Even with an all-time first-half U.S. sales record, Ford’s SUVs and crossovers huge year-over-year gains weren’t enough to counteract the significant losses in Ford’s car lineup.
And that’s where the Ford F-Series steps in.
Overall Ford Motor Company sales rose 4.4 percent in the first half of 2016. At the Ford brand, specifically, every passenger car nameplate produced fewer sales than during the same period in 2015.
Collectively, the C-Max, Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Mustang, and Taurus slides resulted in 37,236 fewer first-half sales, a 9-percent drop.
On the other hand, Ford’s five utility vehicles — Edge, Escape, Expedition, Explorer, Flex — added 31,243 sales, a 9-percent increase in 2016’s first six months.
Ford’s pickup trucks and commercial vans, then, bear much of the responsibility for the market share gains produced at Ford so far this year.
PICKUPS
F-Series sales are on track to rise above 850,000 units by year’s end, making 2016 the first year since 2005 that F-Series sales will have climbed beyond the 800K mark. After earning 35 percent of the full-size truck market in 2015’s first-half, F-Series market share grew to 37 percent during the same period this year.
2015 was the first calendar year since 2009 that the joint efforts of GM’s full-size twins — Silverado and Sierra — resulted in more GM full-size truck sales than Ford produced.
But the F-Series outsold the GM twins by more than 15,000 units over the last six months. With average transaction prices well above $40,000, the F-Series is not just responsible for a massive chunk of Ford’s volume, it produces an inordinate amount of the Blue Oval’s profits, as well.
For every lost passenger car sale at the Ford brand in the first-half of 2016, Ford added more than one pickup truck sale.
VANS
Along with the F-Series’ tight grasp on the commercial-vehicle market, Ford’s commercial van lineup is also a mighty force.
The Transit Connect is losing market share (and sales) as new rivals join the mix, but the larger Transit produces more than four out of every ten full-size commercial van sales in the United States.
Indeed, the Transit doesn’t simply outsell all other commercial vans; it also outsells every people-carrying MPV from Toyota, Honda, Dodge, and Chrysler. Transit volume is up 36 percent, year-over-year, a gain of nearly 21,000 units.
Despite a lineup largely limited to chassis cab variants, Ford is still selling E-Series products, too. E-Series sales are down 2 percent this year but actually increased 9 percent in the month of June.
FORD & LINCOLN UTILITIES
Pickups clearly float Ford’s boat — the F-Series outsold the Ford brand’s entire utility division by a handful of units in the first-half of 2016 — but FoMoCo SUVs and crossovers are climbing faster than the market average.
Nine vehicles across two brands collectively recorded a 9-percent increase to begin 2016 as the overall SUV/crossover sector grew 8 percent.
Without exception, every Ford and Lincoln passenger car is in decline.
With only one exception — the Lincoln Navigator’s modest 1-percent downturn — every Ford and Lincoln utility vehicle is on the upswing.
[Images: Ford. Chart, © 2016 Timothy Cain/The Truth About Cars]
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.
Good Morning TTAC.
You’ll be keeping me company as I sit through boring meetings today.
Ford’s cars pale in comparison to the competition.
Regardless what anyone thinks, their product is BORING. Besides Mustang, it is so boring that there’s barely anything to talk about.
Ford’s reliability is higher than Dodge, but Dodge makes people want their cars.
Unless you advertise, you ain’t sellin’.
Though the newest generation corrected a lot of issues of the previous generations, they are outshined by the interior space and features of Hyundai and volume killers like Prius, Accord and Camry.
This made me want to stray. The D3 platform Taurus/Sable with the big V6 or the SHO/ecoboost variant let you buy a big, powerful Ford car. The Panther line filled in that niche 15 years ago. It’s Ford; the Ford V6 and V8 are legendary engines, but the I4 – not so much. The Fusion Sport can’t come soon enough to make people remain faithful.
Ford ELECTRON gets 305 miles per charge, is the same size as the MKS, comes with the ultraview moonroof on the MKZ and has autonomous driving and parking.
Capable of 0-60 in 3 seconds and has a top speed of 200 MPH!!!
Now that sounds like a lot of fun. I’m driving 500 miles a week, so, finally, something in the right range per charge.
