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Detroit, 9:45 PM
Tue Nov 10
31 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/09/09
Hey! A guy can dream right?
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11/09/09
I see a lot of Toyota Tacomas around. I notice them because they're so ugly my eyes hurt. #fordka
11/09/09
Hmmm. Must be regional then. I haven's seen anything of the sort for a while now.
Or maybe it's just that I'm not paying attention to them at all. #fordka
11/09/09
The Ranger, I think, can be explained by the continued weakness in the full size market. How are you going to make any profit on Rangers when a decent F150 can be had for $17K? As much as folks on this site would praise smaller, lighter trucks, I'm guessing that the average American buyer sees them as inferior. #fordka
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11/09/09
@CJinSD: The Indians perhaps? #fordka
11/09/09
The 'Ka' could potentially compete with the Fiesta. Why would a college graduate with their English degree spend their hard-earned Applebee's paycheck on the more expensive Fiesta when there's a Ka available? And what's the incentive for Ford to bring it over here? To fight the microcars from ... who? Smart? Better to focus on making the Fiesta as economical, efficient and populars as possible. That's where the real competition is.
As for the Ranger, what's the incentive for Ford to go to the trouble of marketing and launching the all new platform? Changeovers aren't free, after all. And, as several of you have already noted, the competition in this segment is pretty dreadful. Those who fixate on reliability are going to buy the Toyota. Those who want to buy the cheapest will go with one of the lesser Japanese brands. And those whose grandpappy used to work for GM will buy the Chevy. The rest who really want a vehicle in this segment - the ones who were probably going to buy the Ranger in the first place - are still going to buy the Ranger. The number of people who would 'switch' to a Ranger if they brought over the new version is probably insignificant relative to the cost of changing over all the production, marketing and showroom stuff.
But what do I know... I only leased my Ranger back in 1999 because I wanted to get out from under the payment on my '98 Trans Am that had given up two fuel pumps and a windshield wiper motor in its first year of existence... #fordka
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11/09/09
There isn't much "modernization" that can improve the compact truck right now.
Go ahead, make a hybrid version or something, buyers won't care.
People buy Rangers because they are a telephone company. #fordka
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The global Ranger is pretty homely anyway, so I can't say I miss it. And maybe Ford has other interesting plans for the US - perhaps a Flex Pickup? #fordka
11/09/09
The Ka could do that as well, just on the other end of the product portfolio.
The only problem being that its hard to charge a premium on a subcompact. #fordka
11/09/09
@danio3834: The same would go for the Ka as a small halo car. I'm pretty sure thats the Fiesta's job especially considering the massive PR expense Ford put into it. The costs may not justify bringing it here especially since people don't buy small when gas is low. #fordka
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11/09/09
Stupid.
Come on, Ford...wake up. Just give us what everyone else has please. We want/need a compact truck designed sometime before steam power became passe. #fordka
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11/09/09
Too bad though; it's a handsome truck. Hopefully the next US Ranger isn't much bigger than the old one, or this.
Not so miffed about the Ka, since Chrysler will be selling the car it's based on.
11/09/09
However, it is a grave mistake. Ford needs to compete in all sectors of the market. And they need to be able to respond to changing conditions and taste. For is currently doing better than the other US makers, largely on the basis of having some smaller vehicles that people actually wanted to buy, when the price of gas spiked. #fordka
11/09/09
Light diesels will not be coming to America because of or (admittedly retarded) emission regulations. We measure tailpipe emissions differently than the Europeans and the Japanese. We seem to be concentrated on NOx output, rather than CO2 output. And we will never bring our emission regulations in line with Europe, not with California continuing to regulate stricter standards.
If the electorate decides to bring back the Republicans, they won't necessarily roll back standards... they will be too busy trying to undo other more pressing social issues, re-drawing congressional districts, and lining their pockets with political contributions. Diesels will still be quite a number of years away. #fordka
11/09/09
Bullshit.
There were no (edit: Okay, I see now there was one, unpromoted, classic troll-style shot) comments within this thread -- before yours -- that had even "vaguely political" tone. As far as that "as well as other comments" crap...what the hell? You're invoking comments from some other thread, from some other time, and tying it in here with "and had to respond"?
"Troll". Look it up.
11/09/09
CO2: May impact global climate.
NOx: Causes smog, acid rain, low-level ozone, and destroys high-level ozone, all while causing or worsening respiratory diseases and potentially worsening some types of heart disease.
Are you SURE you prefer the European and Japanese way of measuring things? #fordka