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89 Comments
- inactive, on 12/30/2008, -2/+27ford isn't in trouble and didn't ask for a bail out
- billricardi, on 12/31/2008, -0/+22There is a big point being missed in these comments. You can make a car as economical and green as you want, but it will still fail if you can't sell any because it is either unusable by the target market, or it is inconvenient (cars being items of convenience in many cases).
We're talking about the Lincoln here. Demographic: Older folks. Drivers over the age of 65 have the highest parking failure rate, and the second highest accident rate (just below teenagers).
By introducing something that helps their older drivers park their larger (MKS sedan in this case) cars, Ford is going to attract a lot of new clients, which is CRITICAL for their survival. They're also making the cars safer and better for their key demographic.
Affordable will come, so will green. But keeping their customers and growing their client base is critical, or there will be no Ford to go green in the near future. - robotwarlord, on 12/31/2008, -1/+15Read the article, you fool.
- newms32, on 12/31/2008, -0/+13that's mentioned in the second ***** sentence of the article
"Two years ago, Lexus introduced what it calls the advanced parking guidance system, which theoretically enabled the Lexus LS 460L to parallel-park itself along any prime patch of empty curb.
The system was far from perfect. In his review of the LS 460L for The New York Times, Lawrence Ulrich wrote:
In practice, the system often took multiple tries over several minutes before docking successfully. It struggled to identify curbs and regularly asked me to realign the car before trying to park. The parking space has to be huge, at least five feet longer than the car, calling the entire exercise into question. And the system shuts down if you back up too fast." - FredFredrickson, on 12/30/2008, -10/+23And some people still wonder why these companies are on the brink of complete failure.
Stop focusing on putting more cup holders, DVD players, video screens, and other useless junk into the cars just to inflate the price, and start making them more economical and environmental. It's not that hard. - candlestickjack, on 12/31/2008, -1/+12RTFA
- inactive, on 12/31/2008, -1/+11Hey... You left out this important part about Ford...
"Ford is doing particularly well in Europe thanks to its better mix of models and cost reductions. Revenues from the region rose to $11.5 billion (£5.8 billion) from $9.2 billion."
That's $2.3 Billion in the green.. During that quarter where ford lost $129 million GM lost $2.5 billion.
Yes Ford is in trouble.. But with the well being of Ford Europe vs GM's 15% losses in the European Market, Ford IS the only one of the big 3 that has a chance. If managed properly they will survive with out bailout. If Ford can get its ***** together and prove to the American people the quality & longevity of their newest lines of vehicles I see them surviving.
Let us not forget that Ford was the company that brought the Automobile from the few to the many. - parkerjason, on 12/30/2008, -9/+18Well, ford needs to survive first...
- mkw408, on 12/31/2008, -6/+15I agree w/ Fred. I've had three transmissions on an 03 Explorer. Eight thousand miles later it makes a loud noise when it backs up again. I'm going to parallel park it into a canal. Ford needs to focus on getting their transmissions right, not adding something else to go wrong with them. This is a recipe for disaster. I smell recall within a year. I will never buy another Ford again.
- 5urr3al5am, on 12/31/2008, -2/+11Yeah but this:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/ford-fu ...
is impressive - robotwarlord, on 12/31/2008, -4/+12Another way to make driving even less pro-active for Americans. You guys can't even change gears. If that's how you want to drive you may as well use public transport. Driving yourself should be fun.
- lewystud, on 12/31/2008, -1/+9I can drive a manual but I dig u down
- kufurex, on 12/30/2008, -5/+12I think I'll get a BMW instead.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KfUBTOTp2Fw
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sk0UJz4p1QI - Paulish, on 12/31/2008, -2/+9"It's not that hard."
I was with you up until then man. Making cars more efficient is hard. It takes enormous amounts of resources for a car company to increase mileage by even fractions of a mpg. It also requires a lot of great minds. I am not making excuses for the big three, personally I thought they should have been allowed to fail, but I don't think engineering good cars is easy. That is why it requires a degree. - tmike7223, on 12/30/2008, -7/+14I still can't stop thinking about Jennifer Anniston in that GQ photo shoot. Mmmmm....
- Awspire, on 12/31/2008, -0/+7Lexus did NOTHING, except for humiliating themselves. I remember watching consumer video demonstrations of their so-called parking system. It was hilarious, to say the least.
- cawpin, on 12/31/2008, -0/+5None of the Big 3 asked for a bailout. They asked for a LOAN. There is a big difference.
- inactive, on 12/31/2008, -1/+6our machines are getting smarter and our humans are getting dumber.
- Mustangarrett, on 12/31/2008, -0/+5I wish I could dig you up twice Ivone423... every single one of us owes a debt of gratitude to FoMoCo. One Decade of mistakes and everyone is ready with their pitchforks.
- sweetwater88, on 12/31/2008, -0/+5I think the main difference between Ford's approach and Toyota's (Lexus), is that from Toyota, it's bragging rights. Toyota's system didn't not work, took forever, required constant realignment, used expensive cameras that are not very effective, and cost $5k. Ford's going to be simple and cheap as they did with sync and turbo/DI (only $700 more then the V8 option). Of course, it needs to be tested by third parties before we see how well it works.
- geodescent, on 12/31/2008, -0/+4Just a Big Mac? I can juggle a burger, fries, a cell phone, and a laptop while steering with my knees.
- o0joshua0o, on 12/31/2008, -1/+5I can drive a manual but choose not to. Mind boggling, I know.