Too bad I MADE IT UP.
If I was in charge of Ford, that’s what we WOULD build though!
Hold on to that excitement I generated within you.
Which cars would that be? Specifics for numbers sold in comparison would be nice.
Yeah, I know tons of folks that want a Dart.
BigTrucks,
Dodge makes car that people want? WTF?
So, why is it FCA is reliant on Jeeps and Ram?
If Australia had any answers to the downward trend in auto sales, they’d still have a viable industry. Get off the Smug Train.
Ford is fine with their sedan/car line-up – it’s just long in the tooth (biggest problem with Ford’s cars is the lack of interior room compared to the competition, but that’s what happens when one goes to the “One Ford” model and basically use Europe-developed models).
And despite that, doing better than Chrysler’s sedan/car lineup.
Nobody wants to be a blind, squishy road runt any more.
And if you do there’s Mole Car. Eventually.
It’s all about perception. SUVCrossover buyers, and women in particular, like to “ride high” because there’s a somewhat illusionary and somewhat real perception of improved safety. This in vehicles that produce paralysis in greater numbers than their sedan counterparts.
If I may be so bold, you are full of car guy bullsh1t.
Except for using the term “perception”. Aside from commercial trucks, no greater perceiving your traffic enviro than in a pickup
There’s nothing illusory or misguided about it- better visibility, bigger crumple zones and a higher curb weight ARE safer for male AND female occupants.
Nice try though.
Did you just Jekyl/Hyde or did somebody hack your account?
Not at all. Trucks are marginally safer than CUVs, but also cost a ton more to run, are harder to manage spatially, and are not roomier. There’s also the whole open trunk thing. Obviously if you need to tow boats or haul loads regularly that’s one thing, but in my experience most people don’t. It’s largely driven by image, which is OK, but is what it is.
Not sure why we bother with trucks when we could just take the next logical step of selling armored battering rams.
“Not sure why we bother with trucks when we could just take the next logical step of selling armored battering rams.”
I can ruin your day just as easily with my Volt as I can with my Sierra PU, trust me on that!
Provided you don’t roll over given the higher center of gravity. Given that the majority of the driving public thinks that the laws of physics don’t apply to them, it’s a very real possibility.
“Provided you don’t roll over given the higher center of gravity. Given that the majority of the driving public thinks that the laws of physics don’t apply to them, it’s a very real possibility.”
Yes. Thank you.
And so what if you roll over? Side curtain airbags, roofs are at least made to handle 2.5x the weight of the vehicle. Rolling over is one of the least dangerous things that can happen in a wreck provided your not rolling off a cliff or it catches fire before you get out.
Danger is not in rolling over, hell people survived rollovers in 1970s equipment, and it’s got a bit safer since then. The danger is in the initial impact(s). That’s where the additional weight make up for any rollover.
Most people die in rollovers when they are thrown from the vehicle because they weren’t belted in. I towed a few wrecks off the road when I worked part time for a towing company. Real world you can roll any car just as easy as a truck.There really isn’t that much of a difference. The bigger factor is how the driver reacts to the situation at hand.
Exactly, as long as your wearing a seat belt and don’t have some unusual situation, I really don’t consider a roll-over to be any more life threatening than a car wreck, clearly it’s no bueno for your vehicle.
“selling armored battering rams”
Thems as could afford ’em would buy ’em.
My favorite vehicle from Fury Road was a more mundane one, that 40s pickup based monster truck with a shiny unpainted body. I want one of those.
Cars are referred to as “blind, squishy road runts”, and I get accused of “car guy bullsh1t”. That’s ironic.
Here, this is for you and sportyaccordy.
http://www.brainandspinalcord.org/suv-rollovers/
Here, just take the search term and run with it:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=paralysis+caused+by+suvs&safe=active&start=10
I didn’t say cars are inherently safer, I just said they don’t produce the same paralysis figs. I know in the past I dug up studies and yes, I could do it again, if you really want to Matlock me. I don’t think people should trot out factors like higher crumple zones (completely legitimate) and then ignore issues like higher centers of gravity and greater stopping distance. All I’m saying is SUVs and Crossovers aren’t as bulletproof as people think they are.
