’t matter how quick you accelerate when your payload or trailer cause your rear suspension to bottom out), the inboard shocks and control arms cause the rear end to jump all over on bumpy courses, and it lacks any kind of trailer sway control, so if the load starts to act up, your truck is going to be looking the wrong way into oncoming traffic. As far as the SUVs go, the Tahoe and Suburban are nice enough, but the Expedition still has the killer app of those rear seats that fold flat and don’t require the owner to move out and store a very heavy chunk of car if they want storage space. Yes, GM still has better powertrains, but with the upcoming Ecoboost engines, and 5.0 and 6.2 liter V8s, there won’t even be that thin wall to hide behind.
@NulloModo:
I think it’s great that you stand behind what you sell, and I am also glad that Ford is presently able to stand on its own.
That being said, your response to P71 read a lot like a sales brochure.
-The Escape Hybrid gets great fuel economy, but it is expensive, hard to find, and can only tow 1000 lbs.
-The V8s on the F150 are grossly underpowered compared to the competition. Ford can make the chassis able to handle 1 million pounds if they want, but it still doesn’t change the fact that the current top motor on the F-150 gets wheezy on an incline towing 7000 lbs.
-Ford’s trailer sway control is very nice, but I think it is quite a stretch to claim that a Silverado will get backwards in traffic because it lacks the feature.
-The Ecoboost, 5.0L V8, and 6.2L V8 engines are all unproven. Also, if the exact specs or release dates on the new V8s have been published I haven’t seen them.
-The Ecoboost-powered cars are expensive, and IMO, the engine really under-delivers. The MKS with Ecoboost only gets 1 mpg better than the 300C AWD. Keep in mind the Chrysler makes more power, runs on regular gas, and has one less gear in the transmission. I just don’t see what makes the Ecoboost motor so great compared to a good V8. It just seems like a misleading marketing campaign to me.
-I think the powertrain difference between GM and Ford is a lot bigger than a “thin wall”. It has been the main reason I haven’t seriously shopped a Ford in years. If the price on the new engines are going to be restrictively high, I don’t see that changing.
NulloModo : and the Town Car received a nice bump in sales due to livery fleets loading up while they still can.
That’s odd, I remember livery folk having at least another 2 years of Panther production guaranteed by Ford.
I understand the reasons why people close to the Blue Oval want/need/try to shoot down this chassis, but you all have been wrong (by the sales numbers) almost every month since the the D3 platform hit the showrooms back in 2005. This isn’t some fluke, we need a redesigned large sedan that is a REAL Ford.
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ajla : The Ecoboost-powered cars are expensive, and IMO, the engine really under-delivers. The MKS with Ecoboost only gets 1 mpg better than the 300C AWD. Keep in mind the Chrysler makes more power, runs on regular gas, and has one less gear in the transmission. I just don’t see what makes the Ecoboost motor so great compared to a good V8. It just seems like a misleading marketing campaign to me.
You mean I can’t have my cake and eat it too?
But let’s make one point clear, the EcoBoost V6 supposedly runs on regular: the one perk to paying for AWD and turbochargers when a regular V8 would do basically the same for less money and manufacturing. And I betcha the upcoming Coyote V8 will prove my point.
I think that Town Car sold well because it’s the only Lincoln name plate that people can associate with an actual model.
The Panther platform has it’s shortcomings, chief amongst them that it is not as roomy inside as the exterior would have you believe. However, with subtle improvements it and the Mercury (should they choose) could probably be the proverbial turtle in the race. Slow and steady. And talk about a cash cow (can you imagine what they make per unit?).
We have one Focus on the lot (of a total stock of around 30 Foci) with the stripper package of stick shift, crank windows, and hubcaps.
Hmph, I am not saying this in jest but where’s your dealership? Palm Beach? I see tons of strippers (no wait!) around here (Toronto).
Why can’t people just say they can’t afford a certain car instead of cars are too expensive. All cars are priced relatively similar.If you want a car under 20K you may need to consider a B-car.
Class leading trucks and SUVs? Now that is just ridiculous. The Silverado isn’t awful, in fact, I’d put it in 2nd place behind the F150, but it still isn’t rated at high in payload or towing capacity (yes, it has a more powerful engine, and yes, it will accelerate faster with a load than the F150, but it doesn’t matter how quick you accelerate when your payload or trailer cause your rear suspension to bottom out), the inboard shocks and control arms cause the rear end to jump all over on bumpy courses, and it lacks any kind of trailer sway control, so if the load starts to act up, your truck is going to be looking the wrong way into oncoming traffic. As far as the SUVs go, the Tahoe and Suburban are nice enough, but the Expedition still has the killer app of those rear seats that fold flat and don’t require the owner to move out and store a very heavy chunk of car if they want storage space. Yes, GM still has better powertrains, but with the upcoming Ecoboost engines, and 5.0 and 6.2 liter V8s, there won’t even be that thin wall to hide behind.
