What did Ford gain by building the FGT?

[S592R]

They definitely need to get off the "8 cars for 8 markets program". It's crazy. Part of the problem is that American's don't buy what they say they will. They brought the Contour over when the Mondeo was still the best selling car in Europe and it flopped while everyone bought Explorers and F-150s. Nonetheless, mark my words, you WILL see Ford developing cars on global platforms and shrinking the number of platforms in the immediate future.

The design of the vehicles in Europe is fantastic. Euro Focus, Mondeo, S-Max...these cars should be here ASAP. I don't get having two wildly different design aesthetics for two different markets. A car is either good looking or it's not, no? An awesome Focus ST in the UK is an awesome Focus in the U.S. Problem is they can't take the hit from the capital depreciation without going bankrupt if they just tossed all the other stuff out tomorrow.

p.s, these notions are tempered by the fact that crazy European regulations mated with the insanity going on in our own country right now are going to make it ever harder to build anything a) cool or b) coherent. By 2020 the auto companies will be up to their eyeballs in so many regulations, from euro vs. U.S safety to emissions decided on a state-to-state basis to federally mandated fuel mileage requirements, that nobody can guess what'll happen...

Go back to riding horses.... thats what we will all be doing if the governments don't get their collective heads out of their a$$es. :willy We need a stronger federal government that tells the states to shove it. local emissions, local gas blends ..... screw it .... let's go on a war footing like FDR did for the country .... hey, aren't we at war already? Come on Dick get with it!!!! Too many regulations .... too many intercountry squabbles .... toss out the local stuff and just go federal .... drivers license, the whole shooting match. much easier and keeps the local nutz out of the play ... secial interest and all.

 

[dikran]

I threw that journal out after I read the article. I learned nothing of Ford or their direction. I've heard enough about the Edge going from Red to Yellow to Green. If you read the article, you'll know what I'm talking about. After spending $50K on Mark Fields travelling to and from Florida they need to make some sweeping changes. The old guard isn't going to change their way of thinking because a guy from Boeing walks in the door.

 

[fordcapri]

Back to the original question, why the Ford GT was built, I think one of the main reasons at the time it was conceived Bill Ford was the MD and it was his go-ahead that created the Ford GT, and I am sure if anybody else was in charge at the time, the bean counters would have had their way and not created the Ford GT. I am sure Ford lost money on the car. Perhaps not in the same scale that VW are losing on the Veryon, where it is estimated that each car, which is approximately just under 900 being built, cost in development about 10 million dollars.

DBK is right, there are some great Fords in Europe, and these should be shared with the American market, as the two continents are very similar now, unlike previous decades.

 

[garry seaman]

The FGT was my favorite matchbox car when I was 7 (white with blue stripes) and I still have it. When the local Ford dealer advertized one in the paper, I showed my son Clark (age 11) my matchbox and we went to have a look at the dealership. It was obvious to us that this was the one. When Ford created the GT in the 60s I fell in love with the car as a boy.
When Ford created the new GT my boy and I fell in love with it. The car Ford built allowed me to relive my childhood dreams with my son. Thats why Ford built the Ford GT. :wink

 

[Empty Pockets]

The old guard isn't going to change their way of thinking because a guy from Boeing walks in the door.

'Depends on how many "parachutes" (golden, empty or otherwise) he has stacked against the wall in the meetin' room...

 

[Cobrar]

'Depends on how many "parachutes" (golden, empty or otherwise) he has stacked against the wall in the meetin' room...

That is a fact !! :thumbsup

 

[Cobrar]

Back to the original question, why the Ford GT was built, I think one of the main reasons at the time it was conceived Bill Ford was the MD and it was his go-ahead that created the Ford GT, and I am sure if anybody else was in charge at the time, the bean counters would have had their way and not created the Ford GT....

You are right on target! Only one guy (and his COO - N. Scheele) could have overcome/overruled the internal product, legal, financial & regulatory committee & investment hurdles that beset the fate of other performance programs at Ford.

Myself and 4,037 other owners are the direct beneficiaries and want to say: Thanks Bill!! :cheers