You’ve truly gone and lost your mind if your going to use an undated article that could have been written anywhere between 1970 and 2016, and worse yet it seems like a site written by a group of lawyers. Also you can’t cherry pick any single physical injury without ignoring the fact many SUV flips are from significant accidents that would have otherwise killed someone in a car. Your posting articles that make it seem like SUV roof strengths are still rated by some 1970 crumple strength test.
At the end of the day physics dictates that weight, above all other factors is one of the largest considerations in who comes out on top in an accident. I can point to Bruce Jenners accident if you want a well documented case.
The second link, the Google search, is not doing your argument any favors, in fact it’s something I should be posting to prove my point. So not really sure where your going with that one.
Sweet lord in Heaven. I cannot believe you think this is a serious retort to what I posted.
People are having a lot of fun arguing with elementary physics in this thread, as if roof improvements or the like have anything to do with vehicles that are mathematically more top heavy. People are also quoting agencies that represent car makers who make tons of money off these things, because there’s totally no conflict of interest there–and you’ll note that even though if there definitely is, even their figures still support what I’m saying.
Look, guys, I’ve owned CUVs before. I have no inherent issue with SUVs or CUVs other than they’re mediocre at the applications most people buy them for. They are perception vehicles first and foremost.
That doesn’t mean I’m saying they’re inherent death traps, or anything. Just that they have disadvantages compared to cars in the rollover department. As a counterpoint, those of you taking all this ire over something your high school physics teacher could have explained to you should probably step back and consider that.
Yeesh.
“Just that they have disadvantages compared to cars in the rollover department.”
Not anymore they don’t, thanks to stability control.
No one buying a Chevy traverse is buying it for a perception (unless looking old is ‘cool’), the same can’t always be said for a Tesla, Miata, 3 series etc those are more about perception than most any SUV or crossovers made I would say.
I’m not unfamiliar with physics, implying that I am without reason doesn’t get you far.
“No one buying a Chevy traverse is buying it for a perception (unless looking old is ‘cool’), the same can’t always be said for a Tesla, Miata, 3 series etc those are more about perception than most any SUV or crossovers made I would say.
I’m not unfamiliar with physics, implying that I am without reason doesn’t get you far.”
Dude, you and I both know the whole point of the three-row CUV’s existence is because parents recoil at minivans and these vehicles are seen as cooler.
I brought up your arguing with physics because you went out of your way to paint what’s a pretty basic discussion of obvious facts as being somehow imported from around 1970. You seem to think these vehicles don’t have any appreciable greater chance of having a rollover. That just isn’t the case.
I love small cars, but I’m the first to tell you they have tradeoffs, too. No vehicle is perfect for every task at hand, and every bodystyle has its weaknesses. Rollovers happen in greater numbers in SUVs and CUVs, so I think the consumer perception that they’re these wonderful founts of safety is somewhat flawed. To say nothing of their greater stopping distances and the like. That’s all I’m saying.
I’m willing to stop beating on Mr. Ed if you are, however.
SUV rollover crashes used to kill off more than a few of their drivers and occupants. Single-vehicle fatal rollover crashes were far more common with SUVs than passenger cars
But stability control has changed the game altogether. The damned things just don’t tip over like they used to. Nanny devices save lives.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/09/autos/suv_rollover/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-lists-cars-with-highest-and-lowest-rates-of-deaths/
Heh… roll-overs never entered my mind. I never drive anything at a speed that would cause one.
I’ve really pushed my SUVs, they can truly go much further than anyone would ever expect. Track width and sway bars go a long way in keeping these trucks in check. As far as crossover go, I mean your slightly higher than the car they’re based on, the difference in rollover likelihood is negligible.
The old trucks? Nah, I’m happy to mosey around with a nice roll bar over my head.
SUVs and CUVs have much higher limits than most people are willing to find by design, and this is a testament to the people responsible for the dynamics of these cars; if they flipped over when one would expect them to considering their CoG and height, there would be many more lawsuits than there are.
However, I’m a tiny/fast car type so that I can get around and away from the Kenmores of the world as quickly and easily as possible. In a worst-case situation where I would lose traction or spin, it’s likely you’re in dire straits regardless of careful design.