Edmunds.com just did a test where they hooked a ~6500 pound trailer to a Chevy, Dodge, Toyota and a Ford. Their idea was that the big, bad F-150 with it’s (severely inflated) towing and payload capacities shouldn’t have any problem with that trailer and a few hills.
FACT is that it was the slowest truck of the bunch (weak, anemic engines and the weight of a Tank) and spent most of it’s time at wide-open just to maintain 45 MPH. So, the F-150 is great if you don’t want to haul or tow anything.
As for SUVs…GM wins hands down. Better looking by a long shot, much more efficient engines (a co-worker of mine has an Expedition with 14K miles on it and can only manage 12 MPG…), and the interiors on the Ford are so cheap…they creek when it is cold out.
And, Egoboost will do nothing except increase fuel consumption. Compare the G8 GT to the Taurus SHO. Both have around 365 HP, both get around 24MPG. So, in reality, Ford’s 3.5 V6 gets the same mileage as GM’s 6.0 V8.
V8 power with V8 mileage…all from a 3.5 V6…yeah, that’s a “bold move” alright.
As for the Equinox…check http://www.fueleconomy.gov. They have the official 2010 ratings.
32 MPG highway for the superior Chevy, 31 MPG highway for the lackluster and cheap Escape.
32>31.
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Sajeev…right on. You nailed it!
P71_CrownVic: The example you cite is the HIGHWAY mileage comparison of the Escape Hybrid FWD vs. 2010 Chevy Equinox 4 cyl FWD?
Yes, 32>31. But if you look at the CITY ratings (everybody knows that’s what a hybrid does best) then the Escape’s 34 MPG is, to use your term, “superior” to the Equinox’s 22 MPG.
34>22.
Estimated combined mileage for the Escape is 32 vs/ 26 for the Chevy.
32>26.
We know you don’t like anything related to Ford, but please at least try to be objective.
When every carmaker is doing poorly, the ones who did less poorly in the previous year will see higher percentage drops in the current year, b/c they were higher before and therfore had farther to fall. Obviously, when your sales were really, really terrible the year before, you can’t fall as far percentage-wise.
Expedition vs. Taho interiors… I’d go with the Expedition anyday, but even from an unbiased view they are basically a wash.
http://image.motortrend.com/f/roadtests/suvs/9221201/112_0804_08z+suv_comparison+ford_expedition_king_ranch_interior.jpg
http://www.auto-broker-magic.com/images/2009-chevy-tahoe-hybrid-interior.jpg
When it comes to fuel economy the Expedition is rated 14/20, the same as the 5.3 liter Tahoe, with which it shares nearly equal power figures (Tahoe has a little higher HP, Expedition has more torque). Yes, you can get the 6.2 liter beast in the Tahoe, but then your economy drops to 12/19. As far as better looking goes, that is a matter of personal preference.
Of that Edmunds comparo test you mention – that is the only review that says it struggles to tow a load, Car and Driver, MotorTrend, and even another review on Edmunds paint a different picture:
With a 7,000-pound trailer lashed behind each of them, we ran all four on a hilly 2.5-mile loop. The others might’ve been stronger sprinters out of the blocks, but the F-150 felt the most composed overall. When it was time to go to work, the Ford just put its shoulder into it and got the job done in fine fashion. Where the F-150 felt steady as a rock and almost made you forget you were towing during the descending and curved portions of the loop, the Tundra made you more aware that there was something big and heavy being pulled behind you. The Chevy and Dodge split the difference in terms of towing feel, but the Silverado’s engine got very noisy on the uphill climb, and felt like it was working overtime. The Ram’s wider gear spacing had its engine pulling hard off the mark but then losing its legs a bit when hit with the uphill climb.
excerpt from: http://www.edmunds.com/ford/f150/2009/testdrive.html
The true power of the EcoBoost is going to be seen in the smaller engines, the 1.6, and 2.0 liter four cylinders, which will give V6 performance at 4 cylinder fuel economy. The 3.5 liter engine does have one other benefit – it is much lighter and easier to package than a V8, so you have all the power of a V8, with at least a little better fuel economy, with less weight, in a smaller space.
NickR – Right state, wrong beach. Yes, we have our fair share of multimillion dollar mansions around, but we also have a lot of regular working class folk as well.
@eaptlm05:
Why can’t people just say they can’t afford a certain car instead of cars are too expensive.
It’s because I think there is a difference. For example, I can’t personally afford a Corvette Z06, but I do not consider that car to be “too expensive”. OTOH, I can afford an Impreza WRZ STI, but I think it’s “too expensive”. Maybe I should have used “poor value” instead.
I consider the Ecoboost V6 cars to be of poor value compared to its competition.
“P71 Crownvic:
Look at the numbers, it is all there.
Crown Vic…killed the Taurus.
Grand Marquis…MURDERED the Sable.
Town Car…outsold the upscale Taurus…err…MKS.
”
Well said and +1 on the D3 FAIL.