- computershack, on 12/31/2008, -0/+4Yeah...my 2004 Ford Mondeo 2L TDCi with 115,000 on the clock that does 0-60 in 10 seconds managed 70MPG the other day on a 24 mile run. It regularly tops 60MPG combined city and rural usage.
The new Ford Fiesta petrols top 60MPG.
Tis only in the USA where economy seems an unobtainable goal - the rest of the world have already got there. - Hurricane, on 12/31/2008, -0/+4Buggy and dropped due to limited market, Ford should learn from them.
- nitrojunky24, on 12/31/2008, -0/+4just to be fair to ford they are the only one of the big three that haven't asked the us gov for loan money and they do have to try and compete with Toyota and Honda on all fronts not just 2 or 3 you have to have the whole package not just bits and pieces and they finally are trying to keep up they may be a bit behind still buts its pretty clear to me that progress is being made. all I can say to ford is good luck your gonna need it
- InfiniteNothing, on 12/31/2008, -0/+4Everyone's a monday morning quarter back "you shouda done dis and der"
Hind sight is 20:20. - Ghostalker, on 12/31/2008, -0/+3Can anyone else read what the picture says?
- InfiniteNothing, on 12/31/2008, -1/+4Ford's partnership with Mazda has had a really good impact on some of their lines (fusion, 500, even some of the focuses are nice)
- DeviantDragon, on 12/31/2008, -2/+5Can't you see how for those who can't parallel park well or simply don't like to this might actually make driving more fun?
- Kidddrunkadelic, on 12/31/2008, -0/+3http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/3150075245_4b8 ...
- computershack, on 12/31/2008, -3/+6"Stop focusing on putting more cup holders, DVD players, video screens, and other useless junk into the cars just to inflate the price, and start making them more economical and environmental. It's not that hard."
Err, they have been doing - just not in America. Trouble is that you Yanks think that European models are too small and you have this mindset that for an engine to be quick, it has to be 4 litres or larger despite the fact that our cars have been trouncing yours for years with half the engine size. How the hell you manage to build engines so badly that you only get a few hundred BHP out of 4 litres is beyond us. - GhostRidr, on 12/31/2008, -0/+3I had a '94 Mazda MX-6 (100% Ford built, same car as the Probe), and I put 165,000 miles on it before selling it. Never had one transmission problem. I saw the person a year later who bought it from me, and it was still running strong.
- peestandingup, on 12/31/2008, -1/+4They need to introduce a system that will convince people to buy their cars.
- watcht, on 12/31/2008, -0/+3You sure it ain't operator error? I myself have a mazda protege which has a notoriously bad transmission known to fluke out, and it's still going strong to 130,000 miles, albeit it's making a grinding noise on some gears which I chalk up to my own fault from when learning how to drive standard.
- sega01, on 12/31/2008, -0/+3I did the North Carolina driver's test. The driver's aren't the worst in the country, but most are pretty bad here. I should have specified the state too, but I wanted to state the country since this is a fairly international site.
- tnoy, on 01/01/2009, -0/+3Women are going to have something to blame other than themselves when they fail to properly park their car now.
- jdmulloy, on 12/31/2008, -2/+5I prefer the Audi A4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQesmX27AdY - sweetwater88, on 12/31/2008, -0/+32010 Fusion Hybrid gets 43 mpg city. I think they are focusing on becoming profitable and this is part of it. Just because a car is FE does not mean that it sells or is profitable. For example, the Prius is not profitable and the Insight did not sell well.
- krische, on 12/31/2008, -0/+3My 99 Escorts automatic transmission at least made it 110,000 miles. Sorry to hear about your explorer.
- cawpin, on 12/31/2008, -0/+2And it didn't work. This will.
- cawpin, on 12/31/2008, -0/+2You've got that relationship backwards.
- robotwarlord, on 12/31/2008, -1/+3lol, you do have the worlds highest rate of obesity.
- olafdlopez, on 12/31/2008, -4/+6Yay, more useless junk to break down.
- newms32, on 12/31/2008, -1/+3But now we will have our hands free so we can keep on eating our Big Macs, am I right? Fat and lazy americans lol
- Hurricane, on 12/31/2008, -2/+4Proper English.
How about just building smaller cars or cars with a better turning radius?
Or, perhaps teaching people how to park?
BTW, although I did not use the word in this sentence, the plural of radius is radii, just like many English words that end in ...us. - Thomaschaaf, on 12/31/2008, -2/+4I prefer the VW with a nice Golf GTI!
- sega01, on 12/31/2008, -0/+2My first and only car is a 1986 Toyota Celica GT-S 5-speed coupe. I took the US driver's test in it without any problems (wasn't that hard at all). New cars keep taking control away from the driver, to a point that it is boring and robotic. Driving should be enjoyable and not be attempted by people who can't perform properly in a quarter of their encounters. Humanity is becoming a lazy couch potato it seems, though I admit that some assistance is good.
On a side note, bad manuals are nasty. I learned stick on a first gen Honda Fit and got very frustrated with it at times. Its clutch is far too precise, and the gas pedal is overly sensitive (but it isn't that powerful). The Celica is a dream in comparision, but it has plenty of other quirks (due to age) to deal with. - gl77, on 12/31/2008, -0/+2US driving test? i didnt know that the United States tested people and gave them United States licenses. what state did you take your test in?
Florida has to be the easiest state in the country to acquire a drivers license, which would account for all of the ***** drivers down here. - Oldbitcollector, on 01/02/2009, -0/+2What happened to just learning how to drive?
- sweetwater88, on 12/31/2008, -0/+2Toyota used cameras and charged $5k, this uses ultrasonic sensors and will probably be relatively cheap ($400-700 range).
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