If you believe the auto industry (The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers,) the primary cause of rollover crashes is the (as-stated) fact that people who buy tall trucks and crash them are stupid drunk children or equivalent:
—
“While the laws of physics prove beyond question that vehicles with low SSF roll over at lower lateral accelerations than vehicles with high SSF, the effect of SSF must be shown to have a significant influence on the outcome of actual crashes (rollover vs. no rollover) to be worth using for consumer information. It is a fact that types of vehicles with SSFs lower than passenger cars, as a group, have greater numbers of rollover crashes than passenger cars, either as a percentage of all crashes (passenger cars, 1.6 percent; vans, 2.0 percent; pickup trucks, 3.7 percent; SUVs, 5.1 percent) or as a percentage of single-vehicle crashes (passenger cars, 13 percent; vans, 14 percent, pickup trucks, 24 percent; SUVs, 32 percent). The Alliance attributes these differences primarily to differences in the driver and road conditions associated with the various vehicle types, rather than to the characteristics of the vehicles. For example, if young males using alcohol and driving on rural roads with high speed limits are over-represented as drivers of four-wheel drive pickup trucks in crashes, could these road-use variables outweigh the vehicle property to the point of insignificance? According to the current industry view, the correlation between the SSF of a vehicle and its ability to attract risky drivers who operate vehicles under adverse road conditions is the fundamental reason vehicles with low SSF are involved in a higher proportion of rollover crashes.”
—
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/roll_resistance/
“get away from the Kenmores of the world”
Our desires are in complete accord. I stay in the right lane to facilitate this very thing.
Go on, git.
“Go on, git.”
Don’t you worry ’bout a thing, I’m gone.
DCT could be a putter offa.
The Fusion and Taurus come with an excellent 6 speed auto, its just passenger car sales in general are slowing.
I looked at a new f150 yesterday. It’s an amazing vehicle. I’m not even a truck guy, but I absolutely loved how it drove.
Problem is, I can’t find ANY good deals on them. Any lease gurus out there wanna throw me a bone?
There was a CU in CO last month with a lease deal.
My brother in law picked up a new F150 for $246 with tax, no cash down or trade 30 month 30k lease. I have not reviewed the paperwork yet, but the residual is stupid high and the money factor stupid low.
@dchturbo
+1 on thIs. I’ve been test driving a variety of vehicles and the platinum trim is almost second to none in comfort and luxury. It’s far superior than a Mercedes (c/e class) for sure. Lasts longer too
F-150s msrp’ing in the $40k+ range are regularly selling at $15k off msrp in the Houston area. I guess it helps that a pickup truck is the entry level vehicle around these parts…
Around here you will see F150s advertised with $15k off MSRP but when you read the fine print that is “one only” and of course includes the first responder/military/teacher discount as well as the college grad, loyalty bonus ect. Only a small percentage of people will qualify for one of those discounts let alone all of them, and the dealer is only doing the huge contribution on that weeks advertised special(s). So the reality is that they don’t regularly sell for $15k off MSRP.
The typical creative arithmetic to arrive at that advertised 15K off is to start with Ford’s imaginary sticker price that doesn’t include the $2000 package discount and then leave off the $1200 freight charge and $600 in paperwork fees..
An honest 15K off isn’t happening but 11 is doable on an XLT and that’ll be 12 when the ’17s show up.
yeah I forgot about the “includes $2,000 in package savings” repeated from the sticker of the savings vs buying options individually that you can’t actually buy individually.
Max utility = CR-V segment entrant.
Max status outside of a big city = domestic full size pickup truck.
For Jane Sixpack there is literally nothing a car can do that a CUV can’t do better. And for Joe Sixpack there is no easier way to assert his fragile sense of masculinity than with a pickup truck. We have reached an inflection point.
I don’t drive a truck, but I would really like to drive a truck. It’s not to project my masculinity either. I just like trucks.
Nothing wrong with that. It’s why I have one. I even, occasionally, carry a lot of stuff in the bed.
I really want a truck. In reality, unless something drastically changes, I’ll just drive me C-Max until it’s dead.
I agree Adam and bunkie, some people just like driving a truck. It doesn’t always have to do with having masculinity issues, or feeling inadequate in your boxers/briefs. I drive a car, but I would drive a pickup and enjoy it. This isn’t 1994, modern pickups drive very well and as mentioned above, can be equipped just as opulent as any Benz.
