US: Ford plans product-led renaissance; small car to save Mercury
By: Glenn Brooks, Thursday, July 24, 2008, AutomotiveWorld.com
Ford is to introduce six European-designed vehicles in North America and convert three light truck plant to small cars, starting in December.
The firm has also faced its critics and issued a clear statement on the subject of the embattled Mercury brand, among other news developments. The company says it will revitalise the former high volume division of its Lincoln-Mercury dealer networks by as soon as the end of 2010. Until now, rumours have been flying that there was no future product for Mercury and so, went the thinking, the brand would be allowed to die quietly.
As for the Ford brand, in a reversal of a previously stated position, the now 16 years old Ford Ranger, a mid-sized pick-up (that has nothing in common with the two-year old model of the same name sold outside the Americas), will continue to be built until the end of 2011. Production will remain at the Twin Cities assembly plant in Minnesota. In April 2006, Ford announced the end of all manufacturing there in "2008/2009" but, in November 2007, extended this until the end of the 2009 model year (July 2009).
Other news relates to the firm's smaller, more economical vehicles and powertrains.
An updated turnaround plan now calls for a doubling of Ford's North American four-cylinder gasoline engine capacity by 2011, and the same target for build and offerings of hybrid vehicles. Further, Mercury will have additional product from 2010, with the introduction of a "small car". No further details were forthcoming.
"We continue to take fast and decisive action implementing our plan and responding to the rapidly changing business environment," Ford chief executive Alan Mulally said in a prepared statement.
Mulally re-iterated previously announced vehicle plans, stating that the Turkish-built Transit Connect delivery van will arrive in North America this time next year and that a large crossover for Lincoln is due in 2009. The latter will be closely related to the new 2009 Ford Flex. Production of the 2009 MKT, as sources label it, is due to start alongside the Flex at the Oakville plant in Ontario early in 2009.
Returning to smaller models, confirmation also came that the next generation Focus will see all major Ford regions building and or selling the same basic vehicle for the first time - the Mercury 'small car' is also expected to be a derivative of this model. In North America, this will mean Focus sedan and five-door hatchback bodystyles from 2010. Oddly, no mention was made of a replacement for today's increasingly successful Focus Coupe, a strong rival for the segment leading Civic Coupe. No plant location has been announced. The current Focus is built at Wayne Assembly in Michigan but this facility is already hitting its natural capacity.
One major change and something that had been rumoured for some time will be the former hugely successful Ford Explorer SUV switching to a unibody architecture. The rival Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander both eschew body-on-frame designs for reasons of lighter weight and increased refinement but this is a radical announcement for one of the Detroit Three to make - the company says the vehicle's economy will be improved by an average of 25% thanks to the change in engineering philosophy. No vehicle architecture has been named but Ford of Europe's C2 platform (Ford Kuga crossover, future Mazda Tribute replacement) must be considered highly likely.
An interesting aside to the announcement about the Explorer is that it instantly makes building the second generation Volvo XC90 in North America an option, should the Swedish firm still be within the Ford orbit by the time of its (delayed) 2011/2012 replacement date. The continuing unstable krona/dollar relationship is presumed to have wrecked the Swedish-built crossover's profitability in its largest single global market. Volvo continues to run up large losses and these increased in the last quarter, mostly due to the company's reliance on the US for the majority of its sales.
While no location for Explorer build has been revealed, Ford did say it would convert Michigan Truck in Wayne to small-car production in 2010. This is surely the location for expanded Focus and related vehicle production, though Mulally did not state any product news for the facility, which is adjacent to Wayne Assembly.
No news on a possible platform change for the full-sized Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, which are currently built at Wayne Truck. But with car production taking their place, these twins will shift to Louisville Truck in Kentucky as soon as early 2009. Another Louisville manufacturing plant will ditch the Explorer and switch to building unnamed lower medium cars from 2011 – almost certainly this will be a third Focus plant.
Published on Thursday, July 24, 2008
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