@sporty
Oh, yeah, you’re one of the pickup = micropenis stalwarts.
Enjoy your sense of psychological superiority and fear not the darkness as you drive in the Valley of the Crew Cabs.
BTW, update your gender stereotypes re: Joe/Jane. If you had much actual experience “outside of a big city” you’d have been looking up to many Janes in the driver’s seat as you tried to see around your vehicular superiors.
My wife would also like a crew cab truck. Although, she would prefer a full size SUV.
Well, she’d have the same lift but with more practically usable space with the SUV.
Having recently been squired around in a ’16 Expedition during post-op lameness, I’m even more gung-ho on this class than crew cabs with dinky, vestigial beds.
I’ve been a proponent of her getting a smaller CUV than her Lincoln Cetacean, but there aren’t any smaller CUVs that are better to drive for long distances on the freeway.
You can get a crew cab with a 6.5′ bed on every full-sizer but the Tundra. And really, 5.5′ is hardly “dinky” or “vestigial.” That would be the 4′ bed on the old Explorer Sport Trac or the 3.5′ bed on the Subaru Baja.
Doc,
That’s what I get for not carrying my Lufkin *at all tines*!
Hey, I had to look up the Baja number. It’s not like I have an array of useless figures memorized or anything. :P
I would always end up leaving the damned things on a shelf in Lowe’s or Home Despot.
“Well, she’d have the same lift but with more practically usable space with the SUV.”
I own both, no comparison in practicality. Which is why the ‘Hoe hasn’t moved in a month and the Sierra (CC/6.5′ box) gets driven weekly. Hauled 6 yards of mulch and a yard of compost last week. This week it’s a 12’ Lund boat w/o a trailer I just bought.
When I started seeing the F-150 up close, it from the front resembles a semi truck. I can’t imagine this is by accident, we have “basic” half tons which look like and are starting to approach the size of semis. Draw whatever masculine conclusions that you will.
“Draw whatever masculine conclusions that you will.”
Helps me look down pedestrians’ cleavage? Specially in summer!
Thumbs up to ladies in convertibles.
OMG, so hard to not just skinny through the window and dive right in.
Where was Autopilot when I needed it?
My favorite line from a song by John Gorka:
“One combination still impresses:
women, wind, and summer dresses”
A brief, warm cloudburst added to that ain’t bad, neither.
Ha, hit dogs holler. I am going off of years of observations working in and living near rural NC, so no, no projections here. Look I ride a motorcycle partially for the image as well so I’m not immune. But to pretend like pickups aren’t bought for their image is silly. “Like a Rock” “Built Ford Tough” “RAM” give me a break.
I think they are bought for image by a good amount of people. Same with full size SUVs. I also think that there are a bunch of people, like me, that grew up in a household with a truck, and appreciate the utility and flexibility of a truck.
I’m going to have to buy either a truck or a full sized SUV for towing eventually. Towing the boat with the MkT is fine, but I towed it with an F150 earlier this year and it was effortless.
For our last car, I had a hitch installed and got a trailer. It was a bit of a pain. The trailer ate up driveway space, the annual registration fee (New York) was absurd (equaling the cost of the trailer after five years), parking was, at times, a pain, I hated the way the car felt with the trailer behind. And any time I needed it, it was 15-20 minute production to haul it into position, futz with the hitch and connections, skin my knuckles, etc.
The truck, on the other hand, is a lot more expensive, but is much less of a pain in the butt, just get in and go. It’s also *mine* as opposed to *ours*. It’s territorial. I don’t need committee approval for any changes I want to make. I can easily afford the thing, so I treat it as a discretionary item. Also, it means that for the first time since I got remarried, I can drive a manual.
I guess that’s the cost of living in NeYawk.
In Wisconsin, utility trailers ARE NOT registered. You just buy and pull them. In Montana, they are registered; but the registration is inexpensive – and “permanent.” Never needs renewal.
Michigan also issues permanent registration on trailers, or did five years ago.
Something else that is permanent, is the poverty that comes of driving a high-priced Bro-Dozer…all the time, when you need it just a little bit. The payments are perpetual – the note will outlive even a well-made truck. The fuel is close to twice what a car might use. One tank, you don’t even notice it. Over the course of a year, it hurts – right in the wallet.
For myself, I compromise. A secondhand, rust-free Gen1 Tacoma – with a hitch. Y’all-Haul is just a phone call away, if I need some really-really big capacity.
It strikes me that the people most interested in penis size are the people always commenting on other peoples’ penis sizes.
Image argument doesn’t carry any weight for me. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Porsche don’t sell pickup trucks, and their images are just fine last I checked.
The luxo-trucks are a great value for money. $50k gets you a LimitedPlatinumRanchXXL with all the bells and whistles and a big V8 (or Egoboost). That same $50k BARELY gets you into a basic 5-Series or E-Class with a wheezy 4-cylinder and no options whatsoever, not even real leather.
I don’t doubt you’re right, but new pickup trucks have gotten so good at being all the car one is allowed to use here in the Land Of Speed Limits Designed Around What’s Appropriate For Overloaded Diesel Crew Cabs, that as long a you live in an area where space is of little to no concern, they’re about the biggest bang for the buck on offer.
In many parts of the country, parking lots are designed around people stopping by to buy groceries in their decommissioned Class 8 rigs (nothing flaunts your masculinity like scaring them Prius liberals with your Jake Brake :) ). So you’re not really paying an inconvenience penalty for doing your daily driving in something as comparatively tidy as a diesel dully. OTOH, if you live in San Francisco…..
I would go so far as to say that a full-size truck is the ideal luxury vehicle for America.
OH REALLY BIG TRUCKS? WELL NOBODY WANTS TO DRIVE YODGE SH1T ASSEMBLED WITH CLICK TOOLS OR SIT IN REAR SEATS WITH A ROOF THAT HITS YOUR HEAD.
FCA shovels out the cheap jeep metal to broke 4ss social workers who want a car to replace their rotted out J body.
I drove my faince’s Hyundai today and realized what it was like to drive a plebe mobile where every bumper will result in my death. Brodozer fixed axles do not have good crush zones.
So are you going to help her find something “safer” or are you going to help her hone her driving skills so she can audition for the stunt team for a remake of “Bullitt”?
She is a terrible driver so she will eventually total the vehicle. Whether she survives or not will be left to the Koreans. Thankfully I work with skilled body repairmen and painters who do work on the cheap.
I’ll get her into some jelly bean CUV or a used Continental if I ever get dumb and finish the job (get married).
Actually, I sat in the back of a Charger the other day and was pleasantly surprised that my head (with a Panama hat on!) didn’t even brush the ceiling. Granted, it’s not a Challenger, and I’m not that tall. But it was a nice enough back seat to spend 5 minutes going across town.
Nothing to do with headroom but I was cruising slow in my 67 Mustang on Sunday and as a new Versa Sedan went by I realized that I was at eye level with the Nissan logo on the trunk.
Everything is blocky and stocky in our modern world except the sedans that try so desperately to have a coupe roof line which destroys the point of having 4 doors in the first place.
Not a surprise…car sales are down everywhere.
Not a surprise, no. The difference is that Ford’s cars are falling faster. As for the everywhere, car sales at Honda are up 9 percent, YOY. Jaguar, hardly consequential and helped along by an all-new model, has seen car sales rise 17%. Subaru’s car lineup is slightly north of flat. Scion, (same boat as Jaguar) is up 51%. Also, six of the top 10 best-selling cars in America are on the rise (Civic, Altima, Accord, Sentra, Malibu, Sonata).
Always exceptions to the rule.
The second-gen Fusion was a massive hit. I would expect that with the next refresh we will see another big sales bump (assuming Ford doesn’t screw the pooch).
Could be they’re falling faster because Ford’s car lineup isn’t exactly fresh.
I attribute a lot of Honda’s increased sales to the Civic, for sure.
That’s fair. The newest clean sheet Ford car is the Mustang. It’s getting into it’s third model year now. Everything else is the 2013MY or older and on a refresh.
Rented a car on vacation last week and scored a 2017 Fusion Platinum. Really nice, but SLOW. More “eco” than “boost”.
I rented one in ATL a few weeks ago, Platinum as well and it more “boost” than “eco” for me. Was yours a hybrid?
No, not a hybrid. But as slow as it was, I’m sure it was better than the Jeep Compass they tried to stick me with for my “full size” car reservation.
Do you know how spoiled you sound? In 1987, the Mustang GT had a V8 with 225 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque. The Fusion you rented had 245 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque.
and you call that “slow.”
The Transit’s sales should come as no surprise- it really is an awesome 9ft van. I rented one recently and in terms of driver friendly ergonomics, utility, economy and road manners, its well ahead of its competition.
Not too hard when your competition is from 1996.
I’d love to get in the files of American Pickers and see how much cheaper it is to run the the Transit they have now vs the Mercedes Diesel Sprinter they had.
That would be interesting to see for certain. Back when I did fleet work I figured that a Sprinter cost $2000 per year on average for tires, brakes, fluids and filters for a multi stop application that saw between 10-15K miles per year.
@Principal Dan,
They sell a lot of Renaults here for Delivery. Transits are 3rd or 4th rung sellers.
Renault surprisingly is the biggest manufacturer of Vans in Europe, making the Nissan( not sold here) and the Opel and Vauxhall Vans.
Keep on truckin’ MKT! haha
I need them to sell a few more so I can buy another used one in a few years. My inner cheapskate may have me buy an MkT instead of a Navigator/Expedition.
Did you get my invoice? :D
I did. I shall pay you in beer and 2% of the purchase price of my next MkT.
Mmmmmmmmmm beer.
Any beer that you are fond of at this moment? My father in law bought sampler 12-packs from 5 different breweries last week, so I tried a bunch of new beers on my vacation week.
I recently had a Rogue porter I enjoyed but I can’t recall the name. I also sampled some beers in Europe but I don’t think you can get those here (a Czech beer, Kozel, being my favorite)
I was disappointed in the Deschutes Porter, but I like their Ponderosa and Fresh Squeezed IPAs.
Fresh squeezed IPA? Interesting…
It’s a good beer. So are Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA and Grapefruit Scuplin IPA.
The Fusion Sport will be a game changer.
Congratulations Ford – here we see the two sides of the same wisdom “to the victor, the spoils”. The trucks rock and the cars? Not so much.
My boss owns an F150 and him driving to lunch is a real treat – it holds 5 adult males in more comfort than my full-size luxury car. And the 2.7 ecoboost should get similar milage to my circa-2001 DOHC V8 and the 2.7 should accelerate as quickly.
It’s just a shame that it’s so difficult (for marketing, CAFE reasons) to make a cost-effective, comfortable, fast sedan.
@yamahog,
That is what it is a replacement for a station wagon. That is why they are selling so more in the US and the actual car market shrinks
Tim,
So, how much difference is there between a lowly F-150 a F-450 or a 1500 to a 3500? I’d say greater than that between a Colorado and a 1500, in both capacity for work and the targeted market.
So, in fact GM has out performed Ford with pickups.
Why not just use all pickups?
If you can’t, then give us a breakdown of pickups into midsize, 150/1500, 250/2500, etc.
With Ford returning to a common cab between the super duty and the 150 your point is kind of lost. Yes, combining midsizers GM has sold more trucks. Course if we are talking about work maybe we should toss the vans in too.
One correction Ford does not offer a Cab and Chassis version of the Econoline and they never officially did. They offer a Cutaway version with a big open space where the back of the cab would be and a stripped chassis version that has no cab. The Transit is available in a C&C version as well as a Cutaway, but their GVW stops where the Econoline’s starts.
Hah, the most accurate description of Ford I’ve ever read was that it was a truck company that happened to sell cars.
Not to bad I guess as long as they don’t pull the same crap they did in the 90’S and let the car side languish.
That is probably true these days, the part ” it was a truck company that happened to sell cars. ”
But it wasn’t always that way.
Some of the best cars of their time, albeit not the most trouble-free ones, were Fords, like the Model T, and any flathead V8 Ford, or the 430 cubic inch V8 Fords and Mercurys, or the 390 cubic inch V8 Fords, the Thunderbirds, the Mustangs, etc. The list is long! Windsor and Cleveland engines were legends in their own time.
In the 90s Ford was described as a “bank with a healthy car loan business that happened to sell cars.”